Sex Questions from the Twittersphere: What’s ‘Silagel’? Any good materials for sensitive people?
By Dr. Carol Queen • Apr 22nd, 2009 • Category: Blog, Carol QueenQuestion: What IS Silagel (i.e. Doc Johnson toys). It’s not silicone is it? What is the best toy material for sensitive people?
No, Silagel isn’t silicone; it’s a new development in the adult toy industry, which is working to leave behind phthalate-laden material that’s caused controversy since European journalists began worrying about it a few years back. Since then, jelly rubbers containing pthalates have been less popular among toy buyers, and manufacturers have worked overtime to develop alternatives.
Advertised as anti-bacterial, latex-free (and it’s cadmium-free and “softly scented” to boot), Silagel is the industry’s newest version of what one of my old Good Vibes colleagues used to call “mystery rubber.” And it’s probably an improvement over the old stuff… but if you have sensitivities to any materials toys are made of, your best bets are still likely to be silicone and glass toys. The main reason is still that you can more thoroughly clean those items than softer materials that can’t be boiled. Hard plastic, if you avoid scratching it, and metals are also pretty good bets – unless you have a metal sensitivity, as some of us do. Sensitive souls must also pay close attention to the lube they use and try to figure out whether they’re having problems with any latex items used as barriers. For those of us who are hardy and don’t seem to have any problem with toys’ material as long as they’re kept clean and/or condom-covered, the lower prices of some of the Siligel items may look pretty attractive.
Tweet tweet!–CQ
Dr. Carol Queen >> Carol Queen is a writer, speaker, educator and activist with a doctorate in sexology. First as an organizer in the lesbian/gay community, where she helped found one of the first gay youth groups in the United States, and later in the emerging international bisexual community, as a sex worker and a practitioner of alternative sexualities, she typically teaches and writes from her own experience and that of her communities even as she references academic thought on these subjects. See her website: www.carolqueen.com.
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