Vibrators are known for being reliable sex toys. They're a classic, and the reason why is no big mystery. Vibrators are easy to use, easy to put away, easy to take with you and, as you'll find out, they're easy to clean!

In this guide, we'll go over the basics on how to effectively clean and maintain your vibrator. Doing so will ensure that your favorite sex toy can pleasure you reliably for many years to come!

Is it Okay to Use Hand Soap?

Now, cleaning a vibrator (or any sex toy) both before and after using it may seem like a no-brainer, but you'd be surprised at how many people don't clean their sex toys the right way. If you think that all you need to clean your vibrator is some hand soap and some water, then you really need to read the rest of this guide ASAP!

There are probably hundreds of thousands of different kinds of hand soap. Think of all the brands and all the kinds of scents and hand soap styles that each brand produces, and most of them contain artificial ingredients.

Liquid hand soaps are the worst culprits here. Most liquid soaps contain an artificial fragrance, usually a combination of different synthetic chemicals designed to replicate a natural fragrance. The vast majority of liquid hand soaps also contain artificial coloring, designed to give them an appealing vibrant and lively look.

We've all seen a nice kiwi hand soap or a watermelon hand soap and marveled at how nice they smell and look…but remember those artificial fragrances and coloring? They're only designed to clean your skin, as these chemicals are harmless to most people who don't have an artificial fragrance or coloring allergy.

Most kinds of hand soap, especially liquid hand soap, are not intended to clean or even come in contact with the interior of your body. And guess where your vibrator goes?

The Dangers of Hand Soap

According to Dr. Shreya Gupta in a Health Slots Article, soap can be used to clean the area around a vagina, but you should never use it to clean inside the vaginal opening, and you should avoid soaps that have strong scents or fragrances.

The reason why you should never clean the inside of your vagina with hand soap is that it disrupts the natural pH balance of your vagina, and can kill many of the healthy bacteria that helps your vagina to clean itself naturally.

You can read more about this over at Severina's Secrets.

Now, why have we spent so long talking about the dangers of using hand soap and liquid soap in a guide about how to clean your vibrator?

The reason is simple. We wanted to highlight the risk of using the wrong kind of soap because, if you use too much soap or don't wash it off enough, traces of soap may be left on your vibrator. These traces will then enter your vagina or anus and can coat the sensitive and delicate inner tissue of these organs, leading to UTIS, irritation, or injury.

So, if you shouldn't use hand soap to clean your vibrator, what should you use?

Toy Cleaner

We recommend using a specialized, body-safe toy cleaner. These sprays have been especially made to clean your sex toys both before and after use, ensuring both your health and your toy's longevity, as they don't include any ingredients that can corrode or damage plastic or silicone.

With that important disclaimer out of the way, let's dive into a step-by-step guide on how to clean your vibrator!

How to Clean Your Vibrator

1. Read the Manual:Before you start cleaning your vibrator, go ahead and find the booklet or manual that came with it. If you threw it out with the packaging your vibrator came with, don't worry! All you have to do is plug your vibrator's make and model into a search engine along with "manual," and you're sure to find it! Now, why is this step important? Some manufacturers include specific instructions or suggestions for cleaning a specific product. Maybe your vibrator has a battery compartment that water could get into, so the manufacturer recommends cleaning it without submerging it in water. In any case, you should check to make sure that there aren't any warnings or restrictions when it comes to cleaning your vibrator.

2. Grab a Towel: First things first, grab a towel and place it on a bathroom counter, kitchen counter, or tile floor. These surfaces are best because they dispel water and don't absorb it. You can also place the towel next to your sink and clean your vibrator over the sink, putting each component down on the towel as you clean it.

3. Gather Cleaning Materials:Remember that amazing sex toy cleaner we talked about? If you have it, go ahead and grab it. These cleaners work much better than soap, as they were specifically designed to clean sex toy components like body-safe silicone. If you don't have sex toy cleaner, grab some unscented, transparent soap. There are many on the market with keywords like "gentle," "mild," and also "fragrance free" or even "baby-safe." You want a soap that has no fragrance, color, alcohol or similar solvents, and is rated to be as gentle as possible. Remember, you should pick a soap or cleaner that would not be harmful if traces of it got inside your intimate parts. However, if you follow this guide, there won't be any traces to worry about. Go ahead and grab some cotton swabs or soft cloth for cleaning as well. Microfiber cloths meant to clean eyeglasses or monitors are great at preventing scratches. Don't grab baby wipes or wipes with disinfectant, as many of these include a diluted form of isopropyl alcohol, which corrodes silicone and most sex toy components.

4. Fill a Bowl with Warm Water: Fill a small bowl with warm water. You'll be using this water to clean your vibrator later. Make sure that the bowl is large enough to hold the vibrator inside it.

5. Disassemble: Some vibrators are actually quite complex. They come in all shapes and sizes, sure, but some of them even come with attachments, silicone sleeves, adapters for exterior play, or even heads or sleeves with different textures for added stimulation. All of those options are incredible at pleasuring you, but they can also make cleaning your vibrator a little more difficult. So, before cleaning, make sure to remove any attachments, sleeves, adapters, cables, or remote controls.

6. Remove the Batteries: This next part is very important! Remove your vibrator's power source! Usually, there is a battery compartment near the bottom of the vibrator. Remove every battery, making sure to check the manual or product page to be sure that you have found and removed each one. Take the batteries, battery compartment cover, and any screws that held it in place and remove them from the cleaning area. You don't want them anywhere near water, as water could corrode a battery's exterior casing, causing cracks which could cause battery acid (sulfuric acid) to leak out.

7. Separate the Components:If your vibrator has no additional components, you don't have to worry about this step. However, if your vibrator came with attachments like sleeves, adapters, different heads, or any part that can be removed, remove them and separate them out on your towel for cleaning and eventual drying. You don't want any water to be left behind in any component because, if you reassemble it without drying it out, it could lead to mold.

8. For Non-Waterproof Vibrators: If your vibrator's manual or product page indicates that it isn't waterproof, then you can use these steps to clean it to ensure its longevity and your health.

Clean with Dry Cloth: Go over your vibrator's components with a dry cloth first in order to remove any dust, dry residue, or other dry particles that could become harder to clean later, when they're wet.

Add sex toy cleaner or mild soap: Now rinse your soft cloth with warm water and add a dab of gentle soap or a few sprays of sex toy cleaner to it.

Clean with Wet Cloth: Go over the vibrator's components once again, this time with the wet cloth, wiping away any remaining residue.

Rinse Cloth: Now rinse your soft cloth, removing any soap on it, wetting it fully.

Clean with Wet Cloth: Now go over your vibrator once again with the wet cloth, being careful to remove any traces of sex toy cleaner or gentle soap left on its surface. Do this until you're sure there aren't any traces left on the toy. Make sure you no longer see any foam or bubbles both on the wet cloth and on your toy.

Repeat the previous steps: Repeat the previous steps on all your vibrator's components and attachments, but only if they don't include batteries, metal screws that you shouldn't remove, or metal components like hinges or springs.

Dry: Now dry your vibrator and all of its components with a dry cloth and leave them out to air dry on your towel. You should leave them in a room that gets natural sunlight and fresh air, but don't put the towel, vibrator, or components in direct sunlight. You only need to air dry them.

9. For-Waterproof Vibrators: If your vibrator's manual or product page indicates that it's waterproof, then you can actually submerge it to clean it!

Add Soap or Cleaner: Go ahead and add a few dabs of mild soap or sex toy cleaner to the bowl of warm water and mix it until you see some foam at the top.

Submerge Your Vibrator: Now submerge your vibrator into the bowl of warm water and scrub it with your hands. Go over the length of the vibrator with your hands a few times, using your fingers to dissolve any residue you find.

Rinse: Now rinse your vibrator under a gentle stream of tap water to remove all residue and traces of soap or cleaner.

Repeat the previous steps: Repeat the previous steps on all your vibrator's components and attachments, but only if they don't include batteries, metal screws that you shouldn't remove, or metal components like hinges or springs.

Dry: Now dry your vibrator and all of its components with a dry cloth and leave them out to air dry on your towel. You should leave them in a room that gets natural sunlight and fresh air, but don't put the towel, vibrator, or components in direct sunlight. You only need to air dry them.

10. Reassemble:

Wait until the next day so you're sure that your vibrator and its components are fully dry. Give them a look, turning them over in your hands to make sure there aren't any wet spots or hidden water drops.

Now put your vibrator back together! Put the batteries back in and place the cover over the compartment and put back everything as you like it!

How often Should You Clean Your Vibrator?

Now, we realize that that guide may look like a lot. Cleaning a vibrator looks like a hassle, right? The truth is that, once you do it, you'll realize that it's actually not a lot of work. You can clean a vibrator and its components in around 15 minutes if you know what you're doing. And now you do!

Remember, you shouldn't scrub the surface of your vibrator so hard it hurts your hands, or for so long that it takes longer than 5 minutes to go over its surface. The full 15 minutes includes the drying process, after all.

However, you should make sure to clean your vibrator after each use! That may sound like a lot, but trust us, the time and effort it takes to clean a vibrator after each use is worth it. Cleaning a toy for 15 minutes is nothing next to the pain, discomfort, and hundreds of dollars worth of doctor's bills and medication if you get a UTI or other kind of infection. Using a vibrator more than once without cleaning it leaves traces of bodily fluids, and these fluids develop bacteria very quickly.

So take the time to clean your vibrator, your most sensitive parts would thank you for it if they could!

Conclusion

Now you're an expert at cleaning your vibrator. Remember, while this guide may seem obvious or universal, you shouldn't just repeat it for every sex toy you own. Different sex toys have different components, cleaning instructions, and waterproof levels. Please look up a guide on how to look up each specific sex toy you own!