Toy Care 101

In order to get the best use out of your toy, here's some tips on taking good care of it!

What's the best way to keep toys clean?
When it comes down to it, mild anti-bacterial soap and warm water is the best way to keep your toy clean. If a toy is not labeled "Waterproof," make sure not to get the battery pack wet! Wipe with a towel and air-dry, and your toy will be ready for the next session.

But when you're done, you're usually done! You don't really want to get up, out of bed, into the bathroom, just to wash your toy. And what if you have roommates or your a visitor at someone's house? Athena's sells a great alternative to keeping your toy clean.

Our Mighty Tidy Toy Cleaner is basically anti-bacterial soap and water in a bottle! You just spray your toy, wipe it down with one of our Pleasure Wipes (a wet napkin better than tissue paper, which can leave little fuzzies on your toy! This product can also be used to clean yourself before and after you have some fun.).

The Dynamic Duo: Mighty Tidy Toy Cleaner and Pleasure Wipes

You can also use a condom over a toy, especially if you are planning to use the same toy vaginally and anally (with different condoms, please!). Just discard the condom when you're done, and that's it!

What's the best way to store toys?
One of the most popular locations to hide away toys is a bedside nightstand. The underwear drawer is another popular hide-away spot. Both are generally places that even the nosiest of visitors wouldn't dare look through (unless they are just that nosey!). If you can get some cotton drawer liners (like at The Container Store, for example), that will make your secret hide-away feel that much more special.

But, if you do have some really nosey guests around, today's your lucky day :)
Athena's sells two amazing ways to keep your toys away from prying eyes. For those with a small collection, the Toy Box is a stylish way to keep your toys organized and hidden. For those with a larger collection The Adult Toy Chest, with separate compartments, is easily hidden under the bed or in the closet. Both come with a lock and key for you to keep!

Make sure toys are separated from each other. Keeping them in a Ziplock bag in your storage (or in separate compartments in your Adult Toy Chest!) will ensure that the toys don't mess with each other. People can live together, but toys cannot!!

Silicone toys
Silicone rubber is non-porous and just as easy to clean as jelly, elastimer, or even rubber. But because of its specific properties, silicone has a tendency to warp and melt other toys. If a silicone toy is in contact with any other toy, even anothr silicone one, they will end up melty looking! Also, use only water-based lube with your silicone toys! Silicone-based lubricant will bond to silicone toys and ruin it.

If you have an allergy to latex, silicone toys are a great alternative! But it is important to know how to care for your favorites.

Remember, people can live together, but toys cannot!

When it's off, make sure it's off!
I learned this the hard way. Always remove your batteries or unplug it from the power source! If a battery runs out of juice, its juice will run out of the battery, corroding inside your toy's battery pack! When that happens, you might as well toss that toy because it won't be giving you any more pleasure.

What's the best way to discard of an unusable/unwanted toy?
Well...in general, toys are packaged in recyclable boxes or plastic. They are easily discarded in your recycling bin (my Waste Management folks must get so much amusement from the various boxes and packages they collect from my recycling bin!). But what about your toy? There's the battery pack, there's the rubber or silicone or elastimer, there's beads.....

With all the eco-friendly goodness that's happening these days, you can recycle all kinds of things, from computers to cell phones...and now you can recycle sex toys! No...I'm not saying that your sex toy becomes some hand-me-down to an unfortunate person in need of a good orgasm....that's SO not green.....

All you need to do is mail in your toy to a facility in Florida, and for your good deeds you get a $10 gift certificate to go towards one of the Sex Toy Recycling Program's affiliates.

Though Athena's isn't one of their affiliates, if you recycle your toy with them and receive a $10 gift certificate, you will be able to use that towards an order with your Goddess (that's me!) as well!

Let's Review!

• Mild anti-bacterial soap and warm water will do you just fine! But the Mighty Tidy Toy Cleaner and Pleasure Wipes are a great alternative to getting out of bed!
• When sharing toys or doing both vaginal or anal penetration, use a condom!
• A bedside nightstand or underwear drawer lined with cotton liners is a common way to store toys. But if you have nosey housemates or visitors, locking your toys in Athena's Toy Box or Toy Chest is a better way to keep toys hidden.
• Store toys separate from each other! Silicone toys especially!
• When you're not using your toys, ALWAYS remove the batteries!
• Treat yourself well, and treat the earth well! Recycle your unusable/unwanted toys!
  

Now that you know the basics of taking care of your toys, get to it!

Enjoy your toy! Enjoy yourself!