Sex Toy Materials Explained: Silicone, Glass, Steel, TPE and ABS

1What are sex toy materials, and which ones count as body-safe?

Sex toy materials fall into two groups: non-porous ones — silicone, borosilicate glass, stainless steel and ABS plastic — which can be cleaned thoroughly and kept for years, and porous ones such as TPE, TPR, jelly and soft PVC, which absorb moisture and cannot be fully sanitised. If you take one thing from this guide, make it that distinction.

Almost everything else follows from it. How a product feels in your hand, how long it survives, how you clean it and what it costs are all decided by what it is made of, not by how it looks in a photograph.

Two items can look nearly identical online and cost £12 and £120. You usually understand the difference within thirty seconds of holding both.

What does “body-safe” actually mean?

“Body-safe” is a retail description, not a legal category. In practice it describes a material that is non-porous, stable at body temperature, and cleanable without breaking down.

Because the phrase is unregulated, the material name matters more than the label. A listing that says “100% silicone”, “borosilicate glass” or “304 stainless steel” is telling you something specific. “Silicone blend”, “silicone-like”, “skin-safe rubber” or simply “jelly” usually means a soft porous plastic.

A UKCA or CE mark on a package relates to things like electrical safety requirements. It is a useful thing to understand, but it is not a statement about the surface touching your skin — that is what the named material tells you.

What does “porous” mean in practice?

A porous surface has microscopic gaps in it. Those gaps hold moisture and residue that washing does not fully reach, which is why porous items cannot be sterilised in the way a solid one can.

It also means they age. Soft porous plastics gradually release the plasticisers that keep them supple, which is what causes the sticky feel and faint chemical smell people notice after a few months. Our guide to phthalates and porous materials goes into what those softeners are and why the terminology on packaging can be so slippery.

2Silicone: soft, warm and the usual starting point

Silicone is non-porous, flexible, holds body heat rather than staying cold, and comes in firmness grades from marshmallow-soft to almost rigid. That combination is why it is the default recommendation for most people and most product types.

It feels slightly matte and grippy, sometimes described as skin-like without being sticky. Softer grades have more give and forgive a heavier hand; firmer grades transmit vibration more efficiently, which matters if you are comparing the different types of vibrators and wondering why two motors of the same rating feel so different.

Is all silicone the same?

No. Platinum-cure silicone is cured using a platinum catalyst and is the more chemically stable of the two common types; tin-cure silicone is cheaper to produce and can degrade faster. Both are non-porous, but the platinum-cure version is the one worth looking for on a listing.

We have written a much fuller explanation in body-safe silicone explained, including how to spot a blend described as pure.

Living with silicone

Solid silicone tolerates heat well, and non-motorised silicone items can usually be boiled briefly if the maker’s instructions allow it. Anything with a motor or a charging port should be washed by hand.

The two quirks worth knowing: silicone attracts dust and lint like nothing else, so it wants its own pouch rather than a shared drawer, and silicone lubricants can dull or soften some silicone surfaces. Water-based is the safe default, and which lubricant works with silicone covers how to patch test on the base before committing.

3Glass and stainless steel: firm, weighty and temperature-friendly

Glass and stainless steel are the longest-lasting sex toy materials available, entirely non-porous, and the only ones that meaningfully hold a temperature. They are also firm with no give at all, and considerably heavier than they look.

Quality glass items are made from borosilicate glass — the same family used for laboratory glassware and oven-safe dishes. Its thermal expansion coefficient is roughly a third that of ordinary soda-lime window glass, which is precisely why it copes with temperature changes without cracking.

Stainless steel is usually 304 or 316 grade. 316 contains added molybdenum for greater corrosion resistance; both grades contain nickel, typically around 8–10.5%. If you know you react to nickel in jewellery or watch backs, speak to your GP before choosing steel.

How do you use temperature safely?

Warm or cool the item in a bowl of water rather than with any direct heat source, and always test it against the inside of your wrist first. Avoid the freezer and boiling extremes — a comfortable bath temperature or a few minutes in the fridge is plenty.

Are glass items strong enough?

Borosilicate glass is far tougher than window glass, but it is not indestructible. Inspect the whole surface in good light before each use, and retire anything with a chip or hairline crack immediately rather than trying to smooth it.

Steel has no such worry. Its main constraint is weight — a solid piece can run to several hundred grams, which some people love and others find is simply too much.

4ABS plastic: rigid, easy to clean and the reason budget options exist

ABS is a hard, non-porous thermoplastic — acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, the same material family as Lego bricks. It is used for handles, control panels, bullets and hard-shell products, and it is both easy to wipe clean and inexpensive to mould.

Because it is rigid, ABS transmits vibration very directly. A hard-shell bullet often feels stronger than a soft silicone one running the same motor, simply because less energy is absorbed by the shell.

The trade-offs are that it stays cool to the touch, has no flex whatsoever, and can feel more clinical than silicone. Many products solve this by pairing an ABS core with a silicone outer — which is why it is worth reading a description twice to see which material is actually on the surface.

ABS shells are also where you will find charging ports and seams. Two guides worth having open when you compare hard-shell products are what waterproof ratings actually mean and battery and charging safety, because a seam that is splashproof is not the same as one you can submerge.

5TPE, TPR and jelly: why these need more care

TPE and TPR are soft thermoplastic elastomers, and jelly is a related soft PVC. All are porous, all are cheap to produce, and all should be treated as shorter-life items used with a barrier rather than as things you keep for years.

Their appeal is genuine: they are extremely soft, very stretchy and inexpensive, and they can be moulded into shapes rigid materials cannot manage. That is why they remain common at the lower end of the market.

The problems are equally real. The surface cannot be fully sanitised, it degrades when exposed to heat, oils or silicone lubricant, and over time the softeners migrate to the surface and leave it tacky. Some develop a persistent chemical smell that washing will not shift.

What about phthalates and UK rules?

Under UK REACH, several phthalates are restricted in children’s toys and childcare articles. Adult products do not fall within that definition, so the restriction does not automatically apply to them — which is exactly why a clearly named material is more reassuring than a marketing phrase.

Soft plastics also react with each other. Store them apart, never touching silicone or other soft items, or you can return to a drawer with melted patches — a scenario covered in storing your toys so they stay in good condition.

6Sex toy materials compared: feel, cleaning, lifespan and cost

Silicone offers the best all-round balance, glass and steel last longest, ABS is the value option, and soft porous plastics are the compromise choice. The table below sets out how they differ on the points that decide most purchases.

Material	How it feels	Cleaning	Typical lifespan	Typical UK price band	Best suited to
Silicone	Matte, slightly grippy, warms to body heat; soft to firm	Warm water and mild unscented soap; non-motorised pieces can often be boiled	Several years with normal care	£20–£60	Most people, most uses, first purchases
Borosilicate glass	Smooth, slick, firm; holds warmth or coolness	Easiest of all — non-absorbent and completely smooth	Indefinite unless chipped or dropped	£20–£50	Firm sensation and temperature use
Stainless steel	Slick, cold at first, noticeably heavy	Extremely easy; tolerates hot water well	Effectively a lifetime item	£40–£120	Weight, pressure and temperature
ABS plastic	Hard, smooth, stays cool; no flex	Wipe or wash by hand; avoid solvents	Limited by the motor, not the shell	£10–£30	Budget buys and strong, direct vibration
TPE, TPR and jelly	Very soft, stretchy, slightly tacky	Cannot be fully sanitised; use with a barrier	Months rather than years	£8–£25	Softness on a tight budget, replaced regularly

Price bands are indicative of the UK market generally rather than a quote, and they move with size and motor quality. As a rule, the material sets the floor and the electronics set the ceiling.

7How to choose the right material for you

Start with two questions: how firm do you want it to feel, and how much cleaning effort are you willing to give it? Those two answers narrow the field faster than any feature list.

If this is your first purchase

Choose silicone in a medium firmness. It is forgiving, easy to look after and hard to regret, which is why it anchors our complete UK starter guide for beginners as well.

If you want weight, pressure or temperature

Go for borosilicate glass or stainless steel. Glass is lighter and less expensive; steel gives you real heft. Neither has any flex, so if you are unsure about firmness, try glass before steel.

If your budget is tight

A well-made ABS item beats a soft porous one at the same price, because you can actually keep it clean. Spending £18 once tends to work out better than spending £10 twice.

When you are ready to compare specific pieces, you can filter by material across the full range at PurePleasure — every listing names what it is made from, because that is the detail this whole guide rests on.

8Cleaning, storing and knowing when to retire something

Wash with warm water and a mild unscented soap after every single use, dry the item completely, and store each piece separately. That routine covers every body-safe material here and takes under two minutes.

Non-motorised silicone, glass and steel can generally be boiled for two to three minutes where the manufacturer’s instructions allow it. Anything rechargeable is washed by hand only, with care around the charging contacts, and submerged only if its rating genuinely permits it.

Avoid alcohol wipes, bleach, abrasive scourers and anything solvent-based. They dull silicone, attack seals and can leave residue in exactly the places you least want it. Our step-by-step guide to cleaning sex toys properly breaks the routine down by material.

How do you know when to replace something?

Retire anything that has turned tacky, discoloured, cracked or chipped, or that has developed a smell washing will not remove. On a porous item, those changes are the material breaking down and cannot be reversed.

Many products arrive with their own pouch. If yours did not, keeping each piece separated and dust-free is what stops materials reacting against one another in storage.

If you want to go further, there are more materials & safety guides covering individual materials, cleaning routines and what the various ratings and markings on packaging actually mean.

Frequently asked questions