Lube for sex toys, the material rules.

Water based lube is safe with every sex toy. Silicone lube should stay off silicone toys, because it can degrade the surface. Oil is fine on silicone, glass and steel, and bad on porous toys like jelly or TPE, which soak it up. If you own one bottle for toys, make it water based with good numbers.

The toy materials.

Silicone. The standard for good toys. Nonporous, body safe, easy to clean, slightly grippy. Every toy on our index (We-Vibe, Dame, LELO, Womanizer, Satisfyer) is silicone.

Glass and stainless steel. Nonporous, hard, and they hold temperature. Work with every lube type and clean up with soap and water.

ABS plastic. The hard plastic on many vibrators and the base of many toys. Nonporous. Fine with every lube.

Porous materials. Jelly, rubber, PVC, TPE, TPR and the realistic skin materials. Cheap, soft, and full of microscopic pores that absorb lube, fluids and bacteria and cannot be sterilized. Use a condom over them, and use water based lube only.

The compatibility table.

Toy material	Water based lube	Silicone lube	Oil based lube
Silicone	Safe	Not recommended	Safe
Glass	Safe	Safe	Safe
Stainless steel	Safe	Safe	Safe
ABS plastic	Safe	Safe	Safe
Jelly, PVC, TPE, rubber	Safe, with a condom over the toy	Varies by material, check the label	Not recommended

Why silicone lube and silicone toys do not mix.

Silicone lube and silicone toys are made of the same family of polymers, and like dissolves like. The lube can bond with the toy's surface. The result, sometimes after one use and sometimes after a dozen, is a surface that goes tacky, swells, or breaks down. High quality platinum cure silicone resists it better than cheaper silicone, but most manufacturers advise against the combination, and a ruined toy costs more than a second bottle.

If you want to use the two together anyway, test a drop on the base of the toy, wait a day, and check for tackiness. If you only want one bottle, make it water based.

Oil and porous toys.

Oil is fine on nonporous materials. It wipes off silicone, glass and steel with soap. On porous toys it is a different story. Jelly, TPE and PVC absorb oil, the oil breaks the material down, and nothing you do afterward gets it out. The toy ends up sticky, smelly and impossible to clean.

Oil also has the condom problem. If you put a condom over a toy, which is the right move for any porous toy or any toy that gets shared, oil will break a latex or polyisoprene condom the same way it does on a body. Use water based lube on anything with a condom on it.

The body side of the equation.

A toy does not care about osmolality. Your tissue does. Whatever lube you use on a toy is also going inside you, so the same two numbers apply: osmolality ideally 380 mOsm/kg or under per the WHO, and a pH near 4.5 for vaginal use. Good Clean Love Almost Naked measures 240 to 269 mOsm/kg at pH 4.7. Sliquid Organics Natural measures 106 at pH 4.0 to 4.4. Both are safe on silicone, and both are gentle, which matters more with a toy than with a partner, because toys produce no lubrication of their own and sessions tend to run longer.

Uberlube, our silicone pick, is for glass, steel and ABS toys, and for skin. It has no osmolality to worry about and lasts the longest. Just keep it off the silicone ones.

One bottle or two.

If every toy you own is silicone, one bottle of low osmolality water based lube covers toys, condoms and partners, and there is nothing else to think about. If you own glass or steel toys, or you want silicone lube for its staying power with a partner, keep two bottles and keep them on different sides of the drawer. The mistake people make is reaching for whichever is closest. Label them if that helps.

Cleaning.

Warm water and mild soap after every use, for every material. Water based lube rinses off easily. Silicone lube needs soap, and a second pass if the toy still feels slick. Oil needs soap and patience on nonporous toys and does not come out of porous ones. Let toys dry fully before storing, and store them apart, because some soft materials react with each other when left touching.

If a toy, or the lube on it, leaves you with burning, pain, bleeding or an infection that keeps coming back, stop using both and see a clinician.

The toys themselves are covered in best couples vibrator and sex toys for couples.