There’s all this talk on condoms and toys with phthalates . I’ve been blog-hopping and have read a lot of different takes and it seems there really is a lot of confusion, in the industry and with our customers.

So I feel like I should break it down.

Good Vibrations suggests that our customers use condoms on all porous toys (or any toy you are sharing with multiple partners). The main reason for this is that once you use a porous toy (i.e. a toy that is NOT silicone, coated wood, metal, acrylic, or glass) bacteria can get into the pores in that material. When you use this toy again that same bacteria will be re-introduced to your sensitive areas. There is no way to keep these porous toys clean and bacteria free. One of GV’s values is to offer a wide-range of sex toys that anybody wanting to buy a sex toy can afford. This means vibrators for $12, for $200 and even for $1500.

Many of the $12-$30 vibrators (and some $80 vibrators) are made in porous materials yet we still see the importance of access to pleasure and sexuality. Our solution to the porous/bacteria issue is to offer inexpensive “toy condoms”. Not only do we have these for sale but we also include a few of these barriers with each purchase of a porous toy so our customers can start using their porous toy without worry.

Now, bring in phthalates. There is no proof that condoms protect against exposure to phthalates. Yet there is no proof that they don’t. Yet there is no proof that they do.

What to do?

We, here at GV, decided the risk wasn’t worth it. We are phasing out all our toys with phthalates by October 1st, 2007. We are quickly working with vendors to provide our best sellers in a phthalate-free material or looking for suitable replacements. We acknowledge that some great selling are going to go away but we are dedicated to finding other, phthalate-free versions for our customers. And we have been pleasantly surprised to find that some items we thought had phthalates, in fact, do not! It’s been a very rewarding research project and one that, thankfully, some key manufacturers have been supportive of.

Others – not so much. But that’s another story.

So to break it down – condoms are great to keep bacteria of your sex toy. Buying phthalate-free sex toys is a great way to keep phthalates out of your vagina and anus or any other place you’d use a sex toy.

To make sure you are avoiding phthalates just look for the icon! We’ve made sure to include it on any vibrator or dildo that is phthalate-free. You can also ask one of our SESAs at the stores or via our live help at Live Help or you can email us at customerservice@goodvibes.com with your question.

And though we are well on our way, come October 1st, 2007 we will totally phthalate-free!

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