Benedict Cumberbatch has played various iconic roles, but in his recent movie "Power"...

No time to die marks Daniel Craig’s last outing as the iconic 007 Agent James Bond,...

Picture: John Rintoul, styling: Arrnott Olssen. Speaking of buying a new pair of men’s swimwear...

Cricket Test captain Tim Payne readily admits that he is one of Australia’s luckiest athletes...

The name "Strongman" implies a superhuman sense of power. Marvel’s latest superhero may be...

Matie Fricker, 39, has a strict company policy: When customers return sex toys, they must wear gloves.

At her Self Serve Toys store in Albuquerque, New Mexico, people don't often return sex toys. But when they did, she said it was easy to tell if the toy was not clean. They are usually decorated with pubic hair, mini-dust rabbits and dried body fluids.

"If they didn't wash the toy before bringing it back, I can't imagine that they would wash it while using it," Flick said.

Fricker told Men's Health that although most of her customers come to the store and want to know how to take care of their toys, some customers seem to be indifferent to the hygiene of sex toys. One of her clients is a long-distance truck driver, and he doesn't want to worry about cleaning sex toys all the time. She recalled that he wanted to know "the magical number of times he can ejaculate in a sex toy, and putting the penis in the toy again will not be dangerous to him."

Related: These are the hottest sex toy trends in Australia

Shockingly, the truck driver is not alone. According to a 2017 survey by adult supermarket Adam & Eve, only 57% of men clean sex toys after use. More than one-third of men never clean their sex toys. This is a big problem, because experts say that not cleaning sex toys, especially porous toys like Fleshlight or other pets, may have some worrying consequences.

For men, using the same sex toy without washing off the semen can cause skin and yeast infections. Men with uncircumcised penis are more susceptible to yeast infections because bacteria may be trapped under the foreskin. Over time, this bacteria will grow and enter the male urethra, the part of the penis that carries semen.

"You inject 98.6 degrees of semen into the toy. This is the source of life," Frick said. "When semen leaves the body, it will be expelled at a rate of 28 miles per hour. There are a lot of biological matter'hot in the pocket', so it is just a secret for the growth of bacteria."

Related: 9 things all sex shop employees want you to know

Some sex toys are easier to clean than others. Non-porous toys such as glass stoppers and stainless steel dildos do not absorb any liquid, so they are easy to wash off with soap and water. On the other hand, porous toys like masturbation kits and penis rings are softer and more elastic, so they have tiny pores that can absorb almost anything, including bacteria.

The length of time a sex toy can be used before it can’t be used depends on different factors, such as humidity in the storage area and frequency of use, but just like clothes or shoes, the more you use a sex toy, the faster it will wear out. When it’s dirty When sex toys contain bacteria, they begin to decompose.

“If it’s not cleaned properly, sex toys will actually degrade over time, becoming less effective and less pleasant,” said 35-year-old Andy Durham, a male sex toy based in Devizes. Co-founder of Toys 4 Naughty Boys, a supplier of toys and equipment. ,U.K. To make matters worse, you may not notice it right away-the idea of ​​using dirty sex toys and inserting the same bacteria into your body over and over again, well, not completely sexy.

Related: 7 ways to keep your relationship hot

If you share sex toys with your partner and do not clean the toys, you may be at risk of sexually transmitted infections (STI), such as HPV or hepatitis infections, which can survive outside the body for several days at room temperature. "The gold standard is that if you use a toy partner-to-partner on people's genitals, it's better to have separate toys," Flick said. If you do share sex toys with your partner, you should always use condoms. Do not use mouth-to-mouth sex toys (that is, do not use it on the penis after anal use).

So how often should you wash disposable toys? Fricker and Durham recommend cleaning your sex toy after each use. Durham added that sex toys with hard-to-reach crevices or toys that are “inserted into a place where the sun is not shining”—that is, your butt, which is full of feces and other bacteria—may require additional cleaning time. Durham recommends cleaning toys with mild soap and water or antibacterial sex toy cleaners.

Related: 20 Greatest Sex Tips for Men's Health

Frick's teaching philosophy for customers? Never put your penis anywhere you don't want to touch it with your mouth, and treat your sex toy like any other expensive item.

"If you plan to buy a very good computer or video game, then you will also buy everything you need to maintain it," she said.

This article originally appeared on American Men's Health

Sign up for exercise, meals and other activities!

As the countdown to Christmas begins, balancing the inevitable work deadlines and handling life and family commitments before the summer can be stressful. After another year of lockdown and uncertainty, many of us feel that we are climbing to the end...

Of course, you may want to have six pack abs in time in the summer to be able to do muscle exercises to impress your friends, or to avoid the embarrassment of being caressed when you take off your shirt. But what really inspires you to stay in shape may be more...

Although it seems that everyone with a pulse now has a podcast, few can match the success of Rich Roll. This corporate lawyer born as a swimmer always hopes that the health we see today will reach its peak. His fragility and strength have inspired many others...

Will Smith is no stranger to telling the truth. As one of Hollywood's most profitable movie stars, the actor continues to attract audiences, and he increasingly gives fans a glimpse of the personal life that was once protected. Celebrities tend to avoid...

Photography: ROWAN FEE, JOBE LAWRENSON, MAX OPPENHEIM From speculators to financiers and technology...

If you don’t know the importance of November, then you just need to check your...

Politix When Lady Gaga appeared on the stage of the 2010 MTV Music Video Awards, she wore all kinds of...

In recent years, it has been promoted to see governments and companies take immediate climate action...

You only need to look at Chris Hemsworth to know that this is someone who devotes most of his time to...

Advertising inquiry: sales@menshealth.com.au

Edit query: contact@menshealth.com.au

Subscription query: subs@paragonmedia.com.au