CARNAL NATION

Glass sex toys, primarily dildos, have been on the market for years. Recently, they have become very popular due to the ‘green’ sex toy movement that promotes the use of body-safe materials. Glass tops the list.  So, why are glass sex toys so popular these days?

Glass is made from silica (or sand), a natural occurring element that is environmentally friendly and 100% recyclable.  So this makes it (along with wood and ceramic sex toys) a popular choice among “green” enthusiasts who want to leave a less formidable carbon footprint on the earth. Not only is glass good for the planet, but it is body-friendly as well.  This means that glass (unlike jelly and some other sex toy materials) is non-porous, hypoallergenic, easy to sterilize, and phthalate-free. Glass sex toys are very beautiful, which may be their biggest allure, and many are objets d’art in their own right, thus equally at home in a display case as well as your sex toy drawer. While most glass toys are affordable (though they represent more of a luxury sex toy than, say, your old jelly dong), some do sell for hundreds of dollars.

There is actually no material that can quite compare to the feeling of glass. Its cool, sleek surface feels amazing when used for penetration and requires very little lubricant. Glass also transmits temperature well, so it’s the perfect sex toy for cooling down or heating up for trying various sensations. Finally, although you might think glass would be “too” hard of a material for a sex toy, think again. Although glass is very firm (and hard) this actually works in its favor, as the G-spot responds best to firm sex toys, and some of the very best G-spot toys are made of glass.

But, are glass sex toys really that safe?  After all, glass can break; won't glass sex toys break, too?

Broken Glass Horror Story

Recently, a fellow sex toy reviewer told me her horror story about using a glass sex toy. Just after she had used the toy, it broke in two, leaving “two sharp pieces of broken glass” in her hand.

I picked it up from a drawer and took it from its pouch. I was running my fingers over it and considering washing it then inserting it when it broke in my hand.  [I was] upset. Disappointed because now it's useless. Angry because I was denied the pleasure of using it again. Relieved that it wasn't inserted when it broke…  Had I worn it, it might have broken while it was inside me. If that little piece of broken glass had migrated I could be writing this review from the emergency room…

“[Although] I would not spend money on an E-Glass product now… I don't want to give anyone the impression that E-Glass is not a reputable company or that it isn't safe to purchase their glass products. I do want to share my experience with the E-Glass Petite Plug, however. Since caveat emptor is the prevailing principle in American commerce, I think that it's important to share my experience with various products: the good, the bad and the ugly. [However] I prefer companies like Dream Toys Glassworks, RubyGlass21, and Phallix. Their products haven't disappointed me in any way and their prices are often surprisingly low.

—Sexorcism (sex toy reviewer)

I have used glass sex toys many times and was alarmed to hear Sexorcism’s story. It frightened me enough to want to investigate glass sex toy manufacturing myself. So, I asked the Product Manager of a retail Sex Toy Company (which preferred to remain anonymous) for the scoop:

We used to sell E-Glass products and had many complaints and requests for refunds (more E-Glass returns than any other glass manufacturer).  They would arrive to the customer broken with the liquid leaking all over the rest of their order [with] lots of small sharp shards of glass.  More recently, there have been returns of the "bubble" types of glass toys where they will break at the point where the bubbles join together.  One complaint I remember vividly as she said it broke when she was actually using it, thank goodness she was not injured.

The best glass sex toys in my opinion would be the solid Pyrex toys that are made in the USA and are carefully prepared and examined before they leave the manufacturer.

—Karen, Product Manager, Sex Toy Company