Ali express?

Yzrocket

Tourist
Ordered some toys from there and I'm nervous about using them on my wife... anyone have experience with them? Here's what we are waiting on? Do I trust they are safe? Any help is appreciated.
 

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It does not look much different from any other similarly sized abstract toy. So as long as you are used to other toys of this size, there will likely be no difference.
The only thing that might not be safe is the material which could be uncomfortable if it is pvc and not silicone for example.
 
AliExpress is just a marketplace. Nobody can guarantee you that the materials used are safe for medical use (and as such prolonged contact with mucous membranes as example).

But you could check if it is at least made from silicone and not some cheap plastic with chemical softeners (often toxic or cancerous) by taking a nail, heating it to visible glowing through heat radiation by a gas torch, holding it with a clamp and touching as example a small dimple which is not needed anymore, like a production remaining of injection into molds.

If it melts or burns, it's most probably not silicone. If it gets brittle and breaks down, lowers in size, it's most probably silicone. Shouldn't smell like rubber as well.

That's as much as you can do without further analysis.
 
I bought some cheap "gel" toys when I was young and stupid and it was pretty clear they weren't safe and made of plastic not silicone, they smelt bad and the surface of them always felt oily no matter how much I tried to wash them. I left them in a box against a Fleshlight case (tough ABS plastic), and they melted a holes through the damn case.

Ali Express is a market place like Amazon or Ebay, so the seller or product might be good and not actually be Chinese, but I would look at reviews of that product for any complaints. As @YanchaOkami said it's hard to tell if it's platinum silicone, but silcone rubber is very resistant to heat (up to 300c/570f), so you could try put it in boiling water, if it starts going bad or changing shape it's cheap plastic and not silicone. Also the cheap plastic gel toys I had were perfectly clear like coloured glass, whereas silicone before adding colour is a frost white.
 
.. so you could try put it in boiling water, if it starts going bad or changing shape it's cheap plastic and not silicone. Also the cheap plastic gel toys I had were perfectly clear like coloured glass, whereas silicone before adding colour is a frost white.
Boiling water only works with low-temperature thermoplastics, it doesn't soften the usually used food-grade safe ones like PET, PP enough. But those are very robust and pressure-resistant without additives (which would be dangerous in most cases as those plastics are as well resistant to most softeners effects).

A cheap regulating solder iron which starts at around 180 to 230°C would be perfect on lowest temperature set. On highest set it will even make silicone brittle (same with unregulated ones which often reach 360 to 400°C). That degrades even silicone over a few seconds of direct contact.

About the coloring:; Unfortunately not a precise indicator, as there are silicone types made for especially clear optical properties. They are just not common for medical-grade silicone, as in this usage they usually get either colored or can have the frosted milk glass effect without problems.


The "oiling" cheap toy.. oof. Sounds like its softeners (chemicals with quite strong irritating or even cancerous properties, sometimes directly poisonous on skin contact) were strong enough to soften the usually brittle-hard ABS to a point where it failed to keep its consistence.
 
You have to be careful with cheaper toys , they can be made from cheaper or unsafe materials if you have prolonged skin contact , it's better to save a bit longer and get something higher quality ,toys add with higher quality silicone will last alot longer too and will be less likely to tear or break if repeatedly flexed and stretched
 
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