Did you get yourself a new, tight fleshlight? Well. Congratulations. Your sex life is about to get better. However, better masturbation will come at a slight price – you will have to clean and maintain your fleshlight more than you did to your palm.

Since all that water-based lube and your cum end up in the fleshlight, cleaning your unit diligently is crucial if you want to keep it sanitary. After all, the fleshlight has nowhere to dump all those fluids. They will just sit there and fester if you don’t get rid of them.

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Why Do You Have to Clean Your Fleshlight

Well, let’s face it. Every time you use your fleshlight, you are either injecting nutrient-rich precum or even more potent semen into it if you use it to the very end.

That is a lot of nutrients, cells, and other cells for bacteria to ignore. Since there is no immune system in the fleshlight, bacteria will start growing and thriving within a day.

Next time you reach for your fleshlight, you will be sticking your dick into a gross, cold mess that can give you a nasty UTI.

So, the takeaway:

• Clean your fleshlight to keep it sanitary and useable. You won’t stomach the feel of sticking your penis into a cold mess of yesterday’s semen.
• It will help you avoid urinary tract infections.
• Even if you don’t ejaculate, the dampness from the lube will encourage mold growth.
• A clean fleshlight will last longer since it has no growing microbes and mold chipping away at its material.

How Often Should You Clean Your Fleshlight

Well. Real or DIY sex toys ought to be cleaned as often as possible. The bare minimum is after every use. This ensures that you store the toy in a pristine condition reducing the chance of any nastiness growing in it during the downtime.

However, the ideal cleaning frequency is right before and immediately after use. The before-use clean is a quick rinse that removes any dust or residual dirt you might have missed when cleaning after use.

The after-use powerwash removes all sexual fluids and prevents bacterial growth. It also lets you cure and seal the fleshlight’s surface for storage.

You have to disassemble your fleshlight for perfect cleaning. The sex toy has a hard outer case and a soft inner sleeve. The two come apart.

• Unscrew the bottom cap (the one on the end away from the penetration side used to control the toy’s suction force)
• Unscrew the other bigger cap on the penetration side that keeps the sleeve in place
• Hold the sleeve gently between your fingers and pull it out of the containing case.

How to Clean a Fleshlight Case

The outer shell is stiff plastic and very easy to clean. If you disassembled it well, you would have the long tubular body open on both sides, a small closed-end cap, and a big open-top cap.

We will clean this just as you would clean regular cups and utensils. 

• Rinse the three parts in warm running water first
• Take some soam and lather it all over the different parts of the toy paying attention to the bottom suction cup as it is possibly the messiest.
• Use your hands, a cleaning sponge, or a soft lint-free rag to clean the parts making sure to cover every part in soap suds.
• Rinse it again in running water and place it at a strategic spot to drip and air dry

Now it is time to put away all that soap and rinse your hands. Do it religiously, as any soap will ruin the inner sleeve of your pocket pussy.

How to Clean the Soft Inner Sleeve of Your Fleshlight

Ensure your hands are clean and dry from the previous step before moving on to the inner sleeve. With that out of the way, here is what to do.

• Get some water flowing and ensure it is not hot to your feel. The inner sleeve is made of SuperSkin, a human skin-like material that can’t tolerate a lot of heat
• Rinse the sleeve with the running warm water
• Direct the flow of the warm water in through one opening of the sleeve and let it run out through the other. Maintain the water flow for around 40 seconds to flush out the sex toy
• With the water still running, stick your finger into the Fleshlight’s sleeve and run it around to gently dislodge any cum or lube hiding within the sleeves. 
• Finger it gently to avoid any damage or microtears on the internal delicate structure
• Cup your hand over one end of the sleeve and let the running water fill up the channel in the toy 3/4 way with water
• Cup your second hand over the other hand and shake the entire thing around with the water still in it (as you would shake water in a bottle)
• Uncup both your hands and let the water flow away. You can give it a gentle shake to encourage the water away
• Spray some Fleshwash official Fleshlight cleaner spray to the inside and outside of the sleeve generously and let it sit for a few minutes to take effect

The Fleshwash cleaner is quite expensive, and the bill will rack up, especially if you use your Fleshlight often. The only benefit is you will have peace of mind knowing you are using an approved cleaner that won’t ruin your toy.

If you don’t have the money, you can cheap out and use cheaper, effective, and not really harmful 70% isopropyl alcohol.

• Cup one hand over one hole of the fleshlight sleeve and pour a small amount of the isopropyl alcohol into the fleshlight
• Slosh the alcohol around the fleshlight for around 30 seconds and ensure it covers every part of the inside to kill bacteria
• Pour out the alcohol 
• Apply some more of the isopropyl alcohol to the entrance and exit holes of the toy for further disinfection.

Warning: Go for strict isopropyl alcohol, not just any rubbing alcohol. Though the names are interchangeable, rubbing alcohol can have extra additives that will ruin your fleshlight.

How to Dry Your Fleshlight

The first step to drying all the parts of the fleshlight is standing them upright on a towel or a wire grate so that all the water drips down and away.

If you don’t want to use the toy urgently or store it away before moving on, air drying could be the most hands-off and simplest approach to the problem

• Stand the outer shell and its parts on a wire stand or a clean towel and let it dry. You can pat the ouside dry to accelerate the process
• Stand the inner sleeve on the same surface and let them dry out.

You can hasten the air drying process by using a fan to encourage faster airflow around the area. Alternatively, you could use an air dryer on a low setting and at a foot or two away from the combo to blow warm, dry hair over the toy parts for faster drying.

ProTip: The rate at which the toy dries (especially the inside of the sleeve) depends on the design, how many crevices it has and your ambient humidity, temperature, and airflow.

Air drying for up to 8 hours is the safest and risk-free way to ensure you don’t harm your toy by trying to hasten the process with towels or hot air.

How to Refresh Your Fleshlight

After a couple of sessions with your fleshlight, the SuperSkin might start feeling a bit tacky and sticky. Even though this makes it harder to keep the toy clean and it doesn’t feel as good, it is normal, and Fleshlight has a simple trick to remedy the problem – cornstarch.

You can buy Fleshlight’s renewing powder, which is just 100% cornstarch, or go for the purest and softest cornstarch you can get in any store.

 – Use your fingers to ensure the Fleshlight’s sleeve is bone dry after cleaning. You never want to apply the cornstarch even on the slightest dampness

• Apply a liberal coating of the cornstarch all over the sleeve (inside and outside)
• Gently your fingers to rub it in. Not too vigorously. You don’t want it to disappear into the material
• Replace the sleeve with the outer cover and reapply the lids
• Store your fleshlight in a cool and dry place.

Can I Use Sex Toy Cleaner to Clean the Fleshlight?

No. Don’t use sex toy cleaners – especially on the sleeve. While you could use it as a replacement to soap when cleaning the outer shell, you won’t get any added advantage.

Applying it on the inner sleeve will ruin the soft skin material leaving it tacky and degraded. 

• No sex toy cleaners
• No soap on the inner sleeve
• No hand sanitizer as it has additives to the isopropyl alcohol that could ruin the sleeve

Should You Turn the Sleeve Inside Out When Cleaning?

Some people recommend turning the sleeve inside out to clean the textured inner crevices better. This isn’t necessary if you run enough water through and use your finger well from both ends to coax any residue out.

Turning it inside out could actually introduce microtears. Doing it often will shorten your fleshlight’s lifespan.

I won’t deny it, though. It could lead to better cleaning making your toy more sanitary. But again, you can kill bacteria or mold by drying your toy well and using sufficient Fleshwash cleaner or isopropyl alcohol.

How to Clean a Moldy Fleshlight

Your fleshlight will grow mold if you store it dirty, close it up when it is still damp, or store it in a moist place.

Avoid such scenarios at all costs because getting it back is almost impossible once a fleshlight goes Moldy.

The problem with mold is that it is hard to kill without using harsh cleaners. With the fleshlight’s delicate material, these cleaners will either:

• Be too harsh and ruin the fleshlight
• It will not be harsh enough to penetrate all the pores where the mold spores are seated

Chances are your cleaning efforts will be superficial, no matter how thorough, and the mold will grow again from some stray spores.

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The best thing is to try as much as you can to prevent the mold from growing in the first place by properly cleaning your unit at all times.