The New Intimacy

What the heck is this (really) made of?

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Contributor: LQ LQ
Related to: 
Devinn Lane's pleasure pal
(I posted this in the Materials forum, but it doesn't seem too active over there, so figured I'd try here.)

I have this vibe & was pondering reviewing it, but I was looking at the info. on it & I got confused. The EF info. says it's made of jelly. I bought it elsewhere & my box says "Pthalate-Free PVC." The materials information guide here tells me that jelly is actually the same thing as PVC (both being polyvinyl chloride), which would make them both unsafe (both safety rated as 2). However, the guide says Pthalate-Free PVC is safety rated 8. Soo...

A)What the heck is the silly thing made of?

B) Is there a special version of PVC that is made without pthalates for use in things where it would matter? Such as sex toys? (And, if so, why are companies still making the old pthalate-y stuff?) This vibe only smelled plasticy when I very first opened it & the odor went away quickly. It wasn't greasy-feeling & I haven't had any problems with it.

C) I haven't had toys until recently, but from what I recall from friends & stores, I associate jelly with being super-squishy & PVC with pipes. Yet, this vibe is notably firm. Does jelly come in different levels of firmness? I've avoided some jelly toys that looked interesting more because I thought they would be floppy than due to safety reasons. (If I like them, I'll use a condom & I'm not sharing, so no biggie).

Anyone able to clarify a bit?
10/07/2011
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Contributor: indiglo indiglo
Your best bet is to drop Al Bloom (the CalExs rep) an email and ask him all these questions. He's super helpful, and could probably answer all of them for you, since he's actually from the company that manufactures the product. Hope this helps!
10/07/2011
Contributor: LQ LQ
Quote:
Originally posted by indiglo
Your best bet is to drop Al Bloom (the CalExs rep) an email and ask him all these questions. He's super helpful, and could probably answer all of them for you, since he's actually from the company that manufactures the product. Hope this helps!
Ah, thanks. I will do that.

(I actually just got a couple jelly toys today & they feel like what I was thinking of as jelly- very squishy & smelly & totally different from the one I'm asking about. So, I'm quite curious.)

Thanks for pointing me the right direction.
10/07/2011
Contributor: Neurogasm Neurogasm
Good to know about Al Bloom. I'll keep that in mind next time I get puzzled. I find myself rather baffled by a lot of PVC toys that are also phthalate-free. It's hard to find two sites that say the same thing because of different versions/models of the toy being made of different materials. /headspin Thanks for the advice though, indiglo!
10/07/2011
Contributor: Ghost Ghost
PVC = jelly. I wish they were more clear on this kind of thing, but that will never change.
10/08/2011
Contributor: LQ LQ
Quote:
Originally posted by Ghost
PVC = jelly. I wish they were more clear on this kind of thing, but that will never change.
Does jelly come in different thicknesses, then? I just got a couple jelly toys & they're floppy, squishy, smelly, oily, etc. The Purple People Eater or whatever it's called is very firm, no smell, no oil, etc. Thus the confusion. (The site where I bought it actually calls it "jelly-rubber, so maybe it's some mixture of materials?)
10/08/2011
Contributor: Ghost Ghost
Quote:
Originally posted by LQ
Does jelly come in different thicknesses, then? I just got a couple jelly toys & they're floppy, squishy, smelly, oily, etc. The Purple People Eater or whatever it's called is very firm, no smell, no oil, etc. Thus the confusion. (The ... more
PVC can be made with other chemicals mixed in and can thus come out with slightly different properties. Just think about PVC piping: very hard and rigid, versus "jellies" (those ugly shoes from the 80's), which are a different PVC formulation.
10/08/2011
Contributor: Wild Orchid Wild Orchid
PVC is a hard material so to make a soft toy out of it you need to add plasticizers. Phthalates are some of the cheapest plasticizers so some companies use them excessively to cut production costs. It's possible your toy was made with some safer, more stable plasticizer. It doesn't disintegrate visibly (stopped smelling, no grease) so it won't leach as much chemicals into the body (if any).
10/08/2011
Contributor: LQ LQ
Quote:
Originally posted by Ghost
PVC can be made with other chemicals mixed in and can thus come out with slightly different properties. Just think about PVC piping: very hard and rigid, versus "jellies" (those ugly shoes from the 80's), which are a different PVC formulation.
Ahh, okay, that makes perfect sense & was exactly what I was thinking about. Thanks much.
10/08/2011
Contributor: LQ LQ
Quote:
Originally posted by Wild Orchid
PVC is a hard material so to make a soft toy out of it you need to add plasticizers. Phthalates are some of the cheapest plasticizers so some companies use them excessively to cut production costs. It's possible your toy was made with some safer, ... more
Aha! I always wondered why the phthalates were in there if they're so objectionable. I'm learning a lot today! Thanks.
10/08/2011