Cleaning (new & used) Equipment

Thermometer after any use, oral or rectal: cotton swab with alcohol.

Other equipment, including enema nozzles and dildos: wash with soap or soapy water.

The silicone dildo my wife uses for pegging me tends to "smell" a bit after use, even if washed. Boiling it clears the issue.

I use bleach. A good few squirts into a washing up bowl plus water. Then soak the bag, tubes and nozzle for at least an hour before thoroughly rinsing.

With the double balloon nozzle I soak the nozzle ends in bleach and clean the rest, including inflation bulbs, with alcohol swabs.

My wife uses some Listerine to clean the bag and nozzles after use. We bought a gallon jug of it at Costco some time ago and it seems to work really well. This is the original flavor that I hate to use as mouthwash anyway so I guess it is being put to good use.

Help me understand something about cleaning equipment. The recommendations in this forum surely clean and disinfect the equipment, but when couples share rimming or other oral anal sex, this level of cleanliness is not possible. If the nozzles etc. are used by exclusive partners, why should they be sterilized? We simply wash with soap and rinse thoroughly with hot water.

I have only ever washed mine with antibacterial hand soap and allowed the soapy water to drain through the hose and nozzle. I have noticed no residue in anything. Does this sound like a sufficient method or do I need to start adding a few drops of chlorine bleach to the solution?

PiperBratt, I occasionally put 1 cup of bleach and anti bacterial soap in it then fill it with warm water till bag about full. Then I open clamp and get solution all the way through tubing and let soak for a few hrs. Occasionally open clamp to let some new solution through tubing. Then give it a thorough rinsing with warm water. Great time to wipe out tub too. Works great and cleans two things at the same time. Hope this helps.

Take care, Mike

I don't boil it.

Just take it fully apart and wash it thoroughly.

If you have any doubts hot water with a little bleach should solve it.

The important thing is to make sure it's cleaned (run water through the hose and wash the nozzles) and dried out as quickly as practical. Having damp equipment sitting around guarantees microbe growth. A more thorough wash every so often is good as well.

If you've been sick, are immunocompromised, or share equipment then a more thorough cleaning and sanitization/sterilization is in order, but remember it is almost impossible to sterilize/sanitize something if it isn't clean first.

Check your materials first - some materials can't be boiled and some will degrade with exposure to various chemicals, and if it's porous (rubber, vinyl) don't kid yourself that it can be sterilized.

Since I am the only one using it I clean with hot soapy (Ivory) water. The main exception is when I use 10% bleach in the bag before putting it away.

As a single equipment user, right after use, everything is put in soak for a minimum of an hour. All surface areas are covered, inside and out, with soak solution. Hot tap water, Dawn equivalent dishwashing liquid, and 10% bleach are used. Metal equipment may have corrosion issues due to the bleach, so limited soak times are advisable.

After soaking, everything is washed with a paper towel and/or washcloth, using hot tap water and Dr.Bronners mild liquid soap. A final rinse with copious amounts of suitable clean water is done, and all surfaces, inside and out, are covered/wiped down with 70%-91% Isopropyl alcohol, for quick drying. All equipment is hung or laid out to dry, and then stored appropriately.

If there is a different equipment user, the same appropriately cleaned and stored equipment may be used, with one additional step. A High-Level Disinfectant solution, as used in the medical field, may be purchased from eBay or other sources. It can be used to disinfect equipment, in some cases as little as a 10 minutes soak time. Always ensure that all manufacturers instructions and recommendations, for using High-Level Disinfectant solutions, are understood and followed.

Put away after use pretty quickly,before using again ,use a little bleach and hot water and run through bag, hose, and nozzles

If there is a different equipment user, the same appropriately cleaned and stored equipment may be used, with one additional step. A High-Level Disinfectant solution, as used in the medical field, may be purchased from eBay or other sources. It can be used to disinfect equipment, in some cases as little as a 10 minutes soak time. Always ensure that all manufacturers instructions and recommendations, for using High-Level Disinfectant solutions, are understood and followed.

A pressure canner, 15lbs for 15-20 minutes, will work for equipment that will tolerate the heat and doesn't have the chemical risks of cold sterile stuff. If you need something sterile then always follow the first (second? somewhere up there) commandment: It can't be sterile until it's clean. Very clean. Clean first, then sterilize.

My bag being a 4qt, after this purchase,hanging to dry the bag is flat and not really able to dry, so got a clothes hanger, actually a pants hanger, removed the paper rod in the center, bent the two ends of hanger together,then curled the ends to a 3” hook, slide it in the bag. Now the insides are not touching. One could use most anything for the same effect.

J

From time to time I rinse my bag, hose, and nozzle with dish soap with a little bleach added. I prefer an open top bag because after each use I rinse it and I can stuff a hand towel in it to dry it. I believe it helps keep it clean and prolongs the life. My bag is rubber.

I think the use of bleach is probably OK for cleaning enema bags, nozzles, tubing, catheters, dildos, butt plugs et. However, Everybody needs to understand that bleach is mostly a mild acid (hypochloric acid, to be specific). Its acidic properties enable it to do its job well. What is not well known is that bleach is a cousin of hydrochloric acid, one of the three most corrosive inorganic acids used by chemists and industry to break down other compounds to create commercial products. (The other two are nitric acid and sulfuric acid.) Manufacturers of bleach have strict quality controls to insure that their bleach products don't contain or are contaminated by these other acids.

If bleach works well for you in cleaning your equipment, then fine. However, if it causes problems, then you may want to consider distilled vinegar as a cleaning agent. Vinegar is mostly acetic acid - a weak acid. It is something that won't hurt you if you spill some on you, and is less corrosive than bleach.

Just keep cycling warm to hot water through the bag itself til it all comes out. If it's really caked on a SOFT dish mop may be needed.

A little bleach is a good thing especially before using your bag on someone else

Just take the fittings and hoses completely apart and clean each piece individually Take the time to do it right and it's fine

Common bleach is a strong oxidizer and that is how it disinfects/sanitizes rather than its acid properties. The chemical formula is NaOCL, so the only commonality with hydrochloric acid (HCL aq.) is the chlorine. It is an oxidizer, so especially in strong concentrations can degrade materials such as rubber. In dilute concentrations (10% is common for sanitizing) it shouldn't be a problem.

What you might want to do is get a small aquarium pump and thread the air tube into your closed top bag. That would help it to dry quickly.

I use vinegar, bleach scares me for that use!

I've not had problems with mold but do notice that my amber hoses turn a dark opaque color. What causes that and is there anyway to remove it?

Could be either age or water possibly, suggest replacing them if needed. Some hardware stores have surgical rubber.

Reading this, it seems a good argument for open top silicone bags or stainless steel cans. The bacteria that grow inside bags, hoses and the like are probably not good to inject. Of course, since it's "black stuff," it could be mold (THAT's scary), or something entirely benign. I opt, at this late stage in my life, to be more careful rather than less careful...

White vinegar--250ml vinegar for 1.75ml water...run it through the bag and nozzle, take it all apart and let it air dry. I do this after each session. And yes, open top is the best, imho.

I am a fan of vinegar to clean bag, I use a lot of vintage bags so a good soak in a bleach bath, and a good shake with peroxide and then a good soak in dr. Bonners soap. Very picky about keeping things clean!

Cleaning used equipment :

I just got an entire used enema kit online. It is a black Klystra bag (rubber?)and ribbed tubing with those giant silicone inflatable nozzles that seem to be the only inflatable nozzles around these days.

I don't want to use any of it at all unless I am sure it is 100% clean. I have searched for though some threads here and have seen people say anti bacterial soap or bleach is the way to go but I figured I would seek a fresh opinion. I like the idea of bleach but I don't want to damage anything. Is it safe for both rubber and silicone? Anyone have any tips or tricks to recommend here would be greatly appreciated.

I wouldn't trust bleach. You need to have it sterile, or pretty darn close, to be safe.

It is unlikely that you can ever effectively sterilize rubber with chemical means because it is slightly porous.

It would be a risk, but I'd load it in a pressure cooker at 15lbs for 20 minute (officially you only need 15, but the extra 5 makes up for any mistakes). Don't let the bag contact the metal bottom, use the pressure canning false bottom. After it's done you have the question of how to dry out the balloons - I'd say set it up so that the openings are above the water line, then pack it in desiccant for a couple weeks.

I wouldn't trust bleach. You need to have it sterile, or pretty darn close, to be safe.

It is unlikely that you can ever effectively sterilize rubber with chemical means because it is slightly porous.

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Bleach will kill everything. Soaked in the correct dilution (which isnt' that much), It may degrade the rubber but shouldn't. If it's rubber, they can be boiled to sterilize.

I have been doing enemas for over 50 years and have used hot water and soap then air dry. I have never had a problem with any kind of bowel infection. Many here do sterilize using different methods but I have not gone to those lengths. It never hurts to be super clean and be very thorough in your cleaning practices.

I may have been lucky not to have any problems just using a hot water and soap regimen, but then again 50+ years is a long time to be lucky.

I use soap and alaminol some times.

You can use sodium hypochlorite solutions. Soak all the equipment for a shorter or longer period, then rinse well and let it air dry. If you want to be sure that any trace of chlorine has disappeared, you just need to heat the equipment immersed in water even at low temperature (40/50 °) (the chlorine is completely neutralized by the heat). I do so.

Sodium Hypochlorite will eventually destroy most rubber products. Bleach products work by oxidizing the materials they come in contact with, and that includes rubber, plastics, spores, viruses and bacteria. This is why the main use is on metal, and other hard surface materials and places. Generally rubber and similar products cannot survive autoclaving, and while soaking in alcohol does work, but it takes a long time (hours, not minutes or seconds). There is another class of products, the 'hyde' products will work, and will not damage rubber products, such as Formaldehyde, which is not suitable for this application, it smells horrible and is very likely a carcinogen, Glutaraldehyde (frequently used) or Ortho-phthalaldehyde. (also frequently used). Whatever you use these on, should be well rinsed with water before use to remove all traces of these compounds however. There is another class, the Iodophors such as povidone-iodine, however like sodium hypochlorite, these products will eventually damage many plastic and rubber products by oxidizing them. Lastly there are Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs), although these products have only limited effect on mycobacteria such as TB and microbial spores. That really isn't much of an issue in this application because infections mycobacteria are not commonly seen outside a health care setting.