The best freebie I've ever gotten from writing about sex at Cosmo doesn't vibrate, isn't eight inches long and four inches wide, and it isn't a pair of $800 Italian leather BDSM wristcuffs. The best thing I've ever gotten by far is this boring sex toy lockbox, because it makes sanitizing and cleaning everything in my apartment as easy as slamming the lid and walking away.
Meet the UVee system. Marketed as an easy way to sanitize, store, and charge sex toys all in one, the UVee uses UV-C light to disinfect toys beyond what normal soap and water can do — it actually disrupts and destroys the cells' DNA. The system's germicidal UV-C light has been tested to kill 99.9% of germs that can cause infections and are commonly found on adult toys.
I have the UVee GO Play (the smaller version that retails for $120), but they also make a larger version for $180 called the UVee Home. The case even has a combination lock on it, so you can keep nosy visitors out, and the markings and logo on the case do not give away its adult oriented use.
Shop Now GO Play, UVEE (Available at Babeland), $120
Obviously, sex toy cleaning is incredibly important. This jarring 2014 study that found that HPV was still detectable on some sex toys even after cleaning. Dr. Deborah Wilson, an OB-GYN in Arizona with over 30 years of experience, notes that she often sees patients in her practice with vaginal infections from "less-than-adequately-sterilized adult toys." In particular, she says, the UVee's UV-C's light can be important tool for getting rid of bacteria like E. Coli that are normally harder to get rid of.
Unfortunately, it can be a huge pain in the ass to clean sex toys, since there isn't an umbrella one-stop solution that works for every item. Non-electronic toys made of glass and steel can be placed in boiling water, certain dildos can be put in the dishwasher, and silicone and jelly toys should always be washed with warm water and antibacterial soap. But each method has their downsides. Who really has the luxury of time to boil their sex toys on the regular or run a sex-toy only dishwasher load? Especially when you live with roommates, the idea of climaxing and then tip-toeing thru your living room and kitchen to stealthily wash something in the bathroom sink just feels like A Whole Thing. With the UVee, you just have to wipe off any visible residue (it'll kill germs but won't un-stick lubrication etc.), and pop it into the case.
And while it might be marketed to clean sex toys, I actually use it for disinfecting other household items. When I first took it home, I didn't even make it to my bedroom before I got so distracted by the idea of putting my TV remote, cell phone cases, and earbuds in the case to clean. It was so easy! There are no buttons to press or settings to fiddle with. You just open the case, put whatever you're cleaning in there, close it, watch for the blue UVee logo on the side to light up, and when the light goes off, boom, your item has been sanitized. Open up the case and get ready to smell the sweet, sweet smell of ionized A/C air and enjoy your new clean item. There are no wires for the UVee either. A simple micro USB cable charges it, and then it's totally wireless so you can plop your lazy ass down on the sofa and cycle through sanitizing all your makeup brushes and hairbrushes without being tied to an outlet.
The UVee really is the 'set it and forget it' crock pot of sanitizing. You don't even need to clean it between uses. Martz says if you somehow get it dirty (say you didn't heed the advice to wipe off all physical residue before), you can use a soft damp cloth to wipe it down, but otherwise there are no filters, no parts to disassemble and wash, nothing! The bulbs also last 20,000 hours (that's 120,000 cycles.)
During flu season, I'd throw my phone in there daily when I got home from work and sleep like a baby knowing I could fully fall asleep with my phone on my face later that night without inhaling subway germs. I never got sick this winter — a fact I attribute to my flu shot, hand washing, and also my compulsive use of the UVee. The Home Play (the larger one) can even charge your cell phone as it disinfects, which is perfect when you're on Airplane Mode trying to juice up as much as possible before leaving for the night.
It also works on remotes, earbuds, tweezers, my Clarisonic (lol I'm not paying $40 for a replacement head if I can help it!!!), retainers, and more. The UVee is truly the gift that keeps on giving — especially when I realized I could also use it to clean dog toys. Since discovering this, my UVee usage has gone from a fun novelty thing to break out during flu-anxiety to an everyday utility.
You see, I got a puppy a few weeks ago, and like many puppies, she booped into my life with giardia, a parasite often found in puppies. Dr. Sarah Nold, DVM, estimates that up to 50% of puppies may have giardia.
The jury's out on whether or not UV-C actually kills giardia by itself. Martz said that while they haven't run tests on giardia by itself, there is literature to support that UV-C lights kill protozoa (which is the classification giardia falls under). Dr. Nold also suggests that though there are other studies out there that show UV light can kill giardia in water, there haven't been any studies done on hard or soft surfaces. So to be safe, Dr. Ann Hohenhaus, Staff Doctor at NYC’s Animal Medical Center, says bleach would be a better disinfectant.
And while I heeded my own veterinarian's advice to Clorox everything always forever, the UVee has provided some comforting insurance when it comes to going that extra mile to disinfect things. Maybe I'm neurotic (I'm definitely neurotic), but cleaning dog toys with bleach and soap just never feels like enough. I don't have a washing machine or dishwasher in my apartment, so hand washing toys or doggy blankets doesn't have the extra safety of industrial level steam cleaning or a rigorous spin cycle. How sure can you really be that you've gotten all the poo off of the lil' fibers of a dog toy? Or from the crevices of a Nylabone? Try as I might to clean everything with hot water and bleach, I don't feel truly satisfied until I've popped the offending toy into my trusty black box of germ killing as a second layer of protection. Plus, at least I know my dog toys are definitely free of Staph, Strep, and E.Coli after a UVee sesh.
The UVee has cycled all of my french bulldog puppy Bao Bao's toys through multiple times — I think of it like my own little portable dishwasher for dog toys. It works best on hard or rubber toys, (the most similar to sex toys it was designed for), but Martz says the UVee can also be effective at killing germs on soft materials. Soft materials are a bit more complicated than hard rubber toys, as it's difficult to predict where the light will penetrate the fibers. Martz recommends running a ten-minute cycle, then rearranging the fibers (like combing against the grain, etc), and then running another ten-minute cycle.
There you have it. Who knew such great stuff was hiding in the sex-toy aisle this whole time? Now go forth and sanitize.
Shop Now GO Play, UVEE (Available at Babeland), $120
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