Travel checklist

Travel breaks the two assumptions ordinary care depends on: a private bathroom and a place to dry things. Almost everything below exists to work around one of those. The washing methods here are the travel versions of the procedures in cleaning and storage.

Pack list

• Toys chosen for travel: non porous, no fragile glass, few seams
• Each item in its own cotton bag, not touching another silicone item
• Charging cable, and a check that everything is charged before leaving
• Travel lock engaged, or batteries removed, so nothing switches on in a bag
• Water based lubricant in a leakproof travel bottle, inside a sealed pouch
• Condoms, kept away from heat and never in a back pocket
• Unscented mild soap, or an alcohol free unscented cleaner
• A small microfibre or lint free cloth for drying
• Unscented wipes for hands and external skin, not for internal use
• A dry bag or a sealable pouch for anything still damp when packing up
• A dark towel, which solves more problems than it looks like it should
• A spare set of underwear, kept separate from the rest
• Anything routine that is easy to forget when a bathroom is not private
• A plan for where things will dry, since a sealed bag is not a drying place

What travels well and what does not

Silicone and ABS travel best: light, unbreakable and easy to wash. Stainless steel is durable and adds real weight to a bag. Borosilicate glass is entirely safe to use and entirely breakable in transit, so it wants a hard case or it stays at home. Porous materials are the worst travel choice, because they need the most thorough drying and get the least.

Anything with an open charging port rather than magnetic contacts deserves more care in a damp bag. A device with a travel lock is worth choosing specifically for trips; a device that switches on when a bag is compressed is an experience nobody needs at a security desk.

Security, borders and hold luggage

Personal items of this kind are lawful to carry in most countries and are not a category security staff find remarkable. They will show clearly on a scanner, which is ordinary. Two practical points make it easier: keep lithium batteries in cabin baggage rather than in the hold, as most airlines require, and remove or lock batteries so nothing activates in transit.

Rules vary in a small number of countries, and where a destination has restrictions, checking the destination's own guidance beforehand is the only sensible approach. Liquids follow the same cabin limits as any other liquid, so lubricant either goes in a small bottle in the cabin bag or in the hold.

Washing without a private sink

The method that works in a shared bathroom is simple: a sealed container, warm water and a little unscented soap. Wash inside the container, rinse with fresh water, then dry with the cloth and finish in open air somewhere private. Boiling is not available on the road, so choose non porous items that only need soap and water.

Wipes are for hands and external skin. They are not a substitute for washing a toy, and scented ones are the most common cause of irritation on a trip. Bottled water is fine for rinsing where tap water is not trusted.

Festivals and camping

Heat is the main hazard. A tent in the sun reaches temperatures that soften soft silicone permanently and degrade TPE quickly, so anything valuable belongs in the coolest, shadiest part of the bag. Dust and grit are the second problem: a sealed bag while travelling, opened only for use and washing, avoids most of it.

Charging is unreliable at a festival, which argues for at least one item that needs no power at all. Water sources are unreliable too, which argues for silicone lubricant, since it works in water and needs no reapplication, provided no silicone toy is going along. That trade-off is set out in the compatibility table.

Finally, pack for the return journey. Something washed at the last minute needs to dry, and a damp item sealed in plastic for a long trip home is the fastest way to ruin it. The wider reasoning sits in the care region.

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