Why jelly rubber toys are still sold

They're cheap to make, they look the part, and most buyers don't know what "jelly rubber" actually means until they've already bought one. The material is porous — it cannot be sterilised, it degrades quickly, and it often smells strongly out of the packet. Yet it remains common, particularly in budget anal toys, because the cost to manufacture is low and the retail price can undercut body-safe silicone by half.

That price gap matters when you're curious but unsure, and a £12 plug feels less intimidating than a £30 one. The trouble is that porous materials harbour bacteria even after washing, and anal play leaves no room for shortcuts on hygiene. If you're exploring this safely and confidently, the material matters more than the saving.

Jelly rubber, PVC and blended TPE are all porous at a microscopic level. That means bacteria, fungi and viruses can settle into the surface where soap and water cannot reach them. You can clean the toy; you cannot sterilise it. For vaginal use that's already a problem. For anal use it's worse, because the bacterial load is higher and the consequences of cross-contamination are more serious.

The material also breaks down over time. Jelly rubber in particular becomes sticky, discoloured or brittle within months, and some formulations leach plasticisers that irritate mucous membranes. The smell — often described as "chemical" or "rubbery" — is a plasticiser off-gassing, and it doesn't improve with washing.

Manufacturers continue to use these materials because they're soft, flexible and very cheap to mould. A jelly plug can retail for under £15 where a comparable silicone one costs £30 or more. For a buyer who doesn't yet know the material matters, that price difference looks like a sensible place to start. For a retailer, the margin is better and the returns are someone else's problem.

Of the 110 best-reviewed anal toys we score, 29 are made from a material that cannot be sterilised — PVC, jelly rubber, or a porous TPE blend. Another 33 do not state their material clearly enough for us to classify them, which is its own warning sign. That leaves 48 non-porous products: body-safe silicone, glass, stainless steel or glazed ceramic, all of which can be cleaned properly and will last for years if you look after them.

The porous 29 are not all cheap, which makes the problem worse. Several sit above £25, where you are paying a premium for something that will not last and cannot be shared safely even with a barrier. The budget end of the market is where jelly rubber clusters most heavily, but it is not confined there.

If you already own a jelly or PVC toy, you can still use it safely — but only for yourself, and ideally with a condom each time. Do not share it, even between uses, and replace it as soon as the surface becomes sticky or starts to smell. That might be three months; it might be less.

If you're buying new, spend the extra and get silicone, glass or steel. A non-porous plug at £30 will outlast three jelly ones at £12, and you'll never have to guess whether it's clean. Look for products that state "100% silicone" or "platinum-cure silicone" in the spec, or choose glass and steel where the material is unambiguous.

For specific recommendations, the site's anal plug and anal dildo reviews filter by material and rank by aggregated score. Every non-porous option is marked, and the porous ones are named plainly so you know what you're avoiding.

Can you boil a jelly rubber toy to sterilise it? No. The material will degrade under heat, and boiling does not make a porous surface non-porous. You can reduce the bacterial load; you cannot eliminate it.

Is TPE the same as jelly rubber? Not quite, but the practical outcome is often the same. Some TPE blends are non-porous; most budget TPE is not. If the product does not explicitly state "non-porous TPE" or "body-safe TPE", assume it is porous and treat it accordingly.

Are all cheap anal toys porous? No. Silicone manufacturing has become cheaper, and several well-reviewed plugs under £20 are now made from body-safe silicone. Price is a useful filter, but the material spec is the only thing that matters.

Do porous toys cause infections? They can, particularly if shared or not cleaned promptly after use. The risk is higher with anal toys than with external vibes, because the bacterial environment is harsher and the mucous membranes are more vulnerable.

Material porosity and bacterial retention: Journal of Sexual Medicine, 2014, "Identification of Bacteria on Sex Toys" (DOI: 10.1111/jsm.12578). Plasticiser leaching in PVC and jelly rubber: Environmental Health Perspectives, 2008, "Phthalates and Cumulative Risk Assessment" (DOI: 10.1289/ehp.11149). Silicone as a non-porous material: FDA guidance on medical-grade silicone, 2019.

The Snug Report is written and maintained by the team behind Coy, a New Zealand retailer. We spend our days handling this stock, processing the returns and reading what buyers actually say about it. We are not doctors, nurses or sexual-health clinicians, and nothing here is medical advice.

The Snug Report is published by the team behind Coy, a New Zealand retailer that stocks many of the products reviewed here. We say so on every page. Our scores come from aggregated public reviews, not from us — the method is on the methodology page and the evidence count is on every review.