Ah... That works. See, I set a timer and such so I wouldn't forget about it or anything, but I still stood over it to be sure, you know? I don't wanna accidentally burn my cup! D:

All I ever do is toss all my silicone and glass in a stockpot with plenty of water and turn the heat on... and nothing has been damaged so far.

I'm a fan of the boiling method of cup sanitization, but you should know it doesn't really sterilize, although it's a reasonable home approximation. And it's probably unnecessary - there are lots of other ways of cleaning cups that are also fine.

Personally I find it convenient, once a month or so, to boil all my cups and sex toys. :)

Even though it doesn't really sterilize, it's still a great way of making sure it's all squeaky clean!:D still, though, my thanks!

Agreed! It's my method of choice as well. Personally, something that's been boiled might not be perfectly sterile, but it's close enough for me in most settings. :)

You could stick it inside a whisk, and sit that in the pot. Then it wouldn't move around at all.

Well, what concerns me is having it touch the metal. Because the whisk would still be getting the heat from the pot, itself, as well as the water. and the pot may or may not be hotter than the water, since the water can only go so high. That's why I'm concerned.

The whisk does not have much contact with the pot though... much more with the water. So it gets its heat from the water, and there isn't any heat above boiling temperature available, so it would not go above that.

That's true. I was thinking about how, when you use a regular metal spoon to stir something, it gets all hot. But now I just feel silly! xD

On the other hand, I am one of the many who never boil my cups.

Washing with plain old soap and water sanitizes nearly as well as boiling or chemical means so why go to the trouble and/or expense and/or risk damage?

"As clean as cutlery" is clean enough for me.

Well, I don't currently have any mild soaps I can use for sanitizing mine, so until I invest in that I'll just stick with boiling. However, I do intend to get a soap I can use with my cup, as boiling can definitely be an issue. Especially since I go camping a lot.

i made sure to boil my cup between every period when i first started using a cup and used soap at least once a day...now i boil it when i remember to or when they get a bit too stained looking or whatever and rarely use soap. haven't gotten any infections, smells, whatever. when i do boil, i just toss all my cups in the boiling water for 2-5 minutes then clean out the holes with a toothpick if they're still gunked up.

Yeah, I tend to be a bit of a freak about hygiene. Not like, germaphobe level, because I don't really care much about germs. Just.... Needing to know that this thing going into a sensitive part of my body is not going to destroy the balance of things. If that makes sense.

For what it's worth, I probably wouldn't bother boiling my cups if I wasn't also boiling a bunch of sex toys at the same time. :)

Hmmm... Okay.... I'll definitely try to get me some soap I can use with my cup, then. And maybe only boil mine every other month or even less so it doesn't start to smell or discolor.

I usually put mine in a small plastic container with water and a bit of hydrogen peroxide and microwave for about 3 minutes once a month...or so. I haven't had any problems and I don't have to worry about an accidental meltdown.

Ah, see, I wouldn't be sure about using hydrogen peroxide on anything that goes near my vagina. But the microwaving it for however long... How does that work, exactly?

H2O2 becomes H2O as it is heated or as it sits in light, which is why it is in a brown container, so it really isn't an issue. Even at that, the H2O2 sold in stores in the US (where I am, I don't assume you are) is 3% so it really isn't concentrated enough to do any damage to any sensitive bits unless you have an allergy or something similar.

But the microwaving it for however long... How does that work, exactly?

Water boils in the microwave in about 2 minutes depending on the shape of your container* and how powerful your machine is.

I usually turn it on for 3 minutes in a plastic reusable kind of thing, think glad ware or something similar with enough water to cover the cup. (and I do use a splash of Hydrogen peroxide to help clean it, but that's a judgement call).

*The bit about the shape of the container...if there is a small mouth on a glass or plastic container in a microwave, and the container is mostly filled with water, a boiling water volcano will be created. Boiling water in the microwave is not dangerous, but doing it in the wrong container can be.

Edited at 2012-01-17 11:22 am (UTC)

Hmmmm. Thanks! I appreciate it!

Hydrogen Peroxide is safe to use in your mouth as a rinse, so I don't see why it wouldn't be safe to use to sanitize your cup. I'm not a vagina expert though and there is the pH balance to think of. Also if you really like hygiene, HP is what we use in labs to sanitize tools we can't stick in the autoclave (kind of a giant steam pressure cooker to sterilize). The only downside to HP is that whatever you sanitize has to completely soak in the solution for 24(?) hours, so it isn't the quickest or cheapest solution.

Ahhhhhh, that makes sense. Okay... I appreciate all the help.

Thanks for asking this question and thanks to everyone for the suggestions!

I was wondering myself how to boil these things while keeping it from the sides. I used a ladle and stood there with it cupped in the ladle so it wouldn't touch the sides.

Now I think I'll buy a large whisk (I can probably get one used at a thrift store (clean it, boil it, and soak in alcohol before using, just to be sure)) and follow that suggestion.

Excellent, and once again this group has been very supportive and helpful with these details.