Dill Facts and FAQ
Dildos are ideal for penetration. You can manipulate the toy in the way you like. Since you needn’t worry about keeping electronic components dry, dills are easier to clean than vibes. On their own or combined with a vibe, silicone dills are the longest lasting, easiest to clean toys for vaginal, anal, and, depending on design or accessories, clitoral stimulation. Silicone is hypoallergenic, warm to the touch, sterile, odour free, and resilient. Several manufacturers offer extended replacement warranties against faults in construction or materials.
Silicone is so perfect for dildos that it’s the first and foremost material we recommend. Silicone is both dense enough to hold a moulded shape and flexible enough for internal comfort. It responds quickly to temperature so it will match and retain your body heat (try running your toy under hot water before using it or refrigerate for additional experimentation). Silicone also conducts vibration so it is compatible with a vibrator to achieve both penetrative and clitoral stimulation together. Silicone is not absorbent so it doesn’t retain smell or bacteria and lubes go further because they aren’t being absorbed into the toy. Rubber and soft vinyl products (often called “jellies”) fragment, leaving pieces behind (possibly inside your body) and they leach toxins which can be absorbed into the body via the vagina or rectum. Conversely, silicone will not degrade. Cleaning silicone is like cleaning your stainless steel cookware, it’s spotless after a good scrub, while rubbers or soft vinyls are more akin to that old plastic container you’ve got kicking around with the spaghetti sauce stain still visible.
The silicone manufacturing process is labour intensive and the raw material expensive, so this is a woman (and artisan) dominated field resulting in some colourful and clever designs.
When cleaning Silicone you are dealing with the surface only, so in most cases soap and water are sufficient. If you have any concerns about yeast infections, are crossing from anal to vaginal use, or are sharing toys, you can clean your toys by boiling in a pot of water. Three or four minutes of boiling should kill anything. Be sure to use a large enough pot, do not leave it unattended, and use a timer!
We’ve classified our dills by visual impact (semi-realistic, realistic, earth images, abstract and realistic-plus) for general purpose dills or just as special use dills. After all, you should like the look of your toy enough to be inspired to take it out of the drawer and you ought to know what the toy’s intended use is. Within each classification, we discuss size, flexibility or density, warranty, any colour options, and specific design considerations.
Speaking of design, remember that while silicone is probably the only material you should be using for penetrative toys, that doesn’t mean that every silicone design is perfect for you. Pay careful attention to our descriptions of density variations (low density is soft and floppy, medium density is firm, and high density is rigid and stiff) under the different classes of dills. Also, note the visual impact of the dills. Aside from copies of male anatomy, silicone makers offer a wide variety of abstract designs that take into account female anatomy and emotional aesthetic issues as well. Physiological studies indicate that women are capable of achieving ten different orgasmic responses: clitoral, vaginal (often referred to as G-spot), cervical, anal, urethral, breast, mouth, fusion (when more than one area is stimulated at once), zone (stimulation in an area not typically judged as sexual) and fantasy without physical stimulation (Lou Paget, sex educator columnist with Chatelaine Magazine). Anal orgasm is so unique, partly because of the previously sparse information available, that we explore this topic in greater depth in our Butts section
The pelvic nerve system is responsible for the sensations you experience with vaginal penetration. Firm upward pressure (the stomach side of the vagina) against the vaginal wall stimulates this pelvic system. Hence, a well designed vaginal product will allow upward pressure to be sustained. If you enjoy cervical contact, you’ll also want a product that has sufficient length to reach the cervix: remember, every woman is different so we may not all reach orgasm with each type of stimulation but we’ll all be well aware that each area produces a different type of sensation!
Additionally, it’s possible to choose well designed women’s sexual products that allow external stimulation for tactile clitoral contact together with vaginal stroking. When you look at the bases on the dill designs we offer, you’ll discover many where the maker has taken clitoral and labia contact into account along with their vaginal toy. Dills chosen to utilise their full length allow for labia and clitoral and/or body contact during penetration. Put another way, don’t get something too long! If you don’t like having your cervix bumped, shop in the “cervical safe zone” of generally 6" long or under. Dills are measured by their usable penetrative length (excluding base) and diameter (through the dill, not around) at the thickest point (not the head where applicable).
As a general guideline, remember that a “two finger” thickness is just over 1" in diameter. “Three fingers” are just beyond 1" in diameter, so refer to our size diagram for reference while comparing thicknesses. (How many ml in an oz or cm in an inch? From penetrative length to the best price per volume in lubes, www.onlineconversion.com will convert any unit of measurement to an equivalent unit that makes sense to you. Use this handy tool to help you decide if a dill will be the right length.)
Narrow tips make for easy insertion both anally and vaginally regardless of harness or hand held use. When looking for dills for use in harnesses, a helpful hint is to pick something with a “head.” Whether realistic or abstract, a head acts as an indicator, for the person wearing the dill, of positioning during withdrawal to avoid “popping” out and breaking the rhythm.