Annual Cleaning and Inventory

By GETAUVE Editorial Team · Published October 8, 2026

Annual Cleaning and Inventory: A Once-a-Year Check of What You Own

Late December is when the bedside drawer finally gets opened, usually while you're hunting for something else entirely.

This is a year-end routine for the intimate products you already own: what to wash, what to test, what to store differently through winter, and what to retire before it fails mid-use.

The Short Answer

One full pass a year is enough. It should take about 30 minutes. Wash each body-safe silicone piece in warm water with mild unscented soap, then let it air-dry for at least 4 hours. Run every motor for 60 seconds and listen for grinding, rattling, or weaker output than you remember. Retire anything with a tacky surface, a cracked seam, or a battery that won't hold a charge through a normal week. Two reliable pieces beat eight you're unsure about. If the audit leaves a gap, a matched three-piece set is easier to maintain than a pile of unrelated ones.

What a Year of Use Does to Silicone

Silicone doesn't rot. It does change. A surface that felt smooth in January can feel slightly sticky by December, and that usually means the material is breaking down or has absorbed something it shouldn't have. Oil-based products and silicone-based lubricants are the two most common causes. Both leave a film that plain soap won't fully remove. Both can soften the outer layer over months.

Run a clean fingertip across the whole surface under good light. You want drag, not grip. If the finish grabs at your skin, or if you can see fine cracks around a seam or a button, that piece has reached the end of its usable life. It isn't a cleaning problem. No amount of scrubbing will reverse it. That limitation is worth knowing before you order a replacement.

The Five-Point Check Worth Doing Once a Year

Work through the drawer one item at a time. Finish the pile in one sitting. Picture this: everything out on a towel, 30 minutes, done until next December.

• Surface: smooth, not tacky, no cracks at seams or around buttons.
• Motor: 60 seconds on the lowest setting, then 10 seconds on the highest, listening for new noise.
• Charging: reaches full charge in the stated time and still holds power after 3 days unused.
• Seals: port cover seats flat, no corrosion, no white or green residue.
• Storage: dry, out of sunlight, and not pressed against other silicone pieces in the same pouch.

The charging line is the one people skip. It's also the one that best predicts a dead product in February. A battery that drains while the toy sits in a drawer is already failing, even if it still runs when it's plugged in. Testing costs you 10 minutes. Replacing costs a week.

Cold Weather, Dry Air, and What Changes in Winter

Heated indoor air pulls humidity down, and that affects two things in the drawer. Water-based lubricant dries faster on skin once indoor humidity sits under roughly 30 percent. A bottle that lasted through July may seem to disappear in minutes by January. Keep it capped. Store it away from vents. Don't thin it with water to stretch it.

Silicone itself doesn't mind cold. Batteries do. A piece kept in an unheated closet or left in a car overnight will charge slowly and deliver weaker output until it returns to room temperature, so give it an hour indoors before you judge it. Storage between 50 and 77 degrees Fahrenheit is a fair target for anything with a lithium cell. One night in a freezing car is enough to make you think a good product has died.

Winter is also when the audit turns into a gift list. Whatever comes out of the drawer this month and whatever goes back in should be judged by the same four things: material, motor, charge, seal.

Cleaning Steps That Actually Matter

Most damage happens during cleaning, not during use. Warm water and mild unscented soap handles almost everything. Boiling, dishwashers, and alcohol wipes are what shorten a product's life. Anything with a motor or a battery shouldn't be submerged for more than a minute or two unless the maker rates it IPX7, and even then the charging port needs to be fully closed first.

Dry time is the step people rush. Putting a piece away while it's still damp is how a closed pouch turns into a mold problem, and 4 hours on a clean towel is a reasonable floor. If you use pieces several times a week, two of everything worth having is less work than one of each plus a drying schedule.

Where This Routine Falls Short

Two limitations are worth stating up front. A yearly check won't catch a failure that happens in week three, and it tells you nothing about a product you've used twice. It's maintenance, not a warranty. The honest trade-off is time: 30 minutes once a year, or an hour of troubleshooting in February.

If you reach for a piece several times a week, move the surface and charging checks to monthly. Keep the full pass for the turn of the year. Skip the routine entirely if your drawer holds one item you use occasionally and replace on a rough annual rhythm anyway. There's nothing to audit.

Sources

• Cleveland Clinic — patient information on genital skin irritation and when to see a clinician
• Planned Parenthood — guidance on cleaning sex toys and storing them safely
• U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission — recall listings and consumer guidance on rechargeable personal devices

This article is general education, not medical advice. Stop using any product that causes pain, irritation, or unusual discharge, and speak with a clinician about symptoms that last more than a few days.