Silicone comes in two basic varieties, tin-cure and platinum-cure. Tin-cure silicone is the type used for things like silicone caulk. It's cheaper than platinum-cure, but it produces chemicals such as acetic acid as it cures that aren't safe for use on mucous membranes.

Platinum-cure silicone is biologically inert, and safe for use in food products and medical devices. High-quality sex toys are made from platinum-cure silicone. When you shop for silicone, make certain you get platinum-cure silicone.

Using colorants: Silicone can be dyed, pigmented, or colored with cosmetics coloring or acrylic powder. Of course, if you use a coloring material that isn't body-safe, the toy you make might not be body-safe either even if you use platinum-cure silicone.

The cheapest, most versatile

 

Silicone firmness and Shore hardness

You can find silicone in a lot of different firmness grades, from very hard to super-soft and squishy. Silicone is measured on a scale called the Shore harness scale, where higher numbers are more firm.

Most dildos and butt plugs are made from silicone that's somewhere between Shore hardness 10 and 20. I use Dragon Skin 20, with a Shore hardness of 20, for most sex toys.

Very soft, stretchable silicone uses a scale of its own, that starts with 00. Shore hardness 00-10 is extremely soft, stretchy, and pliable. Shore hardness 00-20 is quite soft and squishy. This is the type of silicone things like strokers and masturbation sleeves are made of. Smooth-On makes very soft silicone in a line called Eco-Flex. It's normally sold for making Hollywood special effects devices like fake torn skin.

You can mix and match different hardnesses of silicone in the same sex toy to create unusual effects. For example, the Alien Oral Violator sex toy has a normal shaft made from Shore hardness 20 silicone, but the head is extremely squishy, made from Shore hardness 00-20 silicone.

 

You can fill a mold partway with one type of silicone, let it cure, then fill it the rest of the way with a different grade of silicone. For example, to create a particularly authentic hentai experience with a tentacle ball gag, you can fill the mold with 21ml of soft, squishy 00-20 grade silicone, then let it cure and fill the rest of the way with Dragon Skin 20 silicone.

 

What You’ll Need

• Stick with platinum-cure silicone from reputable vendors. You can find platinum-cure silicone on Amazon or direct from manufacturers like Smooth-On. A Smooth-On "trial kit" is plenty to make several sex toys; a one-gallon container can make dozens.