SexShop3D Shows Us How to Make That 3D Printed Sex Toy Safe

If you recall, back in August we covered a startup called SexShop3D. The company, located in Paris, France, wants to provide its customers with the ability to 3D print their own sex toys in a variety of shapes and sizes, in the comfort of their own homes. Sound odd? Well it really does make sense. After all, who wants to order such a private toy online and then have it shipped to their home, only to have someone they don’t want seeing it open the package?

“I love 3D printing and I wondered if I could somehow be a part of this revolution,” Thomas Sancelot, Founder of SexShop3D, told 3DPrint.com. “I chose the niche of 3D printed sex toys because it was so obvious to me that this industry was bound to change with 3D printing becoming so popular. Privacy, convenience, customization, cost, etc. are key factors when looking for sex toys and all of that is brought by 3D printing.”

Immediately following our article in back in August, however, several publications came out with warnings. They claimed that such 3D printed toys are dangerous. The tiny pores which develop within the plastic because of the layer-by-layer printing process is a breeding ground for nasty bacteria. Suddenly the idea wasn’t sounding so great. Infections and sex do not exactly excite people.

So it was back to the drawing board for SexShop3D. How could they make their toys appealing once more, after all the bad press they had received? It really is rather simple to finish these toys in a way that is safe and not all that time consuming. Sancelot decided that he had to inform potential customers what methods are best, and that’s just what he did. This week SexShop3D released a YouTube video (seen below), which quickly shows the simple finishing process one may use to make their 3D printed sex toy safe.

After 3D printing the toy, it is very important to hand sand it with 240 grit sandpaper to get the surface as smooth as possible. Next you must spray the toy with a silicone conformal coating, letting it dry 20 minutes in between each of the 3-4 total coats. Once the final coat has dried, it’s now ready to enter the bedroom… or wherever else you prefer to have some fun.

“I believe that the basic sex toys we provide are safe to use,” explained Sancelot. “If you prepare your object like we did in our video, you will get a very smooth surface with several coats of silicone. When we will be able to print in more suitable materials, we will make more complex sex toys.”

Sancelot hopes to gradually introduce new materials to the industry, with the eventual goal of allowing customers to 3D print toys which do not require any finishing at all.

“Ultimately, we only provide digital files,” warned Sancelot. “It is the consumer at home who chooses how he prints. We can only guide him to the best, safest manner to do so at the moment.”

It will be interesting to see how this industry develops over the coming few years as new materials emerge, more accurate printers come to market, and the idea of 3D printing sex toys starts sounding a bit less weird. Have you considered 3D printing a sex toy? Let us know your thoughts on this latest video, in the SexShop3D forum thread on 3DPB.com.