From here on in, I'm going to try to bring you some lovely sex info every Thursday. It's almost the end of the week and we're tried and ready for Friday but still hungry for knowledge. Am I right?Ever since Greenpeace put out their press release decrying sex toys with phthalates, those rubber softening chemicals have been all anyone talks about. While I'll be the first one to tell you why Jelly Rubber can be bad (porous, toys break down, unclear chemical make-up, sometimes skin irritant) I've been frustrated by the lack of constructive information provided in these consumer-scare articles. My fear is that in order to avoid chemicals they don't know much about, people will avoid buying sex toys all together - and no one wants that.So, here is my constructive solution to the problem of Jelly Rubber - Silicone sex toys! Silicone has been around for awhile but it's only in the past few years that it has really come into it's own against the mainstream, unregulated toy companies. Silicone is a magical, durable material that is popping up everywhere from kitchen utensils (spatulas! muffin trays!) to dildos. Because it is an easily mold-able material, silicone can take many shapes which is great, both for cooking and for fucking.This material endures the high temperatures of ovens and boiling water making it easy to get completely clean (just pop into a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes and hope that your kids don't walk in!). If you don't have time to wait around in the kitchen, silicone is non-porous (the opposite of a sponge) so a good wash with soap and water will get things very clean.Another one of silicone's magical properties is vibration transmission. I love showing this trick to customers at Babeland because they're always amazed. Take a big silicone toy. Hold a vibrator up to the base of the toy. Touch the tip of the toy. Imagine the possibilities. Silicone transmits vibration really well. This makes it easy to play around with vibration without needing a special toy. One vibe plus one silicone toy equals way more than two.Lastly, silicone can be poured into many different kinds of molds so you can get the Woody, the Ripple, the Cone or the Rock Chick and you're still getting silicone.Thank you to Violet Blue for her adorable photograph of Vixen's Dildo Factory. Watch Violet Blue's video of her tour.