Toys hold on to what they touch - vaginal fluid, blood, semen - and a quick rinse doesn't always undo that. Passed between partners without cleaning or ideally a barrier contraceptive, a toy can carry an infection from one body to the next. It's one of the most overlooked routes of transmission, and one worth talking about as STI rates keep climbing across Europe, the UK and the US.

Can sharing a sex toy actually give you an STI?

Short answer: yes.

We tend to file STIs under "penetrative sex only," but infections aren't that picky about logistics. Anything that moves bodily fluids - or puts skin and mucous membranes in contact - can move an infection too. A shared toy ticks both boxes.

How much risk depends on a few things: the infection itself, how the toy is used, what it's made of, and how thoroughly it's cleaned in between. Some viruses and bacteria survive on surfaces long enough to find their next host - especially while fluids are still present. In one study, researchers found HPV DNA on vibrators not just after use, but after a standard clean, and in some cases a full 24 hours later. "Rinsed" and "decontaminated", it turns out, are not synonyms.

Material matters more than people think

This is the part most guides skip - and it's where the same study got interesting. Sex toy materials fall into two broad camps:

• Non-porous (medical-grade silicone, glass, stainless steel): smooth, sealed surfaces that can be properly cleaned, and in many cases sterilised.
• Porous (jelly, rubber, TPE, PVC): full of microscopic gaps that trap fluid and microbes no amount of scrubbing fully reaches.

The research bore this out: the porous toy still carried detectable HPV a day after cleaning, while the non-porous silicone one cleared completely in the same window. If a toy is porous, you can't truly sanitise it - which makes it a poor candidate for sharing under any circumstances, and a questionable one to keep long-term at all. When in doubt, let the material decide.

Lowering the risk

• Don't share. The simplest and most effective option.
• If you do, use a barrier. Put a fresh condom on the toy for each person and change it between users.
• Clean thoroughly - following the manufacturer's instructions, and knowing what your material can and can't withstand.
• Retire anything porous or that can't be properly sanitised.

And while buying second-hand is usually a sensible, sustainable habit, this is the one category to keep off the list.

It's not only toys

Shared toys are one non-penetrative route of transmission. They're not the only one.

Infections also travel via oral sex and genital skin-to-skin contact. Herpes can be passed through skin-to-skin contact with infected areas wherever they are on the body. Gonorrhoea, chlamydia, syphilis and HPV can all be transmitted through oral sex.

The belief that "no penetration means no risk" is, itself, the risk. Most infections simply need a route from one body to another.

Why testing still matters

Plenty of STIs cause mild symptoms or none at all, which means people can pass them on without ever knowing they had something to pass on.

Regular testing is one of the most effective ways to stay ahead of that - especially with new or multiple partners. Early detection heads off complications, cuts onward transmission, and means treatment starts when it works best.

Sexual healthcare should be accessible, comfortable and free of stigma. Understanding how infections actually spread is a small, unglamorous step towards making better choices about your health.

This is where at-home options earn their place. In the UK and Europe, Daye's Diagnostic Tampon lets you collect a sample for HPV, common STIs and vaginal microbiome screening using something familiar - no clinic appointment, no speculum, no waiting-room small talk. For anyone who's put off testing because it felt awkward or hard to fit in, that's rather the point: the easiest test to take is the one that actually gets taken.

If your sexual activity includes giving oral sex or receiving anal sex, throat and anal infections are possible - and because these rarely cause noticeable symptoms, they're easy to miss without targeted testing. Swabs from those sites need to be taken at a clinic, and any NHS sexual health service can do this.

The bottom line

Treat sex toys like a toothbrush, not a tea towel: personal, not communal.

Sharing can feel harmless. It isn't always. Knowing how infections move beyond penetrative sex is one of the simplest things you can do for yourself and your partners.