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Collar and Leash

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Sterilization is the process of removing micro-organisms, spores and cells from an object. This is important since continuations can cause infection when they introduced into skin or flesh. Many STDs can also be transmitted different people through use of non-treated utensils. In hospitals, a lot of effort is put into sterilizing as much of the equipment as possible using heat, light and chemicals. Disinfection is has the same purpose as sterilization, but not as powerful - disinfectants only reduce the amount of micro-organisms rather than eliminate them completely.
For S&M play where the skin of a person is cut or penetrated, disinfection becomes important. As a simple rule of thumb, the larger the affected area is and the deeper the cuts are, the more important it is to properly clean your toys. Complete sterilization is very difficult with achieve with materials found in most homes but there are many things that can be done to disinfect.
The first step is to thoroughly clean the object to remove any visible dirt, dust or residue. After that, the treatment depends mostly on the material used.

* Heat: Larger metal objects or any other object that can survive heat, can be baked in the oven with very good results. Any setting above 260F (125C) for more than 15 minutes should be sufficient. For best results add a dish of water into the oven as moisture transfers heat better.
* Bleach: Smaller metal object or if a oven is not available can often be cleaned with bleach. Make sure to rinse the bleach off completely after cleaning. This is best done under large amounts of running water. Do not reuse runoff bleach or water.
* Alcohol: Alcohol works on most surfaces although some materials (mostly cheaper plastics) can develop cracks or show discolorations. 70% Alcohol from the grocery store works best since the added water allows it to penetrate pores of the material better. If you have 95% alcohol available, add some water. Since alcohol evaporates quickly, several treatments should be done on porous materials.

Equally important as cleaning your tools is keeping them clean after disinfection. The best way to do so is to disinfect materials as late as possible before use. After disinfection handle only with disinfected gloves. Some people recommend that you can lay heat sterilized objects on aluminum foil in the oven and wrap them up as soon as they are removed from the oven. Another possibility is to disinfect again with alcohol as close before use as possible. This will also remove any remaining traces of bleach.