Silicone vs. TPE – Which is Better for Sex Dolls?

 

Anyone who’s done even a small amount of research about sex dolls will have come across mention of the substances they’re made from – silicone and TPE (thermoplastic elastomer). If you’re completely new to the world of life sized dolls and haven’t looked into the materials, then a brief explanation is in order.

The first modern (1996 and later) life sized sex dolls were moulded in silicone with an articulated, posable skeleton inside (though the first ones created by Abyss Creations in the United States were unable to stand).

This became the norm for several years, with various improvements being made to the silicone formulas, adding softness, resilience and longevity. Silicone was suitable, but often considered too firm for comfortable sexual use. It was also expensive.

Only a few years ago, Chinese companies experimented with TPE, or thermoplastic elastomer, which is a kind of hybrid rubber and plastic formula. You can find it in a variety of products from steering wheel covers, to intravenus drip lines, to general adult toys. TPE is cheaper, can be remoulded with heat, and with the right additives, extremely soft – like human fatty tissue.

Sex doll fans and users have long debated which is “better” for making sex dolls from, and there are many misunderstandings about the two substances. There is a huge movement within the sex doll world, amongst both creators and end users, to proclaim silicone the gold standard. One customer of ours called this online movement “The silicone mafia”, after being convinced to buy a silicone doll, and wished he’d purchased one made from TPE.

The reality, like many things, is more complex, and reliant on what it is you want from a doll.

This article demystifies some of the details and should give you a clearer understanding of the two, in a way that makes choosing the right doll easier.

Silicone Sex Dolls

What is a Silicone Sex Doll?

Silicone sex dolls are made from a rubbery substance that is generally considered non toxic and non porous. Every sex doll company who uses silicone utilises a different blend of silicone for their dolls, with variations of softening agents, skintones and other additives.

Some silicone blends might have different names that are associated with a brand, such as Zelex’s SLE. Other companies use an expensive platinum curing process and label their dolls as being “platinum silicone”.

All of these variations are silicone, with the same non porous properties as each other. There is no such thing, however, as a “medical grade silicone sex doll”, as once any skin tones and additives are blended with the original silicone, that base silicone has now become something new.

Silicone is reasonably smooth, with the potential for finely sculpted details on the surface of the doll.

While some companies like Top-CYDoll offer the option for a matte finish on their silicone dolls’ surfaces, most of the silicone dolls have a slight sheen to their surfaces. This sheen might require extra retouching for photographs taken by photographers who care about such things, as it is very “plastic” looking.

Silicone sex dolls are generally accepted to hypo allergenic* and free of phthalates.

Realism

One of the reasons sex doll creators like to make dolls out of silicone is that the substance affords them a much more resilient palette. The surface not only takes painted details a lot more readily than TPE dolls do, but you can also sculpt much finer details on silicone, such as tiny lines on the palms of hands or soles of feet, or miniscule sweat pores.

Remember that the people who sculpt the dolls are very competent fine artists, many of them being qualified, experienced life sculptors, and they take pride in creating extreme realism with their work.

Silicone sex dolls are firmer overall than their TPE sisters, with a plastic feel to their surface, but most brands have technology available that allow some areas to be softer than others, such as the breasts and buttocks.

This firmness does make silicone dolls easier to carry than a similarly sized and shaped TPE doll, due to their relative lack of jiggling parts.

Easy to Clean

A benefit of silicone’s non porous nature is that is can withstand more stringent cleaning agents than TPE can. Users should still not be cavalier when cleaning their doll, though, especially since painted details are only on the surface of the doll’s skin, and can be worn off with too vigorous scrubbing.

Just like TPE sex dolls, silicone dolls should only be used with water based lubricant, as silicone based lubricant could damage the silicone doll.

Care and Maintenance

A drawback of silicone’s firmness is that they cannot be posed with stretched limbs for long periods of time without splits happening on the surface. This can happen most notably on the inner thighs or armpits, as these areas are often left stretched at extreme angles.

There’s no cause for alarm, though, a simple solution is to not leave any areas stretched for too long and damage is easily avoided.

Should damage occur to a silicone sex doll, they are not easy to fix. The structure of silicone is “fixed” and the substance can’t be reflowed with any meaningful amount of control. Some damage may be repaired using a Silpoxy agent, but results do vary.

Silicone’s stability is good news for those who want a low maintenance doll. You don’t have to worry about maintaining the actual substance like what is required with a TPE doll, but as the surface can become tacky over time, it’s still a good idea to dust a silicone doll with powder periodically.

As to how often this is required depends largely on use, environment and the current state of the doll.

Most users will easily come to know when their doll requires powdering simply by touching the surface of the skin. How much or how little powder is also up to the individual, as there are no particular rules when it comes to powdering – as it depends on how you like your doll to feel, and what is happening. A good example is if you need the arms powdered to make it easier to put a shirt on the doll.

It is erroneously believed that a silicone doll has greater longevity than a TPE doll. It’s difficult to gauge from general users’ data, because the use cases vary so greatly, with some dolls being used extremely harshly and breaking down faster than others.

Both TPE and silicone dolls do become firmer over time, with silicone dolls having foam cores underneath the outer layer of silicone.

Anyone who knows anything about foam can correctly guess that it perishes over time, especially for dolls with weight reduction technology (thicker foam).

The life of a silicone doll is not, therefore, indefinite. Expect many years of companionship, though, if you treat your silicone doll with care.

TPE Sex Dolls

What is a TPE Sex Doll?

Thermoplastic elastomer, or TPE, is a blanket term for a polymer that is a kind of blend of rubber and plastic substances. The resulting substance has the soft, stretchy properties of rubber and the malleability and mouldability of plastic. It can therefore be formed into a variety of products, and with the right additives, can be extremely soft, like human tissue.

An excellent example that many are familiar with is the famous Fleshlight sex toy, which closely mimics the feel of a human vagina. Fleshlights are made from a proprietary TPR, which falls under the greater TPE umbrella. Silicone, as soft as can be, still cannot match the pleasing softness of TPE.

TPE is generally accepted as being non toxic and non allergenic*. Like it is for silicone dolls, once the pure TPE material is blended with additives such as skintone chemicals and softeners, the resulting doll can no longer be reasonably described as “medical grade”.

For most users, however, TPE dolls are generally considered body safe, and are unbeatable for overall tactile sensation. This largely comes from a TPE doll having a pleasingly soft body that, in many areas such as the thighs and back, is a near perfect mimic of the feel of a woman’s body.

As well as being extremely soft, TPE also warms up to match human body temperature very quickly, when in close proximity. Unlike a human sharing a bed with another, a TPE doll will only warm up to match the temperature of the nearby human, without overheating. Silicone dolls can warm up slightly, but much slower, and they don’t retain heat in quite the same way.

Repairing a TPE Sex Doll

The surface of TPE can be repaired with heat applied at the correct temperature, allowing damage to a TPE doll’s surface to be healed by reflowing the substance. This does, however, take practice, but good results can come with the right tools.

It should be noted that heat based repairs to a TPE doll can cause noxious vapours to come off the doll, so such repairs should only be carried out in a well ventilated area, with the repairer wearing a suitable respirator or similar protective gear.

One of the strangest properties of TPE is that some damage can “self heal”. This requires that the surface of the doll isn’t cracked or actually cut, but refers more to tiny dents and crevices.

We’ve observed that little bits of damage to the surface of some of our house TPE dolls have “found their own level” after long periods of time (we’re talking years), often leaving no trace of the original damage. Don’t be cavalier with your TPE doll thinking she will self repair, we just mention this as an interesting phenomenon.

Care and Maintenance

A drawback of TPE is its porous nature, and there’s no getting around that. This means that a TPE sex doll should always be stored perfectly dry, with no moisture whatsoever anywhere on, or in, her body – and that the environment should have low humidity.

TPE can also be sensitive to harsh chemicals, so solvents cannot be used for sterilising or cleaning the doll.

There are workarounds, though, and we do recommend using either Zoono (always test on an inconspicuous area to ensure compatibility) or Hydrogen Peroxide (3% or 6% are both safe) as cleaning agents. Due to its sensitive nature, a TPE doll should always be wiped down with non scented baby wipes after applying any chemical to its surface.

Like their silicone counterparts, TPE sex dolls should only be used with water based lubricant, never with silicone based lubricant.

TPE dolls have a significant amount of mineral oil in their makeup, which sits inside their individual “pores”. If a doll gets stained, it’s actually this oil that suffers the worst and changes colour.

One of the reasons that one doll could wear one pair of black yoga pants with no staining, while another will suffer dark stains is the result of different grades of oil being used in the doll’s makeup.

As time goes on, this oil “sweats” out of the doll, and the doll becomes slightly firmer and drier. You can prolong the life of a TPE doll by giving her periodic oilings. All this means is rubbing her body down with mineral oil (as neutral as you can find) all over. Once this is done, the surface of the doll should be dusted with baby powder to maintain its smoothness.

Many doll manufacturers have claimed in recent years that their new, improved blends of TPE don’t need as frequent oiling, if any, but it’s easy to gauge if they do, simply by feeling the surface for softness or bounciness.

What is STPE?

One of the biggest advancements in the world of sex dolls during recent years has been the introduction of STPE.

Like silicone dolls, TPE dolls couldn’t be left with their limbs stretched without the stretched areas experiencing tearing. For users who desired very soft dolls, the process for creating what is known as “ultra soft TPE” also left dolls vulnerable to skin defects, with increased potential for damage.

Starting with WM Dolls, the industry addressed longevity concerns by developing and rolling out STPE, which is the current gold standard of softer, more resilient sex dolls.

One of the tests from WM Dolls involved stretching a doll’s thighs apart for several days, with no damage or surface wear. On a normal TPE sex doll, cracks and splits would normally appear after a day or so – which is expected, since this is quite an extreme way to treat a doll.

Available as an optional upgrade, STPE provides a stronger, tougher, more resilient doll that has greater capacity to stretch limbs without damage. It also takes surface makeup more readily, allowing for more detailed, realistic makeup to be applied.

For those who desire a very soft doll, STPE is also far softer than standard TPE, and completely eliminates the risks associated with crafting a doll made from the previous ultra soft TPE. There is also evidence to suggest that dolls made from STPE require less oiling than those made from regular TPE.

As an added side effect of the advanced formulation of STPE, dolls made from this upgraded formula don’t have the same odour normally associated with TPE dolls.

STPE does sometimes cost a little more as an upgrade, however many brands have frequent promotions where the upgrade is free, and brands like Piper Doll have completely crossed over and made STPE their default.

WM Dolls recently told us that three quarters of their dolls ordered are made from STPE, so it’s essentially considered the preferred industry standard now.

To Recap:

Silicone

• Non toxic, non porous

• Firmest substance

• Easier to clean

• More detailed sculpting and painted makeup

• Makeup is semi permanent and can’t be changed

• Doesn’t require oiling, requires powdering

• Contains foam core inside doll

• Difficult, if not impossible, to repair

TPE

• Softest dolls available, especially if made from STPE

• Non toxic, porous

• More care required for cleaning

• Medium amounts of painted makeup possible

• Makeup is non permanent and can be reapplied and/or personalised

• Requires both oiling and powdering

• Most TPE dolls are solid TPE with no foam core

• Can be repaired with heat or dedicated solvents

• Minor cuts can self heal

*While these materials are widely used and accepted as non allergenic, some individuals may have their own rare sensitivities to contact, sensitivities which do not fall under the majority of user experiences.