How do sex toys work? Vibrations, motors and more!

I’m enjoying going back to the basics on some of these sex toy questions. Regular readers will remember that my current mission is to answer some of the most frequently asked sex toy questions that people type into Google. Questions like ‘is it a sin to use sex toys?’ and ‘how do you use sex toys for couples?’

Today’s question is a biggie, but it’s one I’ve really enjoyed researching, because I get to look behind the scenes to try and explain the mechanics of vibrators. Today we’re tackling the question: how do sex toys work?

How do vibrators work?

The reason vibrators are pleasurable is that they stimulate the nerve endings of the most sensitive parts of your body. The clitoris has around 8,000 nerve endings, so when you hold a vibrator against it, those nerve endings are sending a lot of pleasurable signals to your brain.

But how do vibrators work to stimulate your sensitive spots?

The key elements of any vibrator are:

• power (this might be a battery or for wand-style vibrators the power may come from a plug)
• a motor
• a weight

Power is used to drive the motor, which causes the all-important movement. However, a motor running on its own isn’t likely to produce the intense, rumbly sensations that people tend to want from a vibrator. For that you need a weight. The weight, attached to the motor and offset slightly, causes the toy to vibrate with greater intensity.

It’s like the opposite of your washing machine, which will employ counterweights to try and dull the vibrations and movement of the machine – you don’t want it to go haring and juddering around the kitchen while you’re spin-drying your underwear. In a vibrator, the opposite is true: you want more movement in the vibe, so you use weights to cause that motion.

So how do sex toys work? Well, different vibrators will vary in terms of the amount of power they deliver, the strength of the motor, and the balance and positioning of the weight: that’s broadly how you get different sensations from different vibes.

How do you make quiet vibrators?

Incidentally, it’s also why some vibrators are very loud. The heavier the weight and more powerful the motor, the louder the toy is likely to be. One of the biggest challenges in creating sex toys is balancing speed and power with noise levels. There are lots of different ways to do this – repositioning weights to lower noise levels, or dampening using the external body of the vibrator. Whichever vibrator you choose will have gone through testing to determine whether the ‘intensity/noise’ trade-off is worth it, and whether there is any way the vibe can be made quieter.

I put ‘how do vibrators work’ first because once you know these basics, you’ll have a good grasp of how lots of other sex toys work: vibrating love eggs (the motor/weight combo sits inside the eggs and causes stimulation from there), vibrating butt plugs (same!) and other vibrating sex toys all work on this same principle, although naturally there’s a lot of variation in terms of the power of the motor, the weight, shape of the toy and much more.

How do g-spot vibrators (and prostate massagers) work?

The difference between a clitoral vibrator and a g-spot vibrator is mostly down to shape. While a clitoral vibe – like a bullet vibe – can be used outside the body and so positioned exactly where you want it, a g-spot vibrator is designed to target stimulation directly to the g-spot inside the body. Sex toys work by identifying the area they want to target and shaping the toy accordingly

But wait! Not everyone’s g-spot is in exactly the same place! The same is true for prostate massagers, which are designed to stimulate the prostate. While it’s easy to say that the g-spot and prostate are both located roughly a couple of inches inside the body – the former in the vagina and the latter in the anus – there is always variation in individual body types.

Some sex toy companies deal with this by creating bendable vibrators – like the Loving Joy FLUX which can be shaped to fit different individuals. Others will simply aim to deliver vibrations that are broad and intense, so even if it isn’t in the exact spot, the stimulation will reverberate through your body to reach all the right parts.

How do cock rings work?

This one’s easy-peasy, because the science behind cock rings is very simple: slightly restricting the blood flowing out of the penis results in less blood leaving the penis, and therefore a harder erection. Hey presto!

A simple cock ring should sit firmly but comfortably around the base of the penis, so that when you start to get an erection blood is trapped inside the penis itself. It’s basically a way to boost the penises natural blood-retention properties, and most people who use cock rings find that their erections are stronger and harder for this extra assistance.

Vibrating cock rings add an extra dimension, because the vibrations (which can sit on the top or bottom of the shaft, or both) deliver an extra boost of stimulation. These sex toys work by both giving you a stronger erection and adding extra stimulation for you and/or a partner to enjoy while you’re using them.

Fun fact: I didn’t know this until I got into an argument with my current partner about which way round the vibrating part of a cock ring should go. I thought it should sit on top of the shaft, so it’d stimulate my clit while we were shagging in missionary, but he felt it was more pleasurable for him if we turned it round so the vibrator gave extra stimulation on the bottom of his shaft/his balls while we had sex. We solved the problem by taking it in turns, and then eventually getting a cock ring that did both!

How do kegel balls work?

I wanted to include a little bit on kegel balls at the end of this, because although they work on a similar principle to vibrating love eggs (i.e. they employ weights and stimulate you internally), they do not require batteries or power. The sensation is much gentler – like a flutter – and that’s because they are simply firm external ‘shells’ with weights moving freely inside. These Fifty Shades Jiggle Balls are made from a firm plastic coating (with a silicone casing/string so you can easily slide them out after play) with 67g weights inside the balls themselves. When you walk/run/dance to showtunes the movement of your body shifts the weight inside the toys, and you can feel the flutter of the weight shifting inside your vaginal canal. It’s a pretty unique sensation, and well worth a try especially if you’re a fan of g-spot stimulation, or toys which you can wear to the shops and back again.

Which sex toy should I buy?

I can’t tell you which sex toy will work best for your body, but hopefully knowing a little bit more about how sex toys work has given you insight into what could work for you. If you’re into clitoral stimulation, g-spot stimulation, anal play or anything else, the best sex toy for you will be one which combines the right amount of power with a shape that can deliver stimulation to just the right place. You should probably start by checking out the latest sex toy deals, and buying the first two things that take your fancy. Yep, I said ‘two’ – they’re really good deals, people!

And whatever sex toy you choose, if you use it with a partner, now you’ll know how to explain to them the inner details of how sex toys… and why this one gave you (or them) such a powerful orgasm!