Firmness guide

How to pick the best firmness for you?

Statistically, you are most likely to be happy with medium soft firmness because it's the most popular among our buyers. ~50% of buyers select medium soft, ~40% buyers select soft & squishy and ~10% select medium firm. Medium soft is the closest firmness to an erect human penis.

Everybody is different of course, so one-firmness-fits-all solution may not be the absolute best for you. TL;DR version (read on, if you want more info):

Soft & Squishy = Shore 00-30

  • Best for: sensitive folks, gentle play, big toys and size training, less texture feel

Medium Soft = Shore 00-50

  • Best for: thrusting penetration, pressure play, strap-on, more texture feel

Medium Firm = Shore 10A

  • Best for: extreme texture feel, vigorous thrusting, consensual S/M play 

 

We also have firmness testers that you can order, or you can come to an in-person market/event - we always bring full-sized toys in each firmness that you can touch, squish or bend to your heart's desire.

Video's worth a 1000 words (sometimes)

This video showcases a squish and bend test of each firmness, and may help you decide which firmness is the best for you:

Shore scale & TopNotchDongs firmness scale

You may have already seen this image provided by Smooth-On, the manufacturer of the industry-standard silicone that we use to make our toys:

Durometer Shore Hardness Scale

Every store has slightly different terminology for their firmness scale, so we find it best to always provide shore firmness info because that is always going to be the same no matter what unofficial label a store puts on it. For our custom toys, we use following:

  • Supersoft = Shore 00-20 (only used for strokers/masturbators)
  • Soft & Squishy = Shore 00-30
  • Medium Soft = Shore 00-50
  • Medium Firm = Shore 10A

You may also encounter ready-made toys with Soft+ (shore 00-31) and Medium+ (shore 00-45) labels - these are made with different silicone that we only use for ready-made toys sometimes.

Firmness overview and details

Supersoft = Shore 00-20

  • we only use this firmness for strokers/masturbators because it's generally too soft for dildos and other toys
  • similar firmness to gummy bears

Soft & Squishy = Shore 00-30

Pros:

  • the toy is easily bendable and squishable, which makes for a very gentle and pleasant experience
  • perfect firmness if you are sensitive, tend to get sore after penetration or tend to get friction-caused UTIs
  • suitable for bigger toys and size training, since it's suqishable and fits in more easily
  • great for feeling of fullness and gentle play, rocking motions or pressure
  • suitable for folks who aren't big on textures

Cons:

  • can be difficult to use as a strap-on, as this firmness gets floppy (especially in bigger sizes)
  • not the best for vigorous thrusting play
  • less texture feel

Medium Soft = Shore 00-50

Pros:

  • the most similar firmness to an erect human penis - has a bit of squish to it and can also bend somewhat to adjust to your anatomy, but not too floppy
  • the best compromise between shore 00-30 and shore 10A
  • suitable for thrusting penetration and pressure play, works well as a strap-on
  • more texture feel but not too overwhelming
  • suitable for both big and small toys

Cons:

  • may be too firm for sensitive folks or too soft for those who prefer truly firm toys

Medium Firm = Shore 10A

Pros:

  • the best for those who want extreme texture feel
  • ideal for vigorous thrusting and being used as a strap-on
  • as this firmness can get painful and textures can get overwhelming, it can be a great choice for consensual S/M play
  • probably most suitable for smaller toys

Cons:

  • very firm, even painful for some people
  • very pronounced texture feel

 

Okay, that's it! If you are still unsure, feel free to contact us and we'll do our best to advise you on firmness selection for your specific use case.