Cheap vs Expensive Silicone | Sex Doll Rumors

Recently, Tenderdolls staff has caught a rumor floating around that there were several grades of silicone doll materials from which sex dolls are made out of. This was brought to us by a silicone doll manufacturer Zelex and caught us by surprise, as for a long time everyone believed that all of the silicones are the same. To figure out what is the true situation, we have asked Zelex a bunch of questions to understand why some silicone dolls are lasting a long time and some start showing signs of damage only after several weeks.

Cheap vs Expensive Silicone for Sex Dolls

Apparently there are different grades of silicone, one is expensive and one is cheap. The cheap one is still considered silicone, but it is a hardly an upgrade from the TPE material according to the silicone doll manufacturer. So we have starter our investigation on the silicone price and why it is so preferable to use cheaper silicone raw materials.

High-quality silicone is more than 300% more expensive!

Although factories did not want to disclose their raw material prices, after doing some careful research, we concluded that the cheaper silicone from China or Brazil can cost from $1900 – $3500 USD for 1 ton (31 gallons) of material. While American made imported silicone wholesale cost can be from $10 000 USD all the way to a whopping $20 000 USD per ton for platinum silicone that is made strictly for molding. If we look at the figures, American silicone is at least 300% more expensive than the cheaper silicone alternatives from China and Brazil. The lower price of the raw material and the lower cost of getting it to the factory is what makes quite a few manufacturers from China go for the cheaper option.

Below you can see images of two offers, one from Alibaba and another from Polytek (PlatSil) American silicone manufacturer. Chinese silicone amounts to 3000 USD per 1 ton (31 gallons), while American silicone gets from Polytek gets you only 2 gallons for the same price!

Interview with a co-founder of a silicone sex doll brand ZELEX

We have conducted an interview with one of the famous silicone sex doll manufactures – ZELEX. ZELEX is a reputable silicone doll brand, which independently designs, manufactures and photographs their dolls, there was finally a shed of light into what silicone doll manufacturers use. There were two types of silicone that this factory had to deal with. American platinum silicone (platinum means that silicone is strictly for molding applications, sourced from the USA) and Chinese local silicone. According to the manufacturer, Chinese silicone from local sources is attractive to them as it is easily acquired and allows the manufacturer to sell their dolls with bigger margins, allowing space for discounts and promotions. However, ZELEX decided not to use Chinese silicone at all as according to ZELEX, it lacks quality.

Isn’t the cheaper silicone good enough?

According to the manufacturer, this cheaper alternative is not a great material to make the dolls from. The first thing you will notice after receiving a doll made from such silicone is that she is quite smelly and that smell does not fade away quickly. For the smell to disappear, you might need to wait several days or weeks and it will reduce to unnoticeable levels. The smell is there for a good reason. The fact that the smell is noticeable means that there is something evaporating from the material. The thing that makes the doll elastic and soft is leaving the doll by simply evaporating.

Cheap silicone is not durable

After the smell of cheap silicone is gone, there is a high chance that the material that makes the silicone soft and elastic has evaporated. This evaporation eventually leads to silicone drying up and micro/visible tears developing. This happens because of the silicone material’s inability to retain it’s elasticity. Somewhat like TPE, the cheap Chinese silicone loses the moisture inside of it and starts to dry up, crack and become sticky. There are horror stories of such incidents at the doll forums where people speak about their new silicone sex dolls developing tears in the vagina, arm pits or knee regions. This makes us wonder, which manufacturer the dolls were purchased from and did the manufacturer use high quality silicone or the cheaper Chinese silicone material for the doll.

Why is Platinum silicone so expensive?

So why is American silicone so expensive? The main reason is because the factories have to source it from the Unites States. Not only the higher quality of silicone and better manufacturing process makes it more expensive, but the import process as well adds the cost to the raw material because of freight and taxes that have to be paid when importing it to China. American silicone is the way to go when you think about your future silicone sex doll and this is why reputable sex doll manufacturers prefer using it. It has a pleasant smell, the silicone is soft and non sticky, durable and requiring less maintenance. The most important feature of this silicone is that it is elastic and does hold on to the elasticity for a long time. Which makes the doll reliable and cheaper option in the long run, since you will not have to invest in yet another doll because your first one has disintegrated!

How do you know which silicone is used for your sex doll?

First of all, all the reputable manufacturers, use hiqh-quality sources of silicone. It would be difficult to find a reputable manufacturer that uses low quality Chinese silicone. Reputable manufacturers like Sino Doll, ZELEX, WM Doll silicone series, Piper, Starpery etc. all use premium platinum silicone imported from United States. The easiest way to find a doll made from lowest grade of silicone, would be to go to websites that offer silicone sex dolls sub $1000 USD, websites like Aliexpress. Most of the dolls there will be made from the cheaper raw silicone to reduce the costs and be able to flood the market with cheap high availability, but low quality products. A user that bought such a doll will have a bad impression that all silicone dolls are the same and that sex dolls are not worth the investment. Such manufacturers are not accountable for the bad dolls that they ship as their products are distributed by dozens of different vendors with different names. The way to be sure that you will receive a silicone doll made from high quality silicone, is to stay with the known brands. By choosing reputable brands, you will be sure that your sex doll is made from the expensive and high quality silicone which will give you low maintenance, pleasurable and long lasting doll experience!

Do you have anything to add to this topic? If so, please let us know in the comments below!

If you need help determining if the doll that you found is made by a reputable manufacturer, please contact us on the live chat or write to us at [email protected]. Tenderdolls team is always more than happy to help!