Video: How condoms are tested
February 15, 2011
Jenni Dunning
TORONTO STAR
Stock up on Barry White, massage oil and condoms – Valentine’s Day is upon us.
It is the time of year safe sex takes centre stage, as romantics celebrate (and singles curse) the holiday of love.
It’s also the time of year the U.S. marks National Condom Month.
In Toronto, mid-February is one of the “busiest seasons” for the Condom Shack on Queen St. W.
“It’s not necessarily a condom-heavy holiday because it’s a couple-y holiday,” but more people are checking out the store and searching for “something different,” said Pam Goldsworthy, the store’s assistant manager.
“Valentine’s is kind of our thing. We sell absolutely everything here – ‘sex-cessories’ as we call them.”
The more people who shop at Condom Shack, the more in-store safe sex education employees shell out, she added.
“We’re moderately nosy with our customers. We’ll offer to sell them condoms,” she said, adding the store gets a “high number” of teenagers to whom they give advice.
“Getting the safest condom you can should be a priority. It isn’t really as convincing coming from a teacher as someone who works here.”
The biggest misconception people have about condoms is they do not realize how thoroughly tested they are during the manufacturing process, said Carol Carrozza, marketing vice-president of LifeStyles Condoms.
Every single condom is tested for defects, such as leaks and breakage.
To test strength, they are each inflated 90 cm high and 30 cm wide until they reach a bursting point, according to a LifeStyles video .
Then they are filled with 300 millilitres of water to check for holes. The condoms also undergo electronic microscopic testing, which searches for defects not visible by the human eye.
The most interesting part of condom testing is how the actual condoms are made, Carrozza said.
Each condom type and shape has its own glass mould, which is dipped into liquid latex, and then passed through an oven to set, she said. The condoms are then rolled off the moulds and put in tumbling machines to dry them and remove any stickiness.
“People should care about the . . . condom testing process because it ensures that they are getting the very best protection every time,” Carrozza said.
LifeStyles Condoms by the numbers:
• 4 million: condoms produced a day
• 300,000: number of 12-pack boxed produced a day
• 300 mL: how much water each condom is filled with in a leak test
• 15: number of LifeStyles condom types distributed in the U.S. and Canada
• 4: number of defective condoms per 1000 tested it takes to destroy an entire batch
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