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The Pushin Cushion inflatable wedge

I review sex toys for sextoy.com. While I don’t receive any money for these reviews, I am receiving free sex toys. You can find the Wedge Air Pillow, as well as other sex toys such as vibrators, on their site.

If you’re a sex toy aficionado like me, you’ve probably become aware of the high-end sex toy furniture which has become available recently. Ranging from specially shaped pillows to entire customized sex beds, the cheapest of these toys runs in the hundreds of dollars. This is a lot of money to pay for foam furniture, especially when those new to experimenting with the toys may not know how much difference that wedge and ramp set will make in their sex lives.

This is where Doc Johnson, the manufacturers of the Wedge Air Pillow come in, offering one of the more popular shapes in a low-priced inflatable alternative. Note that while Sextoy.com refers to this as the Wedge Air Pillow, the packaging has a more colorful (and might I add, goofy) title: the Pushin’ Cushion. As an aside, has anyone else noticed that pillow is one of those words that suddenly looks like it’s spelled incorrectly if you stare at it for too long?

Getting back to the subject at hand, this toy is in theory a cheaper alternative to the foam furniture made by companies like Liberator. I’ve been drooling over their furniture since I saw it in a showroom in one of Houston’s fancier adult stores. I thought this wedge would be a great chance to try out the concept.

The wedge is an inflatable pillow that is covered by a washable, soft zippered cover. This greatly adds to the comfort of the toy over other inflatable furniture I have sat on. In addition to the pillow and cover, a patch kit, a small foot-operated air pump and a page of suggested positions are included in the plastic shell the toy ships in. You probably won’t bother to keep the packaging after opening, as it isn’t especially useful for secure storage. I wish the toy had included a vinyl bag in which to store the deflated pillow; air mattresses which sell in stores for about the same price often include these. It takes a bit of work to inflate with the included air pump, but this is definitely preferable to trying to inflate it with just your lungs.

The bandersnatch assists with the construction of this review.

When inflated, the wedge is quite large — large enough that it took up a good portion of my queen size bed, and I wanted to deflate it soon after trying it out. It’s just too large to keep inflated in my small apartment where there is nowhere to keep it out of reach of my crazy cat, Saskia (aka the frumious bandersnatch). I’d say that one drawback of this toy is its increased vulnerability to cats, but mine showed no interest in it. I think the cover probably adds a small amount of protection, and I can’t imagine foam stands up too well to claws either.

Trouble was eager to test out this wedge with me. I inflated it as firmly as it would get, and zipped it shut. We studied the list of suggested positions. Trouble complained that while it offers a number of positions for penis-in-vagina sex, and one position for fellatio, there was nothing suggested for using the pillow during cunnilingus. And, just like Liberator’s marketing materials, Doc Johnson seem to assume that the only users of this pillow will be the completely heterosexual — there are certainly no suggestions for other gender pairings.

The first position we tried was one where I lay with my back high up on the ramp, supporting myself on the bed with my legs while Trouble sat astride my lap facing me. Penetration felt wonderful at this angle, and I had perfect access to almost any part of her body I wanted to reach for. But my legs quickly grew tired from supporting us; the pillow was wobbling so much that I had to concentrate as much on maintaining my balance as on enjoying my beautiful redheaded lover. Unfortunately, we had a similar experience when we tried placing Trouble on her back on the wedge with her knees drawn up toward her chest. She felt like she had to constantly balance on her arms, and the angle of the wedge made that more difficult. By the time we were finished, the pillow seemed already to have deflated a bit, growing even more wobbly in the process.

Now that I’ve tried it, I love the idea of using a wedge pillow for sex. It’s clear there are many kinds of sexual play that might be made easier with this kind of toy. I plan to experiment more with the wedge when the opportunity allows, either by placing it on the floor or experimenting with a rear-entry position. And when I have the budget to afford it, and the house to store them in, I can easily see myself buying some of the expensive stuff.

Unfortunately, I don’t think this toy is worth a purchase for most people. I suspect it will probably see some use at Burning Man events, where inflatable furniture (more conventional pillows, sofas, and so on) is already commonplace, but I don’t think I’ll use it often for sex. The wedge is just not stable enough. To return to my comparison with air mattresses earlier in the review, it used to be that an air mattress was just too wobbly and unreliable for sleeping on. Nowadays, for about the price of the wedge, you can purchase a queen-sized air mattress that has built-in ribbing that creates a great deal of stability and comfort. I’d like to see this toy redesigned in a similar fashion. I guess the Wedge Air Pillow might be a worthwhile purchase for someone who just absolutely has to try out this shape but can’t afford the real thing, but I think you’d be better off making friends with an adventurous Liberator owner and asking to share.