# How long does it take vagina to clean sperm inside it **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 8, 2018, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-vagina-to-clean-sperm-inside-it/808467 "2018-02-08T19:31:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MaverocK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@MaverocK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaverocK)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-vagina-to-clean-sperm-inside-it/808467/1 "2018-02-08T19:31:16Z")
Please forgive me for my ignorance. In a hypothetical situation, a male ejaculates into a females reproduction organ (vagina). I am curious about how long at maximum (worst case scenario) it takes vagina to completely get rid of the sperm put into it. I apologize for the sexual nature of the question if this is disturbing. I want to approach this from a medical/analytical/scientific point of view. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-vagina-to-clean-sperm-inside-it/808467/2 "2018-02-08T19:35:35Z")
Rid of the living sperm? Could take 9 months in a evolved state. Or rid of the material that made up the dead sperm, so that no traces of it remain (still can take 9 months)? ---
**Author:** ![MaverocK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@MaverocK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaverocK)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-vagina-to-clean-sperm-inside-it/808467/3 "2018-02-08T19:39:09Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Rid of the living sperm? Could take 9 months in a evolved state. Or rid of the material that made up the dead sperm, so that no traces of it remain (still can take 9 months)? My question pertains to the situation where the sperm is NOT evolved. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-vagina-to-clean-sperm-inside-it/808467/4 "2018-02-08T19:43:22Z")
> [@MaverocK](#): > > My question pertains to the situation where the sperm is NOT evolved. 🙂 OK, but are you taking about ridding of the living sperm (as they die in place), or the dead sperm evacuated or broken down/decayed, or the breakdown products of the dead sperm, evacuated or absorbed? ---
**Author:** ![MaverocK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@MaverocK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaverocK)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-vagina-to-clean-sperm-inside-it/808467/5 "2018-02-08T19:47:32Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > OK, but are you taking about ridding of the living sperm (as they die in place), or the dead sperm evacuated or broken down/decayed, or the breakdown products of the dead sperm, evacuated or absorbed? That’s a very, very in-depth of inspection of the situation. I was talking about the breakdown products of the dead sperm, evacuated or absorbed. But if you could share information about each stage you described in your post, it would be great. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-vagina-to-clean-sperm-inside-it/808467/6 "2018-02-08T20:04:57Z")
I see that this thread directly follows one about cleaning lint from dryer vents with brushes. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-vagina-to-clean-sperm-inside-it/808467/7 "2018-02-08T22:44:14Z")
Sue Johanson (“The Sunday Night Sex Show” in Canada) had the memorable line to one caller - “your vagina is like a self-cleaning oven”, essentially in reponse to a question like the OP’s. Basically it would push out any “residues” fairly efficiently all by itself. This suggests that 2 days is standard for sperm test, an for any fragmentary DNA, up to 8 days: > **[Test can prove rape days later](https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1981-test-can-prove-rape-days-later/)** > > Detecting the tell-tale male chromosome in traces of skin cells can be successful when standard sperm tests fail > [@](#): > > a French study has confirmed that a back-up test can often detect the male Y chromosome even if no sperm are found. > The standard test, in which technicians use microscopes to look for sperm in vaginal, oral or anal swabs, is very sensitive. But it can fail if the swabs are taken more than two days after the rape, if the assailant has a low sperm count or does not ejaculate, or if the woman is menstruating or using spermicide. It can also fail if the rape involved oral or anal sex, because salivary and bacterial enzymes can rapidly destroy sperm. > > Philippe de Mazancourt, a forensic biologist at the Raymond Poincaré Hospital in Garches, France, and his colleagues used this test to examine 79 women who said they had been raped. The researchers found fragments of Y chromosome in nearly 30 per cent of the cases for which standard sperm tests were negative. > > What’s more, they detected the Y chromosome in a third of the cases in which the women were examined more than two days after being raped, and in two cases nearly eight days later. “I would recommend the test when the sperm test is negative and when you have some indication that there was a rape,” says Mazancourt. The results will appear in Forensic Science International. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-vagina-to-clean-sperm-inside-it/808467/8 "2018-02-10T01:20:12Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > I see that this thread directly follows one about cleaning lint from dryer vents with brushes. :eek: Which smells much more pleasant :reek: