Just put up a bit of a lube run down on my blog (http://thrupenny.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/lube-overview/) - let me know what you think and if it seems sane or is no use to man, beast or toy!

Let’s be blunt here. If you are male and use toys you need lube. It’s not the glam end of sex toys; more the Q branch back room boys to the Bondian Fleshlights but it is an essential purchase. The male member is, unlike the female genitals, dry and the average sex toy is also dry. Put them together and you get friction. Not the fun kind; the dick burn kind.

If your engaging in prostate play then lube is even more essential.

The question of course is what lube to use. Well first of all don’t even think of using anything you already have lying round the house you don’t know what it will do to your toy and more importantly your dick. The easy option is to pick up a tube of KY or durex brand lube with your weekly shop. While this is an easy option and the lube is easy to use – it’s a jelly so it stays where you put it – I find that in use they quickly turn into a sticky and non slippery mess. The other alternative is to pick up a toy oriented lube when you visit your favourite sex shop. These lubes tend to be much more liquid and retain their slipperiness in use but do have a tendency to dribble everywhere.

I have absolutely no evidence for this but I tend to think that KY et al are developed to add a little extra slip to an already damp surface where toy lubes are designed to give lasting slip to a dry surface.

The ideal of course is somewhere between the two; comes in a jelly so it stays where you put it and you don’t spend the night skating around on spilled lube but long lasting enough that it doesn’t turn into wallpaper paste before your climax.

I’m going to look at a few different lubes I’ve tried and update this list as I try new lubricants.

* KY Jelly

The pretty much eponymous lube. You can find it almost anywhere and it fulfils the basic requirements of being an inert, water based lubricant that will not affect toys. It does tend to become sticky in use which can be alleviated by adding a bit of water. But let’s be honest here who keeps a supply of water nearby when retiring for a relaxing wank? As the name indicates it’s jelly so it will stay where you put it so your unlikely to have it running down your penis and forming puddle son the bed, which is always good. Good as a fall back but not the best all round option.

* Durex Play

For all intents a purposes this is the same as KY jelly. It’s an inert water based lube that comes in a small pump bottle rather than an old fashioned tube. Like KY it comes out of the bottle as a jelly but rapidly becomes sticky in use. Personally I’ve found the pump packs are sometimes a bit erratic in their delivery and they seem to be a packaging gimmick rather than a really useful development. All in all better than nothing but I prefer the old school KY tubes.

* Durex Play Tingle

See above but with an added tingle ingredient. This is where the problem may or may not arise. For me this added ingredient just burns rather than tingles so it’s a no-go. Other people who have tried it love it. If you have sensitive skin probably best avoided but if not then it may be a fun extra for you.

* Loving Joy Slide Lubricant

Possibly my favourite lube so far. It’s much more liquid than any of the preceding lubricants and because of this it does have a tendency to escape and trickle all over the place. Where it scores above the gel lubes is that it retains its slipperiness much longer and can be used in much smaller amounts. Try squeezing a little into your palm and then massaging it over your cock before breaking out your toy. I have to admit it’s a little less easy to use than the gels with prostate play, so I do tend to have a tube of KY around for that, but it’s certainly not impossible.

Added to the fine in use qualities it’s also dirt cheap!

Loving Joy Slide Lubricant is available from www.sextoys.co.uk

* Give Lube Lubetube Mini

This is even more liquid than the Loving Joy Slide Lubricant so even more likely to make its way anywhere but where you put it. However it does come in a funky little (slightly larger than a lighter) easy to carry tube and only a few drops are needed at any one time. After using any other lube it can actually be slightly disconcerting; a bit like using a shaving oil after being used so shaving foam and adjusting to using a few drops rather than a handful of product. Personally I prefer the Loving Joy Slide for general use, but if I was travelling anywhere this would be thrown into my bag because of its size, convenience and tightly sealing flip cap.

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