Introduction to Fisting : 3 - Lube

The simple statement to make about lube, is 'use lots'. The choice of lube however, tends to be a highly personal matter. The list below, while listing a number of different lubes, is certainly not exhaustive Choice.

Crisco

• Readily available in many areas, particularly the U.S. If not available, most shortening used for cooking can be substituted.
• Being non-water based, will tend to attack latex gloves, and is unsafe for use with condoms.
• Can be hard to get out of towels etc.
• Takes additives easily.
• Can be frozen into balls/sticks.
• Melts easily and becomes quite slippery.
• Mixes well with other non-water based lubes.
• Causes no irritation to skin.

Aqueous Cream

• Very easily available and very cheap.
• Used to treat eczema, so pharmacists not suspicious when purchased in quantity; well, some guys are shy...
• Being water based, doesn't attack latex gloves, and is safe for use with condoms.
• Washes out of towels easily.
• Takes additives easily.
• Doesn't freeze particularly well.
• Mixes well with other water based lubes.
• Although it's used for the treatment of a skin condition, some users experience stinging, redness and irritation, particularly after prolonged use. Fortunately, this is quite rare.

J-lube

• Can be very hard to obtain. Manufactured by Nasco, as a veterinary lube, so in agricultural areas, may be available over the counter from specialist suppliers. It may also be worth trying the eNASCO On-Line Catalogs .
• Being water based, doesn't attack latex gloves, and is safe for use with condoms.
• Can be difficult to wash out of towels and sometimes off skin. The manufacturers recommend the use of table salt to help cleaning, and this helps, but isn't totally effective.
• Takes additives easily.
• Mixes well with other water based and many non-water based lubes.
• The lube is based on a long chain polymer which results in spectacular stringiness in use. This can look very interesting, especially on photographs, but it can tend to slightly obscure the view. If you mix it with aqueous cream, try coating your hands, then clapping a few times.
• J-lube comes as a powder, and must be mixed with water. there are as many different opinions on how to mix it as there are people using it. One thing is absolutely clear though. Mix it up well before it's going to be used, as it takes a lot of time and effort. If you're new to mixing it, practice first, even though you have no use for it. J-lube will keep for a short period of time, but should be kept in the fridge.

Proprietary Lubes (elbow grease, wet stuff, liquid silk etc.)

• Available quite widely in sex shops and by mail order.
• Being water based, they don't attack latex gloves, and is safe for use with condoms. They wash out of towels easily.
• They usually mix well with additives. In fact, some come with additives already included (e.g. Hot Elbow grease).
• Generally, they mix well with other water based lubes.
• Often, these lubes, being designed for fucking rather than fisting, are not up to the job of providing enough lubrication, for any period of time. They often dry out, requiring re-application, and this can sometimes be awkward, especially with the lubes that come in single use sachets.

Unusual Lubes

• Many different substances can be used as a lube for fisting, many of them coming from the kitchen. I've used large volumes of cooking oil, ice cream, butter/margarine and even on one occasion honey. Success with these has been mixed. The cooking oil, butter and margarine in fact anything oil based is likely to work well. The ice cream, (chocolate) was nice from my point of view, because it made the rimming that went with the play all the better. Men, heavy arse play and chocolate - does life get any better? :-)) From the point of view of the bottom, the lubrication level was sufficient, but he found the cold numbed him, and so he lost sensation until the ice cream melted. The honey did work, but as would be expected, was as sticky as hell. In that particular play situation, one of the aims was to get as messy as hell, and this certainly helped. From a purely practical point of view, putting a strong sugar solution up the arse, isn't likely to do much good to the mucous membranes, as I suspect it will tend to de-hydrate them. When I used it, it was washed out of the arse very quickly, so this wasn't an issue, but I'd be reluctant to use it for long periods.

Additives

Let's be clear about what I mean by additives. Some guys mix drugs with lube, believing it to have beneficial effects. These are not the additives I'm talking about. Apart from the use of poppers, I doubt the wisdom of using any drug, either by the top or the bottom. The additives I am talking about, are those which are easily and legally available in any pharmacy. The purpose of these additives is to soothe a hole that is feeling the effects of wear and tear. It's worth experimenting with which additives work best with you. In general though, the aromatics used to clear nasal blockages are often effective. In particular, menthol crystals, vapo-rub and Olbas oil can give good results. Clove oil, as used to soothe toothaches can also be used. When mixing these with the lube, always start off by mixing in too little, and add slowly until a comfortable concentration is reached. As with many things, small amounts soothe; large amounts irritate. A good idea, is for an exclusive top to try the mix on himself, on the basis that if irritation occurs, at least the play can go on. One material recommended by many American fisters, is a substance called 'Bag Balm', which apparently is a soothing paste, used to treat the udders of cows with mastitis. In the UK, and possibly other places, the treatment used for the same condition is called 'Udder Mint'. I've tried this to my cost. I tested some of it under my foreskin, shortly after buying it, recklessly, while more than an hour from home, and without access to any way to wash, closer than home. I regretted it. It burns like hell, and was so severe, that I gave it to a friend, who does more CBT than me. The moral of the story? Always test carefully before using. If this had been used on a hole, the play would have immediately ended and the unfortunate bottom would have had a very painful few days.

taken from The Art of Fisting - Jack Morin, Ph.D.