I know, I know. I already did a review of lube. But I thought i’d make a post going into detail on different types of lube. At my store, we have a case full of just lubes. Warming, flavored, tingling, long lasting, desensitising, more sensitising, water, silicone, gel, hybrid, hypoallergenic. There is something for everyone, but often people are overwhelmed by how many choices they have to make, and are unsure of what exactly it is they are looking for. This is where we, your friendly pornclerks, step in.

Right now, we’ll just go over the basics. Water vs Silicone vs Oil based.

WATER BASED:

Water based lube is a good, standard, well rounded lubricant. Quality of the lube depends heavily on the brand, however. Astroglide tends to get sticky after just a few minutes, but Gun Oil seems to last forever. My favorite thing about water based lube is that if it does dry out or get sticky, you can just apply a drop or two of water and you’re riding a slip n’ slide. I tend to keep a bottle of water next to the bed anyway for that after-sex cotton mouth, so applying a drop or two of water isn’t a problem.

Water based also comes off easy, washing off with just some water and a washcloth. Because of its water soluble nature, it is also super easy to get a lube stain out of the sheets.

As mentioned earlier, the biggest drawback is the fact that it gets sticky. Oh, and its also not very good for shower play, if you’re into that sort of thing.

SILICONE BASED:

Silicone based lube is my personal favorite. So I might be a bit biased in writing this bit, but I’ll do my best to be as objective as possible.

Most major lube brands (Wet, KY, Swiss Navy, Gun Oil, Astroglide…) make silicone based lubricant. However, it can be a bit harder to hunt down at your local wallgreens. Most people don’t know much about silicone lubricant, which is a damn shame. (When I was in high school, our sex ed class only informed us about oil and water based lubricants.) Silicone is perfectly safe with latex (meaning most condoms.) And with pretty much any sexual play. Silicone lube is silky smooth, and feels more “slippery” than water based. It washes off with soap and water, and is ideal for shower play, as it doesn’t come off as easy as water based. The phrase “A little goes a long way” Has never been more true than with Silicone based lubricant. A drop is all you’ll need, and usually you don’t need to reapply at all, it works so well.

However, it doesn’t work well with silicone toys (The silicone lubricant will break down the toys.) . And most toys on the market today, if not made with plastic or glass, have some silicone in them. (Those “realskin” and “cyberskin” toys contain silicone.) So if you’re looking to use it with your battery operated boy, or pocket pleasure pussy then you might want to look elsewhere.

OIL BASED:

I didn’t really even want to get into oil based, since I am not a fan, and we don’t even bother to sell it at the shop. Most oil based lubes consist of things like Vaseline, and organic vegetable oil, which can be used as lubricant if washed after. Oil based lubricant has the advantage of being easily accessable, and is best used for solo play. It can be used with silicone based toys as well. However, Oil based lubricant will break down latex toys and condoms, so its not advisable if you plan to use it for intercourse with a condom. Oil based also tends to take a back seat to water based, as it is so hard to get off, without feeling a whole lot smoother than water based. The chart we have at work highlighting the features of different lubricants doesn’t even mark Oil based as use for anything other than self play. I imagine you can use it for vaginal intercourse without much issue, but I wouldn’t try using it for anal unless you want to shit brown toothpaste at extraordinarily high speeds.

In a nut shell:

Water: Good for every day use with almost any kind of intercourse, but not in showers. Gets sticky, but a drop of water will fix that.

Silicone: Smooth and good for showers. Doesn’t get sticky, but you have to use soap and water to remove. Do not use with most toys.

Oil: Use it to spank the monkey, but if you need lube for sex, water is probably your best bet.