Silicone lubricant
One rule decides whether you can use this at all. It will damage silicone toys, and there is no safe smaller amount. If your toys are glass, metal or ABS, it is the better lubricant by a distance.
Worth knowing before you buy
- Does not evaporate or absorb, so one application lasts instead of three
- Water does not remove it, which makes it the only sensible choice for the shower
- Works out cheaper per use than water-based, despite the higher price on the shelf
Where it goes wrong
- Softens and eventually cracks silicone toy surfaces, with no safe reduced dose
- Needs soap rather than water to remove, which makes cleanup more effort
| Best for | Shower use, long sessions, glass and metal toys |
|---|---|
| Not ideal for | Anyone whose toys are silicone |
| Base | Silicone |
| Compatible with | Glass, metal, ABS, latex, polyurethane |
| Not compatible with | Silicone toys, silicone condoms |
| Volume per use | Roughly a third of water-based |
| Removal | Needs soap, water alone leaves a film |
| Fails by | Being used on the wrong material |
The one rule, and it has no exceptions
Do not use this with silicone toys. Not use less of it, not only occasionally, not if it seems fine the first time. Silicone oil and silicone rubber are chemically close enough that the oil migrates into the rubber, softens it, and eventually cracks or permanently tackifies the surface. There is no product that gets around this and no concentration that is safe. If your toy is silicone — and most good ones are — this bottle is not for that toy.
Why the expensive bottle is cheaper
Silicone needs roughly a third of the volume per use, because it does not absorb and does not evaporate. On a per-session basis it comes out ahead of water-based, often by a noticeable margin, which is not what the shelf price suggests. The catch is that the comparison only applies if you can use it at all, and a large share of people cannot, because their toys are silicone.
Getting it off
It needs soap. Warm water alone leaves a film, and the film is what people notice and dislike. Mild soap, rinse properly, dry before storage. This is more work than water-based, and it is the honest trade for not having to reapply halfway through. If you are the kind of person who cleans things properly this is fine. If you are not, water-based is more forgiving of neglect.
What it feels like
Silicone has a slicker, more persistent texture on skin than water-based, and it does not absorb or dry in the way water-based does. Some people prefer that. Others find it stays noticeable long after they would rather it did not. That is a genuine preference rather than a quality difference, and it is the one thing about this category you cannot work out from a specification sheet.
Condoms and other materials
Latex and polyurethane condoms are fine with silicone lubricant. Silicone condoms are not, although they are rare. Oil-based lubricant is the one to keep away from latex entirely, because it degrades the material in minutes rather than over months. If you are not certain what a condom is made of, water-based is the safe assumption, and it always has been.
How to decide in one pass
Silicone toys and nothing else: water-based, stop here. Glass, metal or ABS toys, or lubricant mostly used in the shower: this is the better product. Both kinds of toy: own both bottles, because they are not interchangeable and the mistake is expensive in the direction of the toy rather than the bottle. And treat anything sold as hybrid with suspicion unless you read the ingredients — most hybrids are silicone-dominant and behave like this bottle rather than the other one.
Related reading
Same category, different trade-offs.