In my case, there is no other way. I was born with a highly efficient self-lubrication system – as I frequently realized during adolescence, despite thick cotton briefs and heavy corduroys. I am thankful the Creator gave me an abundant supply of natural lubrication, because I was tightly circumcised, which was common among those of my generation. Without my own natural lubricant, I would be forced to use commercial lubricant or risk an irritated penis from regular masturbation all my life. Now, decades later, I still enjoy an abundant flow of my own natural lubricant from the time I begin thinking about masturbating until I finally ejaculate. On those rare occasions when the supply does not seem sufficient, I supplement it with a few drops of water, or – in an "emergency" – with saliva, which I also manufacture readily. I guess one could say that I'm a well-lubricated machine.
- age 62, Michigan
This Week's Wackiest Response:
I prefer dry, because when I do it "wet," the cat thinks I'm feeding it and it scratches at the door.
- age 14, Ohio
I never used lube until I was about 22 because the skin on my shaft is pretty loose. Now I can't enjoy masturbating unless my penis is very slick. Recently on vacation, I couldn't find a good lube, so I used vegetable oil from the kitchen.
- age 25, Arizona
I almost always do it dry, as it is cleaner, easier, and perhaps because of my foreskin, there is less friction to worry about. I love to masturbate in the shower with water as the lubricant, but occasionally have used baby oil. I enjoy spreading it all over my scrotum and pubic hair – it makes my red hair glisten brightly. I prefer a lubricated condom when I use one for masturbation – it feels better. Sometimes I pour a large amount of lube inside the condom and then roll it on and start rubbing.
- age 42, Oregon
It completely depends on the situation and the mood I'm in, sometimes I go wet and sometimes dry. I guess I have more flexibility since I have a foreskin, so going dry is never a problem – just pump and go – no chafing or anything to worry about. It's still nice every so often to have lube, though; it gives me more options to choose from when it comes to techniques. But when I'm in a rush or don't feel like going and getting lube, it's nice to be able to have just as good a session without it.
- age 16, Massachusetts
I started out dry when uncut, and then learned how to do it dry after being circumcised at age 23. Yeah, I have tried lube, and found it messy, inconvenient and a chore to clean up. And, I don't get as deep a sensation when I masturbate with lube. When I get to orgasm, it's about the same, but that comes from deeper nerves, not much from those on the surface. Maybe orgasm even takes place in the brain, which lube can't reach, anyway. Further, let me put in a plug for circumcision: you get a cleaner, better-looking penis, and no loss of sensation. But there are people who love their foreskins (or other guys' foreskins) and credit them with all sorts of virtues that mine never had for me.
- age 39, Texas
I prefer to masturbate with lube. It just seems to be better, with much more feeling to it than doing it dry. And yes, I've tried doing it without lube, and even used a stimulus (stuffed animal, pillow, massager, etc.), but they don't do much for me.
- age 16, New Jersey
I always masturbate with Astroglide, which is available at any drugstore or pharmacy. (It's a rip-off at adult stores) [Eckerd, WalMart, and perhaps other pharmacies now sell a private-label version of Astroglide for a few dollars less – Ed.] It stays slippery the longest of any lube I have tried. I use lube because I feel that the combination of my grip with lubrication is what a real vagina or rectum would feel like. I have done it dry and that's fine if you're in a hurry or don't like the extra clean up that comes with using lube. But masturbating dry is not what intercourse in real life feels like, so why cheat yourself? My favorite time to masturbate is in the morning before I take a shower, and that permits a wet session because I clean up in the shower.
- age 25, Georgia
I prefer to masturbate dry. For some reason, my penis (especially the tip) is extra-sensitive with lube. It feels nice, but yields a dramatically shorter session than masturbating without lube. I like my masturbation sessions to be longer and mildly pleasurable rather than fast and extremely pleasurable.
- age 15, Michigan
I love the feeling of masturbating with lube that has been warmed up!
- age 42, California
Even though I prefer masturbating with Vaseline, I rarely do. I always masturbate right before going to sleep, although my parents think I'm already asleep. This is a problem, because if I went to put the Vaseline away in the bathroom, they could see me. Think about it – wouldn't it be pretty awkward to see your son wearing only his boxers 15 minutes after he went to bed, with an erection and a bottle of Vaseline?
- age 13, Maine
When I first discovered masturbation on my own at age 8, I did it without lubrication – the idea didn't occur to me. For a few years, I continued to achieve orgasm by rubbing the loose skin just below the head of my circumcised penis between thumb and forefinger. By the time I was 11 or 12, I had switched to the fist method, stimulating mostly the shaft of my penis by sliding the loose skin up and down. At that time, my glans would become super-sensitive and uncomfortable to touch at the buildup to orgasm and afterward, so stimulating the shaft worked just fine – dry. In my teen years, concerns about privacy and avoiding detection dictated that most of my sessions would be quick and dry. As I grew into my 20s, my glans was still sensitive around orgasm, but not as wildly super-sensitive as when I was younger – and I had discovered the joys of using baby oil as lubrication. What's more, I was living on my own by then, so getting and keeping it was no longer a problem. Now in my 60s, with diminishing sensation in my penis, I need to stimulate the glans directly and can do this only with lubrication; I can't achieve orgasm by masturbating dry.
- age 61, New Jersey
For a girl, wet is a must – one way or the other – either by nature or with help. I find that spit works very well and offers easy cleanup and easy access. Having tried to masturbate before without anything, it is definitely not comfortable. Guys – don't do that to your girlfriends!
- age 17, Canada (female)
Since I am not circumcised, I have been masturbating dry since I started, using my foreskin to move over the glans. Only recently, I got samples of K-Y and started using it. With lubrication, I pull my foreskin all the way back, hold it down with one hand, and then really concentrate on the glans with the other. I have tried all kinds of grips and enjoy the feeling very much; although, I must say that the orgasm as such is better when I do it dry, mainly due to the fact that my foreskin is rather tight, which pinches off a little too much behind the glans when I reach orgasm. But okay, I really like the variation – especially if I have enough time, I enjoy doing it wet. For a quickie, a dry one with my fist around the foreskin suits me best.
- age 36, Netherlands.
Having a foreskin has meant that masturbating dry has always come more naturally to me. At 11, when I started masturbating, I wasn't even aware that circumcision existed or that people might need extra lubrication. I love my foreskin, and the skin flick technique detailed on this website has given it a whole new meaning to my life, but sometimes I think it has encouraged me to be lazy. I didn't experiment with lube until I found JackinWorld at 17 or 18. I think that both methods have their advantages. Lube has certainly added to my repertoire, but it produces a lot more mess (not just lube, I also produce more pre-cum with this method). However, I still masturbate predominately dry because it allows to me to make more use of my foreskin.
- age 21, United Kingdom
I prefer masturbating dry, but with Ammens Medicated Powder. The stuff gives just the right amount of friction – no other powder works as well. I've tried "wet" (baby oil, etc.), and it's okay, but I still prefer the Ammens.
- age 46, Maryland
I must say that I prefer masturbating without lube. I masturbate dry about 80 percent of the time and always enjoy it. I use lube when I want a change. It feels good – not necessarily better, just different. I find that I don't last as long when I use lube. The biggest problem with lube is the mess it makes. I have to shower after I masturbate, so it's no good for a "quickie." I learned to masturbate without lube, and used it only a few times over my first few years of masturbating, so I guess I'm just sticking with what I know.
- age 21, Australia
Although using lube creates a pleasant sensation, it is messy and I am not circumcised, so I really don't need it. Sliding the foreskin back and forth over the corona brings me to climax quickly.
- age 82, Florida
My "lube" comes naturally every time I masturbate. I just can't help it.
- age 17, Germany (female)
I much prefer masturbating with lube as I was circumcised very tightly. As a teen, before I learned about lube, my penis was often raw because the skin could not move; instead, my hand had to move over the skin. Discovering lube was the high point of my masturbation history. I learned about it when I accidentally saw a friend masturbating with baby oil.
- age 62, Alabama
Although for the first few years I masturbated dry (except when I let the water run over my erect penis in the bathtub, which is "wet" but without using lube), once I learned about using lube I never went back to doing it dry. Lube makes masturbation more pleasurable, as my hand slides much more easily up and down the shaft of my penis and I don't have to worry about rubbing myself raw.
- age 46, Tennessee
Masturbating with lube is better to me than dry. Dry is fine once in a while, but nothing beats the ease and intensity of lubrication. Like most guys, I started masturbating before I knew about lube. Once I started having orgasms, I would masturbate several times a day. My penis soon became sore and started chafing, so I applied some aloe vera cream and bingo! It was the best thing ever and I have used that and different lubes ever since.
- age 16, Arizona
I have gone through 3 distinct lubrication "phases." When I started masturbating in 5th grade, I always did it dry. I usually would place my bed sheet or my robe between my hand and my penis (that kept the body moisture at a minimum, meaning less friction and injury). I didn't think to use lubrication until I was in high school and a friend told me to use lotion. What an amazing new world that opened up! And now that I'm "grown up," I use true personal lubricants, such as Astroglide or K-Y Liquid, especially for those extended sessions (K-Y seems to be the best).
- age 24, Iowa
Being "uncut" (I believe "intact" is the P.C. term for it), I'm fine masturbating dry. I've tried doing it with lube and the foreskin pulled back, which is not as nice. I've tried lube with the foreskin unretracted, and I found it was redundant. The idea of sticking lube in between my foreskin and glans freaks me out. So, I'm going with dry.
- age 15, Florida
I definitely prefer to masturbate with a lube. I use vegetable oil because it's inexpensive, and you can get it at the grocery store, where no one questions what you're going to do with it. Vegetable oil doesn't dry up like K-Y does, and it doesn't have any odor at all. Best of all, I like the way I can rotate my fist over the head of my penis when it's well lubed.
- age 41, Texas
I prefer masturbating dry, but mainly because I am uncircumcised and I love the feeling of slight friction as I move my foreskin back and forth over the head. I have used lube on many occasions, and find I don't really enjoy it as much. On two occasions I have "gone wet" just as a circumcised person would do, holding the foreskin back and just sliding my hand over my penis. I showed my best friend (also uncut) how to do this, but he couldn't get the hang of it without me holding his foreskin back for him. We agreed, dry works better for us.
- age 16, North Carolina
I've tried both ways, and wet feels more like the real thing. Actually, we both feel this way.
- age 40, Washington (female)
I find it to be much quicker to masturbate dry, but it doesn't feel as good, so I generally use lube right before the orgasm to add more feeling.
- age 16, Wisconsin
I prefer lube although I did it dry most of the time when I was young. Back then, the only lube I knew was Vaseline, and it was so messy that I used it only on special occasions. It felt good, but cleanup was messy. Then one day, I discovered Vaseline Intensive Care Lotion. It cleans up easily with water and I've hardly ever masturbated without lube since. My favorite lube is Astroglide. It is the absolute best – no smell, and an easy cleanup. A good substitute is Equate Personal Lubricant, which is WalMart's generic version of Astroglide – same stuff, but cheaper – sold where the condoms are located in the pharmacy.
- age 26, West Virginia
I've masturbated both wet and dry before. Usually, if it's my first session of the day, I'm more inclined to masturbate dry just because there's less cleanup. However, if I'm on my third or fourth session, I usually use lube to prevent any irritation from the friction. I also find myself masturbating wet more often when I'm going to spend a long time masturbating and I usually masturbate dry if my session won't take too long.
- age 15, Georgia
I prefer wet; my favorite lube is olive oil. The fact that I'm Italian might have some weird subconscious thing to do with it, but I find it to be not too thin and not too thick for me. I've tried saliva and it just doesn't work as well. I masturbate dry occasionally, but never to orgasm.
- age 19, Michigan
I prefer masturbating with lube. I am uncircumcised and I often masturbate without lube just using the foreskin. But, I have been doing it like that all my life and it does get boring sometimes. Years ago, I learned to hold my foreskin back as if I were circumcised and then use lube to masturbate with. This feels totally different for me. I go a lot slower like that because it is so sensitive. It really feels more like having sex if you use the right kind of lube.
- age 25, New York
When I first started to masturbate at about age 12, I never used any sort of lube. When I was about 15, I started using whatever lotion I could find around the house. Now I always use a lube called Albolene. It is a great feeling.
- age 18, Indiana
I most prefer to use a lube made of hand lotion and baby oil. Over the years, I have tried different lubes and done it dry. I think this combination is the best way of all. The lotion greatly increases sensation while the oil keeps the lotion wet enough. Also, two hands with lotion create a nice deep feeling, like a vagina. Sometimes my wife will use this lube on me and do the "Rosy Palm." Dry-handed masturbation is good if you don't have time to prepare the needed supplies, but massaging the penis with the lotion-baby oil lube is unbeatable. The lube also lets me go longer because my skin doesn't chafe.
- age 30, Connecticut
When I first begin to masturbate, I started out dry. Then I would keep stroking until I almost reached orgasm and then stop and let some semen come out. After waiting about a minute, I would continue to masturbate wet with my fresh semen. Then I would just keep on using the "Stop & Go" method as much as I wanted, continuously producing semen along the way. When I would finally decide to masturbate to orgasm, I still ejaculated a lot! So all in all, I prefer masturbating "wet."
- age 19, Utah
I've masturbated both wet and dry. I use vitamin E when masturbating wet and it's much better because I can stimulate the glans (penis head) without any worries of chafing. When I masturbate dry, I stimulate only the shaft of my penis.
- age 14, Minnesota
When I was a kid, I preferred to masturbate dry. But recently, I visited an East Coast masturbation club where I learned the pleasures of Albolene. There were jars of it on every horizontal surface in the place. It is, of all things, a make-up remover, similar to Vaseline, but it liquefies on the skin surface of the penis. It lasts forever and the feeling is overwhelming. You can get it in your local pharmacy. It's about $13 a jar, but as they say: a little dab will do you! I'm also a copious leaker and like to spread that precious liquid over my shaft and hand. And hey – spit works just fine in a pinch!
- age 32, New York
My dad is so cool! On my 13th birthday he said he had a special present for me. We went into my bedroom and he gave me a bottle of lube, saying that I might need it to "take care of business." At first, I thought it was to make my #2's come out more easily when I go to the bathroom. I didn't know what he meant by "take care of business." He laughed and said that it was to masturbate with. I turned all red and everything. He told me that when I run out to let him know and he would get me more. One week later, I told him I needed more, and he laughed and said, "Whoa! You masturbate too much." I used to do it dry, but now I don't because it feels better when I do it wet.
- age 15, Texas
Before I was circumcised, I would usually masturbate dry. However, during long sessions, the foreskin would start sticking to the head, and start to hurt. People who oppose circumcision aren't entirely right when they say that it's always self-lubricating. My solution was to use a little lubricant, which proved to be messy with a piece of skin flopping around. Now that I'm circumcised, I use Glycerine, as was recommended a while back in JackinForum. It's much better than having a foreskin!
- age 21, Ontario, Canada
When I masturbate, I prefer lube. It's slicker and gives a more intense feeling. It's easier to allow your hand to vary between fast and slow motion. I've tried masturbating without lube, but it just doesn't seem to work for me!
- age 15, Indiana
For years, I never used any lube and masturbated dry. When I got to be around 17 or so, a friend of mine had some lotion and said we should use it. I've been hooked ever since. Any chance I get, I share my lotion or lube with friends. I let them use it as much as they want.
- age 31, Kentucky
I'm not sure...I've masturbated wet only once or twice, but I remember them being two great orgasms – maybe my two best. But, it's too much effort sometimes because you need a bit more privacy due to the mess. So, I prefer the orgasm of wet masturbation, but I prefer the convenience of dry masturbation.
- age 16, Scotland
I've done it both ways – with lube when there was time and solitude to pleasure myself, and dry when the opportunity had to be grabbed and used right up. Yet, I'd have to say that my "wet" period was primarily during the earlier part of my life. I'm circumcised and an oiled hand tosses a much more intense type of sensation into the mix than one that's dry. However, now that I'm older, less testosterone-driven and a little too aware of life on the real side to fall into fantasy easily – masturbation's become more a simple, no-frills function to affect relief. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Oil-based lubricants that I had such a preference for when I was younger now seem messy and just one more thing to clean up.
- age 54, New York
I spied on my brother once when he masturbated and saw him put this goop all over his penis before he did it. When he went out of the house, I snuck into his room, found it, and tried it. That's how I learned about lube, and I used it all the time until I talked to my brother about sex. He had told my mom and dad he is gay a few months earlier, and I wanted to know about gay sex. Now I'm afraid to buy lube in the store because they might think that I'm gay, and I'm not.
- age 16, Oklahoma
Although I'm circumcised, I usually prefer masturbating dry. I enjoy both sliding my hand over my dry shaft and gripping the skin more tightly and moving it back and forth. Sometimes I have enough pre-cum for lube, but it dries too quickly and becomes too sticky to enjoy. I've used hand cream, K-Y lube and saliva, but I always seem to go back to doing it dry – or sometimes with Gold Bond powder for an extra-dry feel. Also, any lube on my hands interferes with the taste of my semen, which I enjoy licking up after a juicy session.
- age 57, Ohio
If I don't have much time, I do the one-handed fist method, dry. I've tried to use lube for this, but it's too messy and doesn't feel nearly as good as the dry hand method. This is how I first learned to masturbate a few years ago. If I have lots of time, I lube up and use the plastic bag method. For this, I lay towels on the bed, lube the plastic bag and place it on the towels, and then hump the bag. The towels catch any lotion spill, and the bag catches the rest of the mess. The best bag for this is a bubble wrap bag with the smooth side in contact with the penis. There is nothing else like it! My eyes almost pop out of my head when I squirt!
- age 18, Texas