Effective Barrier Use

Gloves/Dams/Condoms

The effective use of barriers in the following activities greatly reduces possible transmission by preventing the transfer of infected fluids or by covering an infected site.

Possible risks even with barrier use: HPV, BV, TV, thrush, herpes, hep B, chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis

	WHITE	jerk me off	I’ll do us both
	BLUE, Robin’s Egg	69	69
	BLUE, Light	gives oral	wants oral
———	BLUE, Light w/ light PINK stripe	sucks dildo	suck my dildo
———	BLUE, Light w/ MAROON stripe	gives head to menstruator	wants head, is bleeding
	BLUE, Navy	fucking / TOP	fucking / BOTTOM
	RED, Dark	2-handed fister	2-handed fistee
	RED	fist fucker	fist fuckee
	PINK, Light	dildo wielder	dildo fuckee
	BEIGE	rimmer	rim me

• Make sure you have the right size (a tight fit) for gloves and condoms. Different brands have different sizes.
• You can make dams from unlubricated condoms by cutting them up one side. Extra thin condoms tend to provide more stimulation than dams. You can make a tongue condom from a glove: cut the wrist and fingers off (leaving the thumb in tact), then cut up the side where the pinkie was. This tends to afford the highest sensitivity to both giver and receiver.
• Ensure barriers are within their use-by date (they degrade over time and are thus more likely to break).
• Make sure it is not torn when removed from packaging.
• Coloured gloves are awesome because you can have a different colour for each hand.
• Double glove for the convenience of moving from back to front play (just whip off the outer glove).
• With condoms: if relevant, pull back the foreskin. Squeeze the air out of the tip (you can also place a small amount of lube on the inside tip of the condom to reduce air bubbles and increase sensitivity) and roll the condom all the way down.
• For oral sex/rimming, lube can be put beneath the barrier for extra stimulation – but be aware that this makes it more likely to slip off.  With dams, mark each side with a different coloured marker to more easily keep track of the down and up sides.
• Hold the barrier in place during use.
• Check that the condom remains in tact throughout use. The more lube you use and the more frequently (while fucking), the less likely breakage is. When pulling out, hold the base of the condom to ensure it doesn’t slip off.
• Use barriers only once. Use a different barrier for each person or orifice. Throw them in the bin after use.
• Use water or silicone-based lube with latex condoms. Non-latex condoms tend to be made of silicone. Don’t use silicone condoms or lube on silicone dildos/toys. Oil based lubes (like hand cream or Vaseline) weaken latex condoms, causing them to break more easily.

Also:

• Fisting and hand washing are more risky than fingering as the likelihood of tearing the lining of the vagina/anus is higher.
• On cleaning sex toys.
• Any activities involving blood carry a higher risk for Hepatitis C, HIV and other blood born viruses.
• Condom guide

Our complete safer sex guide is here.