Crafting Hacks - Silicone Lube
- kimmkazplay
- Oct 1, 2017
- 3 min read
I love crafting hacks and I love the idea of ingenious uses of things. One of my most common examples of this for me is my use of silicone lube in crafting. In fact I used silicone lube heavily in making my sole survivor costume. Sold as lubricant to use during sex, lots of people either already have some in their household, or it’s easily accessible if they don’t. If you don’t have a feminist, sex positive adult store in your city you can pick some up at your local drug store.
When looking at lube though you want to make sure if it silicone based! One quick way to see what sort of lube you have it to check in the ingredient list. If the first ingredient is either water or aqua, that won’t be any good for the things I’m suggesting. Silicone lube is generally made of roughly 3 ingredients which will all be hard to pronounce. Look for things like dimethicone, dimethiconal, and cyclopentasilxone. These are just different kinds of silicone. There are also other types of silicone but i’m not going to go that in depth about it. There are lots of sex educators who run blogs you can check out if you want more information about types of lube. I will say my favorite ones to suggest are Uberlube, or Sliquid Silver.
So here are some different way I use silicone lube in my cosplay.
Wig Detangling. This is probably my most common use for silicone lube. Yes, there are wig detanglers out there on the market, but I hate them. I have sensitive skin, and hate almost scented products. I’ve found that any I have used has made my skin unbearably itchy, or given me a headache from the scent. Silicone lube is great because it’s non-reactive to humans. It has no scent and a little goes a long way. In fact most conditioners and detanglers has silicone in them as an ingredient.
It works like most detanglers that don’t come in a spray bottle. I put a drop in my hand, and then rub it through my wig. Take a wide tooth comb, and then brush. You can also use it in your own hair. Tip, you will need to wash your hands with soap afterwards cause our skin doesn’t absorb silicone.
Weathering Clothing. There are multiple ways I've used silicone lube to weather clothing. I’ve mixed it in with cheap chalk pastels for emulating dirt in seams. It sets the color into the fiber deeper. With my Fallout costume, the first time I weathered it I only used chalk pastels and other weathering powders.
I’ve used it to thin out gel medium for fake blood too. It doesn't change the color of the blood color I have mixed up, but allow for easier splatters.
Staining Clothes. Want to achieve that oil stained look on your costumes? Well I wouldn’t suggest using actual oil, especially if your costumes don’t get wash all that often. Oils can go rancid. Ever smell a bottle of olive oil that’s gone bad? Not good.
Silicone lube achieves the same oily look when applied to clothes. With my fallout costume I applied it along the collar of my dress to give it the worn, sweaty look a piece of clothing would look being worn for days on end in the wasteland.
Chub Rub. Okay so maybe this one isn't strictly a crafting hack, but have you ever walked around a sweaty con all day in a skirt or some shorts? Inner thigh rub is the worse. If you are like me with particularly chubby thighs, lube can be a godsend. I will rub some on each of my inner thighs if I know I am wearing a dress for any length or time. This provides a protective barrier to my skin and allow them to glide against each other, rather than rub and stick because of sweat. It helps a lot during the warm summer months, or at stuffy indoor convention sites. Like I said earlier, because our skin doesn’t absorb it in the same way as it does lotions, it should last you quite some time. Lots of brands also sell little travel sizes so you can reapply again if need be. Uberlube has some nice ones, that look sleek and doesn't scream lubricant.
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