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bedroombondage:
Material
Most hardware store rope is made of synthetic fibers - usually nylon or polypropylene. Occasionally you’ll see natural fibers, most often cotton and sometimes jute or sisal (avoid these last two, as they’re much too rough for comfort). You can get hemp bondage rope from specialty suppliers - about which more later.
Synthetic fibers tend to feel slippery and look glossy. Natural fiber rope lacks that glossy look and feels more “nappy.” This is because natural fibers tend to have a lot of what rope-mavens call “tooth.” That means the rope tends to grip itself, so it holds knots better. This advantage of natural fiber doesn’t matter for most bondage applications: Most ties work just fine with synthetic rope. But if you want to get into Japanese bondage then you’ll want to invest in authentic hemp. Hemp is THE rope for traditional Japanese bondage, and the style has evolved with very simple knots because of that natural tooth.
Structure
As for structure, rope comes in three basic forms: Solid braid, twisted, and braided with a core. Braided with core is just what it sounds like: a braided sheath over a fiber core for extra strength. It’s cheaper than solid braid in most cases. Braided vs twisted is pretty obvious just from looking. The difference between solid braid and braid with core is subtler: usually you’ll have to check the label for that, or cut the rope - you can see the core clearly then.Synthetic fiber rope usually feels better against the skin.
I usually recommend solid braid nylon as the simplest basic bondage rope. If you already have cored rope then you can make it much softer and more supple by pulling the core out. You’ll reduce the strength of the rope by about 70% but for ordinary bondage that should be fine. You just won’t want to do suspension with it. I have some rope in my own toy bag that I’ve modified this way, and I use it for a few special purposes. However, if you have a choice, go with solid braid to start.
Thick, Thin, Or Something In Between?
As for diameter, that’s very much a matter of taste. Broadly speaking, thinner rope is easier to tie, but “bites” the skin more. Thicker rope feels gentler but is harder to tie good knots in. I usually use rope between 1/4” and 3/8”. I use 1/4” rope for cuff tie-downs, but if rope is going to go next to skin I prefer 5/16”. Some people like rope as thick as 1/2”. I don’t recommend rope thinner than 1/4” or thicker than 1/2”. Experiment with different diameters and strike your own balance.
Purchasing Your Rope
You can get most of your rope from the hardware store. This is a good thing, since one of the firmest rules is “never buy rope that you haven’t felt.” The thing is, rope from the hardware store varies widely in feel. So if you buy from the hardware store then feel it first. Good bondage rope should feel soft and compressible, flexible, good on the skin. If you can let the person you plan to tie with it feel it, all the better. Your best bet is rope on open coils. Avoid those sealed plastic packages. Look around until you find rope with the weight, suppleness, and softness you like.
What Length Should My Rope Be?
How much of it will you need? Many rope-fans like to organize their rope into “sets” each consisting of a single long piece of rope cut into various standard lengths. This allows them to make all the rope in a given tie match, which some of us anal-retentive types appreciate. The standard lengths you need depend on the sort of bondage you like to do. You can use these guidelines for buying single lengths of rope, or for buying a long piece and cutting it down to a set:
- 40-50 feet: Bodyharnesses for most average-size people.
- 25-30 feet: Chest harnesses, crotchropes, body harnesses on smaller people. Overall this is probably the single most versatile length.
- 15 feet: Ties on knees, ankles, or elbows. Wrist ties where you want some rope left over for tying off to something. This is also a good length for making rope “cuffs” for each wrist or ankle (aka “Single-limb ties”).
- 10 feet: basic wrist or ankle ties.
- 5-6 feet: a handy length for securing leather cuffs to a bed or other attachment point.
Using these guidelines, here’s how I cut up 260 feet of rope to make a typical set for my own bondage work:
- 1 x 50 feet
- 4 x 30 feet
- 3 x 15 feet
- 2 x 10 feet
- 4 x 6 feet
Cutting & Finishing
There are two steps to preparing your rope: cutting it to the desired length, and finishing the cut ends. Cutting is easy: First measure off the length you want. I use the fact that my outstretched arms are almost exactly 6 feet from fingertip to fingertip as a handy guide. Next, mark the cutting point by wrapping the rope with electrical tape or masking tape on either side of the point you plan to cut (leave about 3/4” of bare rope between the tape wrappings).
Finally just cut the rope between the two pieces of tape. The tape will hold the rope ends and keep them from unravelling after you cut them.You can leave the tape wrappings as they are, or you can finish the ends a little more neatly. I like to use colored electrical tape on the ends of each of my ropes, color-coded so I can tell how long a given rope is just by glancing at the ends. Other riggers like to use a neutral color tape and permanent marker to write the length directly. If I’m feeling very fancy I will “whip” the ends of my rope with waxed twine to keep the ends neat. It’s prettier than tape but significantly more work. Wikipedia has an excellent article on rope whipping here.
There’s one common method of finishing the ends that I do not recommend. With synthetic fibers such as nylon, many people will melt the ends of the rope with a flame of some sort. This works well enough for ordinary utility rope, but I don’t think it’s very attractive for bondage rope. Even more important the hard ends this creates may scratch the bottom who wears your ropes, and they may also catch in the fibers of other ropes when they’re stored together. And of course melting won’t work at all with natural fiber rope, whereas tape or whipping will. There are so many better ways to finish your ropes that I think melting just isn’t worth the trouble.
Taking Care Of Your Rope
With proper care your rope should last for quite a long time. Avoid getting it dirty, as grit (whether from the dirt itself or drawn in by greasy stains) will gradually wear away at the rope fibers, weakening it. Likewise don’t let your rope sit in the bag if it’s wet. Mildew will set in.
If you need to wash your rope then the best way is by hand in a sink. If you need to use a washing machine then put the rope in a small net bag such as those used for washing stockings and other delicates. This will keep your rope from wrapping around the agitator in the washing machine. In either case use a mild detergent, and let your rope hang dry. Don’t put it in a dryer.
To store your rope, coil it in some secure way and put it away in a drawer, chest, or toybag. Everyone has their own favorite way to coil rope. The important thing is that whatever method you use has to be secure enough to keep the coil from coming lose in the bag. If it does come loose then you end up with “rope salad,” and that’s just not cool.For a very simple storage coil, just coil the rope up in some handy way, then tie a single knot in the middle of the coil to keep it from coming loose. There are lots of other ways of course. My personal favorite is the “chain sennit,” which looks a lot like crochet, only with rope.
I hope these suggestions and tips have given you a better idea of the kind of rope you might want to buy and how to take care of it. Hope you’ll enjoy yours as much as we do.
I hope these suggestions and tips have given you a better idea of the kind of rope you might want to buy and how to take care of it. Hope you’ll enjoy yours as much as we do.
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