Other condom materials

Yeah, yeah, it’s another post about condoms. I feel like a condom salesman. But hey, it’s important. Condoms are by far the most widely known and most used type of birth control out there.

In my first post about condoms, I mentioned two materials condoms are made from – latex and polyisoprene. Latex is the most popular material for condoms out there, and has been for quite some time. There are way more latex condoms out there than anything else. Polyisoprene, on the other hand, is a fairly newly discovered material in condom-making, and there are very few types of polyisoprene condom on the market. But there are two other materials used in condoms, too.

Polyurethane is another synthetic material, similar to polyisoprene, but it’s been around a little longer. There are more varieties than there are for polyisoprene, but it’s still nowhere near the number there are for latex. Like polyisoprene, people with latex allergies can use polyurethane condoms safely. Not only are there polyurethane male condoms, but all female condoms are made of polyurethane, too. I’ll talk more about female condoms next time (yes, there’s going to be at least one more post about condoms. They’re important.) An example of a polyurethane male condom is Trojan Supra.

Last and probably least, there’s lambskin condoms. They’re made from the intestines of a sheep. Sounds gross, right? Yeah. Lambskin was one of the first materials to be used for condoms, even before latex. There’s a reason we’ve developed new materials. Lambskin condoms have pores in them that are small enough so that sperm can’t pass through, so they do protect against pregnancy, but the pores are big enough that STDs CAN pass through. Lambskin condoms are still available, but they’re more expensive than other types and I do NOT recommend them at all. The only reason they still exist is because some people are allergic to latex, but in modern day there are polyisoprene and polyurethane condoms for that. The only reason you should ever get these is if you’re allergic to latex AND the other two materials (if that’s even possible). But if for whatever reason you want lambskin, and example is Trojan Naturalamb.

That’s all for now. Next time, I’ll talk about female condoms. As always, if you’ve got questions, ask away.