Chamois Butter and shorts!!

[papaver]

Which brings up the question....has anyone ever tried using actual butter on their 'Kaiser roll'?

Nope it's gets brown when it's too hot.

[deeaimond]

I use pure shea butter. It's great and is not messy at all. Abit waxy at first but dissolves as it warms up, absorbs into the skin eventually. No chemicals (I have detergent allergies so it is definitely not giving me problems) Tried other things but this works the best for me. (it helps that all the bits are nice and moisturized)

problem is I'm not sure where to buy it. I got a huge tub from my bf's mother, and it'll probably last me another year or so. She got it in Ghana. I'm thinking if u live in a town with like... a store specialising in cosmetics for african people? or on the internet.

[Norse]

I've tried chamois butter and a couple other and ended up using bag balm. It's cheap, works and washes out. You can get it at the drug store and it comes in a green tin.

+1 on the Bag Balm, and that's after a lot of experimentation. You can't beat the price either. If it's a hot day, I also use corn starch. For shorts, I am using PI Ultrasensors right now. They breath better than their Microsensors and have less of a diaper.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Just so people know, Bag Balm ingredients are: petroleum jelly (same as Vaseline), lanolin, and 8-hydroxyquinoline sulfate (an antiseptic).

[OakLeaf]

I use pure shea butter. ...

problem is I'm not sure where to buy it.

Nubutte is based on shea butter. It doesn't lubricate enough for me, but I love it as a healing salve.

[Jiffer]

On long rides I use A&D ointment. I apply it with a tissue directly onto skin (it's hard to wash off your hands and smells). Then I put Chamois Buttr directly in my shorts.

I used to just use Chamois Buttr, but started having some irritation issues, which I found (from this forum) that A&D helped with. It helps heal current irritation and protect from future irritation. But I also like using the Chamois Buttr in addition on long rides. I have added more Chamois Buttr in the middle of a long ride and have discovered that I do NOT want to do this anymore. Just makes things way too slippery down there! "Parts" move around and I find myself constantly trying to get comfortable on my seat.

Sometimes after a long ride when I'm feeling just a bit sore or chafed down there, I'll use just the A&D the next time I ride (which is typically a short and easy recovery ride). And/or I'll use it with regular clothes on if I'm trying to heal from something. For the most part, now that I've gotten my system down, I don't have to do that.

Everyone is different in what they use and what types of irritation they get, if any at all. Some people don't use anything at all. I started with Chamois Buttr because that's what my husband uses, then when I started having "issues", did research on this site, I discovered A&D and found I like the combination of both.

[shootingstar]

After perusing this whole thread with insight on the cream stuff, I'm gettin' an inferiority complex.. I've been cycling for so many years on some long rides.

Still no padded cycling shorts nor chamois creme.

I actually feel less motivated now after reading all this stuff. Ok, so I'm a padded shorts hillbilly.

[Aquila]

Like Jiffer, I use A&D ointment. If I'm a little sore, I also use a little at night, and it seems to help the skin not feel chafed or recover or something.

I smell like a freshly diapered baby, but anyone who gets close enough to smell without knowing me pretty intimately deserves what they get!

(It's also really great for hard winters on hands and feet.)

[papaver]

After perusing this whole thread with insight on the cream stuff, I'm gettin' an inferiority complex.. I've been cycling for so many years on some long rides.

Still no padded cycling shorts nor chamois creme.

I actually feel less motivated now after reading all this stuff. Ok, so I'm a padded shorts hillbilly.

It all depends on the type of bike you ride. When I ride my commuter bike I wear normal shorts. On my racing bike: bibs!!!!

[Norse]

Went home and looked at my shorts and realized I had to correct what I said earlier - PI's good shorts are the Microsensors, the diaper shorts are their Ultrasensors.

[deeaimond]

Nubutte is based on shea butter. It doesn't lubricate enough for me, but I love it as a healing salve.

Oakleaf, I've never seen nubutte, but i'm assuming its got other stuff added to it. maybe thats why it does not lubricate as well. pure shea butter has an unpleasant lumpy texture and not very nice smell... maybe thats why most versions out there have other stuff mixed in. But the lumpy texture starts to melt one you warm it in your hands for abit.

Update: I shared my shea butter with my very skeptical touring partner and the first thing he said coming out of the bathroom was 'it doesn't sting at all!' and after that, he's been hinting at getting some of this shea butter stuff.

more point is, I put it on my inner *ahem* bits as well and I love that it does not sting. And at the end of the ride my butt and bits are all soft as a baby's!

I'm seriously considering this as an entrepreunerial idea...

[TrekTheKaty]

Did you know Chamois Butter is distributed by a company in Missouri? It's all you can get around here. I suspect it's just udder balm, repackaged so they can charge a couple bucks more--but I haven't compared the ingredients.

When I ran marathons, I used body glide on places where I chafed like bra straps. I wouldn't use it "down there." I've always used chamois butter for longer rides--over 40ish. Tube for the house and small disposable packets for emergency reapplication during long rides.

[OakLeaf]

Actually on Crankin's recommendation, I've tried Body Glide and it really works pretty well. It's easy enough to apply with fingers and avoid contaminating the stick. It does burn very very slightly, but not migrating is a big advantage. It lasts a LONG time and lubricates excellently. I still use a little bit of Beljum Budder, ahem, up front where it's difficult to apply anything very thick.

[OakLeaf]

I just went into Smith & Hawken today since the chain is going out of business and everything's on sale.

At the counter they had Pré de Provence brand 100% organic shea butter, in tins or tubes.

I picked up a tin and we'll see how it works (although I'm still quite happy with Body Glide). It feels great on my hands anyway - soft, smooth and not at all greasy. So if you don't have a local Smith & Hawken or if they're already sold out/closed, another garden store might have shea butter.

I might just pick up another tin when I go into town again later this week...

[OakLeaf]

Yay.

Tried some on a short ride (33 mi) last night. The weather was cool (a perfect night for riding actually) so I can't speak to heavy sweat or rain, but so far, so good.

It goes on very similar to Body Glide - so a little goes a long way.

It lubricates very, very well. I purposely didn't re-apply after two bathroom trips, just to see how it did. No problems.

It's completely non-irritating. And while it's a little early to say for sure, it doesn't seem as heavy as Body Glide, which is tending to clog pores and giving me butt-crease pimples (no, I don't apply it there, but it apparently migrates either from my labia or from the chamois).

Refined shea butter is somewhat expensive, but since you use so little of it, I think it's probably about the same as Beljum Budder, or even a bit less expensive, on a per-mile comparison. I'm not sure how well unrefined shea butter would go on (sounds like that's what you're using, deeaimond?), but it's available online quite inexpensively. I did see someone selling unrefined shea butter at a street fair recently, but couldn't get the attention of anyone at the booth.