UPDATE FEBRUARY 2023: The LELO Etheria Silk Cuffs are no longer available (discontinued by manufacturer). This review remains for people who are interested in looking up information about this bondage cuffs. While you’re here, why don’t you check out my BDSM advice, femdom advice, BDSM scene outlines, and 24/7 chastity training plan? I also have some awesome articles about pegging positions, a femdom vasectomy, and premature ejaculation.
The Lelo Etherea Silk Cuffs in black are a pair of restraints made from both silk and suede. These restraints, sold by this sex toy store, are intended to be luxurious restraints. Each cuff is a separate cuff and they don’t include any specific things to attach them to one another. The cuffs are each a little over two inches wide.
The packaging for these Lelo restraints is well-made just like all LELO products. The outside box is completely black with a picture of the cuffs on the front and backside. The backside also includes the features of the restraints. The inside is a open-top box lined with some paper in which the cuffs can rest. You can choose to discard the outer box, and the inner box will serve well for discreet storage for the cuffs.
The cuffs are definitely made with luxury in mind. The inside, with the floral decorations, is made from soft silk. The outside which is the opaque black, is actually suede. The strands that tie the cuffs together are made from silk. The strands run between the silk and suede layers for extra reinforcement. Since the strands are so long, no one would have any problem fitting their ankles, thighs, or wrists into these cuffs. In fact, you could choose to use one of the cuffs as a blindfold without any sort of problem.
The cuffs work really well for tying someone up in bondage who isn’t used to being in bondage. As you can imagine, when you tie something with a bow, it isn’t exactly hard to get out of it, but it definitely feels more “escapable” for a couple who is new to bondage. For us, it was nice to feel the soft, sensual feel of the silk up against his skin, but he knew it would be easy to escape. (If he tried though, he’d still have to face me.) So for us, it wasn’t really a real time for “bondage“, but it still provided the soft feeling of cuffs around your wrist in a way that other leather cuffs don’t provide.
However, the biggest problem we had was attempting to tie the two cuffs together or to something else. Yes, the silk feels very luxurious against the skin, and the tails of the cuffs are actually longer than they need to be to make it easy to tie the cuffs together, but it just doesn’t seem to work as they intended it. Silk ties into a knot really well, and that’s actually the problem. It ties very tight knots, and after we’re done playing, we have to fight a bit to get the knot undone. It’s not a large deal, but just a slight annoyance. Something else we’ve noticed: the bows to tie the cuff onto the wrist are actually really pretty, but when it comes down to be useable, they just aren’t. If you want to tie the wrists together, then the bow will come undone when the cuffs are pulled on. So if you want to actually keep your “victim” captive, you have to tie knots or something more serious than a bow in the tie to keep it around the wrist. Again, it’s not a big deal, but it’s something to consider.
Since these have the long, silk ties that hang off of the cuffs after they are tied, you can tie these up to pretty much anything. You can tie them to each other, tie them to bedposts, or tie them to some sort of O-ring or D-ring. Most hog-tie sets have O-rings on the outsides, so the cuffs could be tied to that. Some Liberator shapes have the same thing. Some bondage bars have O-rings as well. This means that these cuffs willl end up tying to anything that you could snap a conventional clip onto.
To clean the cuffs, you just want to wipe down each side with a damp, warm washcloth. Make sure you allow it to dry before you attempt to place it into storage. Because it picks up liquids and other messes, try to keep it away from lubricant or other bodily fluids. For storage, we are going to be keeping it in the original packaging – it’s small, discreet, and looks very romantic.
For us, I’d say these cuffs work amazingly for looking pretty. When we go out to a BDSM group meeting, we could end up putting these on because they look fashionable and kinky. The boyfriend could wear these around the house without any sort of sweating or harm against his wrist. He could wear these to bed without any adverse effects as well. They offer different uses from the traditional leather, ‘hard-core’ cuffs. While they perform for other uses quite well, we just didn’t find them to hold up amazingly in the bedroom for real bondage. While we’ll probably use these outside of the bedroom for “softer” bondage, when it comes to holding someone down (which is always my intent), these just aren’t for us. However, if you have someone who is new, curious, or scared of more intense bondage (or is a relatively new partner), these cuffs look luxurious, could be presented on a birthday or holiday without seeming too “forward”, and just make a fun time. Tabu Toys sells this and other beginners bondage items, so if these BDSM restraints look good to you, pick up the Lelo Etherea Silk Cuffs.
