What Rope is Best for Bondage?

“What Rope is Best for Bondage”? If you’re brand new to the world of rope bondage, this is probably going to be one of the first questions you ask.

After all, the entire kink of shibari focuses on rope for every aspect of the experience. Add that to the fact that rope bondage can be a visual kink, and you’ve probably seen a ton of different erotic photos featuring shibari – each namedropping the brand and type of rope like it’s a fashion designer on the runway.

So, what rope is best for bondage? If you’re asking that, I’m going to assume you’re a beginner – and that’s not a bad thing – not in the slightest!

I like to think of it like being a beginner in the kitchen – or virtually any other hobby. There are hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of different kitchen appliances you can use to “make your life easier” while cooking or baking. It’s the danger of a capitalistic set-up; marketing requires telling you why you need to buy the Egg-Separator-3000 – otherwise you simply wouldn’t pay any attention to it.

And you know what? If you bake multiple cakes and treats a week that require separating eggs, the Egg-Separator-3000 might be a life changer. But for a person who makes a cake once every few months, they now have an Egg-Separator-3000 sitting under the sink because it was the “must-have” way to make a cake once.

All of the options out there can lead to a whole lot of mixed messaging in any hobby – and that same type of messaging applies to rope bondage.

Instead of getting caught up in marketing, I always recommend going with some of the most basic, easiest-to-use items until you can specifically explain why you need more than that.

In the world of rope bondage, that means sticking with nylon bondage rope and cotton bondage rope until you can specifically say “This isn’t working for me because of X reason, so I need something else”. Cotton and nylon rope are the easiest to wash and care for – and you’re not likely to ruin a $240 rope kit because you fall out of your rope habit for half a year before getting the time to dabble again.

Yeah, I just gave you the answer within the first few paragraphs. Look how helpful I am.

But if you want to know why I’d recommend those two – and see if there’s a reason you should consider a different type of rope, keep on reading the rest of the article:

What Rope Is Best for Bondage? Meet the Rope Materials

Now that I’ve made an actual recommendation, let me actually walk you through the basic types of rope for bondage:

Nylon: This is going to be my best suggestion for all beginners as long as it fits into your budget. (It’s slightly more expensive than cotton). Nylon is easy to care for, can be machine-washed, comes in bright and fun colors, and has a higher weight capacity than some of the natural fibers like hemp or jute. Some types of nylon, however, can cause rope burns more easily than other fibers, so play gently with it as you’re learning.

Cotton: My second-best suggestion for rope bondage beginners is cotton. This is going to be the rope type readily available in many sex toy stores. It tends to be the cheapest type of rope out there, and it’s honestly super-soft – especially once you start to regularly use and wash it. Cotton, however, has a habit of stretching under tension, and like your favorite cotton t-shirts, it can also wear out easier than other types of rope.

Hemp/Jute: While shibari aficionados will be rolling in their graves as I lump both natural fiber rope types together, hemp and jute tend to have similar properties when you’re looking at them from the viewpoint of a beginner. That is, they take more upkeep (up to, and including, hand oiling and breaking in the rope to get it to a pleasant state), are harder to clean (no washing machines here!), and have lower breaking points than synthetic fibers. That being said, almost all of the rope bondage pictures you’ve ever seen feature hemp or jute. (FYI, hemp and jute tend to be much more expensive than their cotton and nylon counterparts too!) However, people who love hemp/jute love the smell of it, the feel of it, and how it handles. It doesn’t feel anything like cotton or nylon.

Bamboo: Especially on Etsy, this type of rope is starting to gain in popularity. It’s soft, like cotton, and has a natural fiber appearance. I haven’t had much experience with bamboo rope (it’s usually well-outside of my budget!), but most listings state that it’s not suitable for suspensions. Just be aware that it exists out there.

Specialized: If you can make a material out of it, you can make a rope out of it. I’ve seen barbed wire “rope” – or even coconut rope that requires special gloves to comfortably handle. It’s awesome that these outlier types of bondage rope exist, but you don’t really need to worry about them as a beginner. If, down the road, you find that you’re really jonesing for a specific look or feel during your scene, these specialized ropes can be a fun break from the “usual”.

Your Budget is a Big Factor

What rope is best for bondage?

Honestly, it might come down to your budget.

Rope for bondage isn’t, necessarily, cheap.

When you factor in how multifunctional a piece of bondage rope is, it actually ends up being pretty affordable (when compared to buying 6 different pieces of bondage gear), but the upfront cost of bondage rope can feel a bit overwhelming – especially once you start realizing that you’ll likely need 2-5 bundles of rope to actually do a lot of basic ties beyond simple wrist cuffs.

Super-cheap cotton rope can run slightly over $10 per ~30ft strand – whereas that same strand will run you about $40 if you’re looking for hemp or jute. If you’re looking at specialty fibers, hand-dyed, pre-conditioned, or limited-edition colors, the prices only go up from there.

Luckily, most high-end rope bondage stores do offer a bulk discount if you’re purchasing a kit full of rope all at the same time. However, those kits are often in the hundreds of dollars, so they’re not a cheap investment – especially if you’re new to bondage.

If budget is a concern, I highly recommend sticking with nylon and cotton rope – and picking up a few strands instead of a full kit. This can help you figure out if rope bondage is for you before you’re hundreds of dollars deep.

But, keep in mind while purchasing rope: a few 30 foot strands of rope can replace a lot of kink gear. You don’t need to buy specialty wrist-to-thigh cuffs; a piece of rope can do it. You don’t need an under-the-bed bondage system; just use some ropes to your bedframe. You don’t need shoulder cuffs. Yep, rope can make that too. Rope bondage is extremely multifaceted, and while the upfront cost of bondage rope does have some sticker shock, I recommend trying to keep it in perspective as you go along. A few pieces of good bondage rope can last you for years of floorwork – and thousands of different ties.

What Rope is Best for Bondage: How It Feels

Just like different clothing material has different sensations on the skin, different bondage rope offer different skin feels too. A scratchy coconut rope is going to feel pretty abrasive while a silk rope can glide against the skin like butter.

For most beginners, a cotton rope is a good middle ground. Especially once you’ve spent hours playing – and washing – your rope, your cotton bondage rope is going to start to feel like a favorite, well-loved t-shirt. It’s comforting on the skin with strands that don’t feel scratchy. Natural fibers have more of a natural, tactile feel than cotton.

I also recommend keeping your tying style in mind as well. I, personally, love sensually (and slowly!) dragging a strand of rope across my partner’s skin for sensation. If you’re someone who wants to roughly toss someone around and zip ropes across their skin, certain materials (nylon is the worst culprit) can be more susceptible to rope burn. Especially when you’re starting out, you may be focused on other aspects of shibari and forget about the rope burn, so you may want to handle nylon rope with intentional, slow, special care – especially when untying.

So, while you’re thinking about how your bondage rope feels, don’t forget to think about how it feels in movement too!

Your Rope Must Be Meant for Bondage Use

I know it’s tempting, but the biggest thing you need to know when trying to figure out what rope is best for bondage:

It needs to be a rope designed for bondage use.

Yes, hardware store rope is cheaper. That “rope” you can get at big box stores in the hardware department is also cheaper. However, those ropes are:

• not designed to be used on human skin, so there may be chemicals you don’t want on your skin.
• are not designed to be comfortable or feel good on human skin. What’s the point of bondage if it doesn’t feel good?
• can straight-up leave burns, marks, or rashes on the skin.
• not particularly attractive or sexy-looking
• may not have safe diameters for use on human skin. This can lead to higher risks of pinching nerves or ill-fitting rope.
• just don’t hold their knots in the same way that rope for bondage does. This can make it harder (or too easy) to get knots in the strands.

Essentially, I know it’s tempting, but if budget is really, really a big concern (like it was for me in college), go with cotton bondage rope. You can get some decent cotton bondage rope that’s meant for bondage for cheaper than the cost of a nice dinner for two.

What Do You Plan to Use It For?

What do you plan to do with your rope? Will you be tying full-body harnesses? How about wrist cuffs? Will it be regularly wrapped tightly against the sharp edges of your bedroom headboard?

Knowing what you want to use your shibari rope for can give you a big boost in figuring out what rope to get.

For example, if you plan on doing a lot of crotch rope and rope that will touch bodily fluids, you’ll probably want a rope option that can be easily cleaned.

If you plan on tying your bondage rope tightly against the sharp edges of the headboard, you’d probably want to pick a cheaper kink rope option. As the sharp edges will tear away at the durability of the rope, you don’t want to be left buying another expensive rope again in 3 months to replace it.

If you know you plan on doing a lot of suspensions (not something a beginner should be worrying about, though!), you’ll want a rope that is safe for suspending – and durable enough to hold someone’s body weight. Depending on your risk profile, you may even prefer to go the synthetic route in order to have a tested and rated load statement.

If electrosex play is on the menu, you might even prefer to pick up one of those specialized bondage ropes I was talking about. A rope that’s conductive to easily transfer estimulation could be a really good fit for your play style.

If photos are your primary focus, you might pick a bondage rope that simply looks the best to you – or with a favorite set of lingerie. As long as it’s designed for human bondage, there’s nothing wrong with that!

Know What Length You Need

The next step in our plan to figure out what rope is best for bondage is determining length.

Do you have a game plan for what body parts you want to tie up? Essentially, if your rope is too long, you’ll spend a long time trying to wrangle the rope into place. However, if your rope is too short, you’ll either run out or spend a long time trying to attach ropes to one another.

Most rope bondage “experts” tend to lean towards shorter lengths of rope. They have the muscle memory to connect rope strands easily – but hate being weighed down by too-long strands that don’t travel well.

You, however, are likely not a “rope bondage expert”. With that in mind, the perfect length of rope is probably going to be somewhere in the 25 feet to 35 feet range.

If you only plan on tying limbs (like wrists or ankles), you probably won’t want very-long strands of rope. It’s just overkill.

On the other hand, if you want to do intricate ties that go along the torso, work for chest harnesses, or full-body ties, you’ll want to go with longer rope. This allows you to complete some of the wraps before you run out of rope.

Keep your tied-up-partner’s body size in weight as well. While rigging experts recommend basing your rope’s length on the rigger’s armspan, most people reading an article about what rope is best for bondage are probably more concerned about getting a functional, useful rope than adhering to “correct” rope bondage rigging technique.

This means you might want to consider a longer-length rope if your tied-up partner has a larger body. This will allow you to complete more wraps before you run out of length.

If you want a bit of flexibility in figuring out the perfect length for your rope bondage, consider getting a spool of cotton bondage rope – and cutting as you need to.

What Thickness Do You Need?

You’ll want to figure out the thickness of your rope next – to help figure out what rope is best for bondage. For most people, a standard 6mm to 8mm thickness is going to work just fine.

Thickness of the rope affects how much area the wraps use while on the body – and it determines whether the rope can fit into various areas. For example, a very thick rope is going to have problems comfortably fitting between the fingers for any hand bondage. A very thin rope may cut into the skin if it’s being used on a chest harness.

For most people, any standard, beginner bondage rope is going to be in the 6mm to 8mm range – which will work great for virtually all generic body work. You might want a smaller diameter if you plan on doing detail rope bondage (like on the genitals, toes, or fingers), but that’s not usually most people’s first plans when they’re getting into rigging.

Understand the Upkeep Required

Different rope materials have different upkeep requirements. When figuring out what rope is best for bondage, your interest, time, and ability to perform the required upkeep can drastically change what rope materials are best for you.

Cotton rope or nylon rope, for example, can be washed in the washing machine like your favorite t-shirt (on delicate, though, in a lingerie bag!) and left out to dry. Hemp can also be machine washed, but you’ll need to spend time re-oiling it after it’s fully dried. Some people say jute rope should never get wet, but even for those who agree to aquatic cleaning, jute rope is handwash only – and still needs that oil afterwards.

For beginners, I’m still very partial to cotton or nylon; it will be the easiest (and laziest) to care for, and you won’t need as much time or expensive accessories to worry about oiling your rope.

You may also want to keep your rope’s “shedding” in mind as well. Natural fibers, like hemp or jute, will leave their little baby strands behind. We keep a lint roller in our rope bag just for that purpose. If you’re someone who wants ultra-discreet rope bondage – or tends to head out to a doctor’s appointment right after your shibari practice sessions, you may prefer synthetic fibers that shed less often.

Planning on Pictures? Think about Colors

Finally, after we’ve gotten all of the “practical” stuff out of the way, let’s talk about the visuals of your new toy.

What bondage rope is best for bondage – especially if you’re planning on doing pictures or ties as a model on a webcam service like Anacams – might have a lot to do about the rope’s appearance.

If color vibrancy is important to you, I’d recommend going with Nylon rope. Due to its synthetic material, nylon bondage rope comes out with some of the brightest, most vibrant colors. You can really get nylon rope in a whole rainbow of color options.

The natural fibers, though, like hemp or jute, can still provide color options – while looking more like “traditional” natural, brown colors.

It’s really up to you and what appeals to your style of photography and play.

My biggest suggestion? If you know you’re going to be mixing rope types and colors, try to ensure they’re complementary options. A bright, lime green with a baby blue rope are going to visually clash. If you’re going for visual confusion, have at it! For most of us, though, we want the attention to be on the beautiful ropes you’ve laid – and the beautiful person in it!

If you have a bright, beautiful color without the ability to purchase more of the same shade, consider adding black. Black cotton and black nylon ropes will be some of your most affordable options, and black tends to go with pretty much any other color you add it to!

Ropes shown within the header photos, top to bottom:

• Brown, matte jute at the top: Kinky Contraptions (seem to be no longer in production) with rubber bands on the ends for group play identification of my own rope.
• Red, matte hemp at the top: Twisted Monk in a discontinued color. Crimson looks closest.
• Shiny, glossy nylon at the top: Agreeable Agony.
• Pastel purple/blue/pink hemp at the bottom: Reborn Ropes in My Little Pony.
• Blue/black nylon at the bottom: Agreeable Agony in Aqua/Black.
• Stiff rainbow nylon at the bottom: Damn Good Rope Company in discontinued “Rainbow”. (Wouldn’t recommend their nylon. Very easy friction burns.)

Updated: January 2024, May 2023.