Rope Material Selection


Comparison of Materials

There are many good options for bondage rope; a lot of it comes down to personal preference, but each variety has its own pros and cons.

Things that are underlined in the below table have additional notes; hover over to see them (the hover text will take about a second to appear).

Material
Popularity (0 - lowest; 4 - highest)
Roughness (1 - softest; 5 - roughest)
Suppleness (1 - stiffest; 5 - most supple)
Knot Holding (1 - slippy; 5 - jammy)
Friction (1 - slippery; 4 - high friction)
Burn Tendency (1 - low; 3 - burns easily)
Breaking Strength (6mm or 1/4") lb
Weight (6mm or 1/4") lb/ft
Cost, Raw (6mm or 1/4") USD/ft
Ease of Cleaning (1 - hard; 4 - easy)
Maintenance Required (0 - none; 2 - much)
Service Life (years)
Compatible with Water Bondage
Compatible with Dye
Nylon 3 1 4 2 2 2 1200-1500 0.016 0.06-0.22 3 0 0-5+ Yes Yes Notes
MFP 3 1 4 2 2 2 1100-1300 3 0 5+ Yes No Notes
Spun Polyester 2 2 3 2 3 2 1200 0.60 0 5+ Yes No Notes
Hemp 4 2-3 3 3 3 1 400-500 0.017-0.019 0.21 2 1 2-5+ No Yes Notes
Jute 4 3-4 4 4 3 1 200-300 0.012-0.014 0.18-0.58 1 2 0.5-2 Yes/No Yes Notes
Cotton 2 2 3 3-5 3 1 200-600 0.10 Yes Notes
Flax / Linen 2 3 3 3 3 1 Yes Notes
Coconut 2 5 2 4 4 Notes
Silk 1 1-2 3-4 3 3 1
Rayon ("Bamboo") 1 1 5 1
Alpaca 1 1 4 3 3 0.60 1 0 0-1 No Notes
Filament Polyester 1 2 3 1 1 3 2000 0.02 4 0 5+ Yes No Notes
Filament Polypropylene 0 5 1 1000-1200 0 No Notes
Sisal 1 5 2 3 3 500 Notes
Manilla 0 5 2 4 500 0.02 Notes
Hempex 1 3 3 3 3 1 1100 4 0 5+ Yes Notes
A Note on Scale

The quantities given arbitrary number values aren't meant to be on any type of exact linear scale -- I've assigned different rankings where there seem to be meaningful differences, but many of the measures are sufficiently variable and subjective that it's hard to be more exact than statements like "jute tends to be rougher than hemp" or "mfp holds knots the same as nylon". That's the type of data I'm trying to loosely quantify for easy skimming.

What about stretch?

I didn't include stretch in the table, because it's so hard to make general statements about -- measurements of stretch are confounded by differences in construction, interaction of elastic and inelastic stretching, differences in strength and load regime, etc. For instance, MFP is a stretchier material than jute, but a jute rope might stretch more than a similar diameter MFP one under the same load because of its construction and lower strength.

Not All Rope Is Created Equal

Always check the manufacturer's specs, and get a small sample of any rope before purchasing it in quantity; I tried to represent in the above table the common range of properties you're likely to encounter, but there's tremendous variety in both the quality of raw materials and the construction of rope from different suppliers. For instance, cheap hemp rope from China bears almost no resemblance to the hemp rope commonly used for bondage, due to the fibers being cut shorter during processing.

Retail Bondage Rope Suppliers

For an amazing database of rope vendors, see here. For another insanely comprehensive list of rope vendors, see this post. (note: I don't maintain either of these lists)

Sources for Bulk Rope

Below are a few sources of wholesale rope I've personally had good experiences with.

Cotton

This 3-strand cotton is a great beginner option at a price of $0.10/ft. It's soft and ready to use out of the box. The 1/4" will feel a bit thick to anyone used to 6mm hemp/jute but is quite suitable. Note that I've always wound up with about 10-20% less rope than I ordered; I don't know if they're measuring it under tension off the spool, or what.

Hemp

I've always gotten my raw hemp at Rawganique. Their rope has been of consistently high quality for many years, but sometimes comes stinking to high heaven; smelly batches really just need to be aired out in a warm dry place for a couple months, I've never found anything else that works. When broken in, this rope is very supple and soft, and will last for years. It does not photograph well, however.

Jute

MyNawashi has raw 5-6mm jute for as little as $0.20/ft. It takes a little more breaking in than most jute I've used, but comes out reasonably well with some effort.

Coconut

I got my most recent batch of coconut rope off Amazon. Normally 1/8" is really thin for bondage rope, but I've found it perfectly delightful in the applications at which coconut rope excels.

Miscellaneous

R&W Rope is a good source for a variety of rope, especially harder-to-find special purpose synthetics.

Dye Suppliers

I've always gotten dyes from Dharma Trading Co, which has excellent instructions on their site (look under Tub Dying). You want either Fiber Reactive or Acid dye, depending on the rope material.