OK everybody, it’s time to talk about lube. Not the kind you put in your car. The kind you put …well, you know where to put it. We hope.



Personal lubricants have become a booming market in recent years, with aging, sexually active baby boomers — nearly 40 million of whom are women — stoking sales in increasing numbers. Studies indicate that 95 percent of women will need a personal lubricant at least some of the time. Thankfully, America seems to be getting over a sort of Victorian-era sexual hangover characterized by pervasive body hatred and denial of the assertion that women should enjoy sex as much as men do. In a nation becoming increasingly comfortable with the idea that it’s OK to bone for more than a few minutes — and maybe even enjoy it — annual sales of products such as Astroglide and good ol’ K-Y have topped $120 million in recent years.



Contributing to the lube boom is Puyallup-based Wallace-O’Farrell Inc., makers and distributors of products such as Slippery Stuff, FemGlide and HerGel. If McNeil Consumer Healthcare’s K-Y brand is the Budweiser of lube, Slippery Stuff is a nice, micro-brewed Belgian Ale. A seminal contribution to the lube lineup (…yeah, start counting the puns), Slippery Stuff and its cousins are marketed as milder, gentler lubricants, catering especially to the needs of women.



“There are a lot of women that find Slippery Stuff and won’t use anything else,” says Michael O’Farrell, general manager and nephew of Wallace-O’Farrell founder Nancy O’Farrell, who founded the company 1984.



Slippery Stuff falls in a class of lubricants that are made without glycerin, which can contribute to dreaded lube stickiness, hasten dryness, and increase chances of developing yeast infections, adds O’Farrell.



“It’s one of the most benign products on the market,” he says.



The flagship product and its counterparts are used in a variety of applications — from facilitating carnal marathons to helping people get in and out of wetsuits. On the brink of a growth spurt, Wallace-O’Farrell will release a new product this year called Sensiglide, which will be marketed for use in medical applications. FemGlide is already used by surgical and medical equipment manufacturer the Prometheus Group in physical therapy seminars. The company also sells a re-labeled version of Slippery Stuff called Lice-Out, which was developed after researchers discovered that smearing a little lube on lice combs increased their effectiveness. That’s right, if you get lice, there’s a distinct chance that your doctor will end up combing lube through your hair. Far less creepy to think about, HerGel acts as a lubricant and a sensitizer, increasing blood flow to critical areas with the help of amino acid L-Arginine. Reportedly, a little L-Arginine has been shown to help some anorgasmic women get over the hump.



O’Farrell says that the company is currently researching several new products, which will trickle into the market during the next several years. The company also plans to step up distribution and marketing efforts. Most of O’Farrell’s products have been popularized by word of mouth, and are sold as a private label product on select Web sites and at partner stores such as Lovers (formerly Lovers Package). That is likely to change in coming years.



“Were really getting ready to grow again,” says O’Farrell.



LINK: Wallace-O’Farrell Inc.