Breast bondage is a fairly common element in BDSM. It looks hot and sometimes painful and intricate, but it’s often fun, more comfortable than you think and easier to bind a partner (or have one bind your breasts!) than you might think.
Why Breast Bondage?
It looks good, which is why so much bondage photography features this type of bondage. Rope bondage inspired by eastern countries such as Japan is often known as shibari (and sometimes Kinbaku [1]), but western-inspired bondage also exists. Rope harnesses can be intricate and beautiful. Even basic breast bondage highlights the breasts by surrounding them with rope lifting them up and separating them.
Breast bondage leaves boobs open to stimulation, including but not limited to nipple sucking, massaging and pinching. Nipple clamps also work with breast bondage as you’ll see below. Accessible breasts can be flogged or slapped, too!
More extreme types can cause the breasts to become swollen and darker, which some people like.
If that’s not for you, that’s okay. You might like sensual domination, instead.
For the person who is into breast bondage, the feeling can be anything from pleasant to painful depending on your preferences. It could be a show or power on the part of the dominant person or a way to inflict torture and punishment.
Being tied into a rope harness can be invigorating and arousing. Some people also find it relaxing as someone creates a piece of rope artwork around their body. It can be quite intimate for someone to tie you into a harness.
Discover why people like bondage.
Nipple Clamps
Most people don’t mean nipple clamps when they think of breast bondage, but it technically counts. Nipple clamps are a form of bondage that might be less intimidating to some people, and you can use them if you’re into light bondage (more on that in this post) or nipple play. But you can also add pair nipple clamps with other breast bondage, which typically leaves the nipples accessible.
Related: 12 Ways to Use Nipple Play for Better Sex
Essentially, a nipple clamp pinches your nipple. There are a few types to choose from, including clothespin, tweezer, clover and magnetic clamps. You buy them in pairs, and some have a connecting chain that you can tug on or add weight to for more stimulation. Some even connect to a chain with a clitoral clamp attachment.
Nipple clamps can range from pleasantly snug to quite uncomfortable so that they may be used as torture devices in some scenes. However, you might not realize that nipple clamps can be painful when you take them off because of the blood rushing back into your nipples. For some people, this pain can be a treat. If you’re not into pain, removing nipple clamps slowly is your best bet.
Breast and Chest Harnesses
If you like the idea of breast bondage but lack the time, interest or even dexterity to tie someone up, you don’t have to go the DIY route. Consumer breast bondage harnesses and bras are available. In fact, chest harnesses have become available as fashion pieces, which can be worn alone or beneath other clothing. Note that fashion pieces won’t offer as much restriction as those intended for actual breast bondage (some fetish shops rate bondage gear on how strict it is, however).
The two main types are bras/harnesses and binders. Binders lack straps and fit more like a tube top around the chest and breasts (one type of binder simply consists of metal bars that you can attach tighter or looser along the top and the bottom of the breasts. This makes for extreme breast bondage!
Choose one that’s adjustable for the right fit. Unfortunately, plus-sized women and those with an ample bosom might not find a pre-made chest harness that works for breast bondage.
These devices are often made from leather, PVC, or faux-leather; although, you can find them made with other materials too. These harnesses often connect to collars.
Another con to these pieces is that quality might be low, and they lack the versatility of a piece of rope that can become a different style of breast bondage every time you use it. Some do have rings to which you can attach other bondage straps, however.
Creating Your Rope Bondage Kit
Before we get down to some breast bondage tutorials, you should know what you’re working with. There are a lot of considerations when it comes to rope.
Two popular material options are cotton and nylon, the latter of which you can buy dyed or color yourself if you want a certain aesthetic with your breast bondage. Cotton comes relatively cheap if you’re just trying out bondage and are not sure what you need or whether you’re going to stick to it. Further down the road, you might buy other rope such as jute, which is often a sadist’s material of choice because of its roughness.
Because cotton is natural, it doesn’t stretch as much as nylon. This is preferable for suspension. However, you should become comfortable with breast bondage and rope work before you even consider that!
As far as size goes, opt for 6mm or 1/4″ rope. It’s the most common. It’s thin and flexible enough to work with. As you gain more experience, you might use thinner or thicker rope for the different properties or appearance, but start here.
You can pretty much buy any cotton or nylon rope that’s the right width, but what about length? When it comes to harnesses, you want a piece between 20 and 30 feet long. An easy way to measure rope if you don’t have a measuring device is by arm length. This is about five arm lengths; however, you may want to opt for extra rope if your arms are short or if your partner is thicker.
Many kinksters recommend having two long pieces of rope for use in harnesses in your kit, which can also include four pieces of 6-foot (2 arm lengths) rope and four pieces of 9-foot rope (3 arm lengths).
Once you get your rope, it might be a little stiff or even crinkly. With it bent at the middle, you can hold the loop with one hand and run the other over the rope a few times to “condition” it. This also helps you get used to your rope. If you’ve picked something too harsh, you’ll know!
Finally, having a pair of scissors or shears on hand in case of emergency is a necessity. Some rope sellers even offer kits with shears. Safety shears like those used by paramedics are popular because you won’t be able to cut your partner. Word to lefties: you’ll need left-handed specific safety shears. Before you start using the rope on a body, make sure you are able to quickly cut it with the shears.