Fingering, handjobs, manual sex—whatever you choose to call it, queer sex often involves using our hands to give pleasure. And just as with other sexual activities, there are measures you can take to make hand sex safer, preventing STI transmission, injury or irritation.

Many people reach for latex or nitrile gloves for this purpose, but if you only need to cover a digit or two, you might prefer to use finger condoms. They may not be as well-known as condoms or dental dams, but they’re still a versatile sex accessory worth keeping around.
 

What exactly are finger condoms?
 

Finger condoms—also known as finger cots—are small latex sheaths that you can slip onto an individual finger. As their name would suggest, they literally are like little condoms for your fingers, and just like regular condoms, they’re available in various materials: you can get disposable finger cots made of latex or nitrile, or reusable ones made of silicone.
 

While they’ve been adopted by many people as safer sex supplies, they’re useful in other settings too. For instance, doctors and nurses use them for certain types of medical exams, and cooks in restaurants sometimes slip one on to protect an injured finger on the job.
 

Why do finger condoms belong in your safer sex kit?
 

When you’re putting your fingers into someone’s vagina, anus or mouth, finger cots can prevent the transmission of bloodborne STIs, such as HIV, hepatitis B and C and syphilis. “If you have any type of open sores on your hands, or there’s some cuts, people enjoy using [finger condoms] as an extra layer of protection,” explains Dr. Valerie Poppel, PhD, a clinical sexologist and director of education for Bliss Cruise.

Nails looking a little worse for wear? Finger cots are helpful for that too: “They can protect from the microtears that you might cause if you have a hangnail,” says Carolyn Eagle, a certified sex educator and founder of Naughty North. You may also want to wear them to avoid injuring your partner(s) if your nails are particularly long, pointy or bejewelled; Eagle recommends stuffing a cotton ball or piece of tissue into the tip of the finger condom to prevent your nails from puncturing the material.
 

Finger cots can also be useful if you want to go back and forth between anal and vaginal penetration, or between different partners, without necessarily needing to wash your hands in between—just take off the cot and put on a fresh one before switching orifices. Eagle points out that you can also put one on a bullet vibrator if you want to use it with one or more partners and don’t want to have to sanitize the toy in between. All these usages make them particularly great accessories to keep on hand during sex parties and other group-sex scenarios.
 

Why else might someone want to use finger condoms?
 

Even if you’re not concerned about STI transmission or jagged nails, there are reasons you might prefer to use finger cots for hand sex. For instance, some neurodivergent people have sensory issues that may make them hesitant to finger someone or get lube on their hands, in which case a finger condom could be a helpful buffer.
 

Eagle also points out that some people might feel more at ease during anal play if they’re wearing a cot. And their texture is smoother than skin, in a way that some people on the receptive end might find more pleasant.
 

Finger cots are also a fun accessory for kinky medical roleplays, if you’re into that. The scent and feeling of latex or nitrile can lend an air of clinical authenticity to your scene.
 

Why not just use gloves?
 

Latex and nitrile gloves are ubiquitous in indie queer porn and frequently used in queer sex, whereas “a lot of people probably haven’t even heard of [finger cots] and wouldn’t think of them,” Eagle says. That being said, they have certain advantages over gloves.
 

Gloves can make your hands sweaty, for one thing, which could be an unpleasant sensory experience for some. According to Tim Lagman, resident sex educator at Pjur, “another thing that’s great about finger cots is that if you enjoy skin-to-skin contact, they free up the whole hand”—so you can, for example, penetrate someone with latex-sheathed fingers while still being able to massage their external parts with your bare palm at the same time, which may feel better and more connective for one or both of you.
 

Finger condoms tend to be more cost-effective than gloves, at least if you typically only use a few fingers (as opposed to your whole hand/fist) during hand sex. Why use a whole glove each time if you’ll only be inserting one or two digits? Naturally, finger cots take up less space in a landfill, too, so you might prefer them if environmental sustainability is a value of yours.
 

On the other hand (so to speak), Lagman says that finger cots run a higher risk of slipping off during sex, especially if you’ve chosen a size that doesn’t fit you quite right—so if you don’t want to have to worry about that possibility, gloves might give you more peace of mind.