Eliminating precum before putting condom on?

[anibalroberto]

I'd like to know if what I'm doing is right or wrong.

What I do is I wipe the precum off with wipes/tissue and then I quickly put the condom on before more precum is released.

Is this enough/ok? or should I actually wash my penis to fully get rid of precum before putting the condom on?

Thank you

[Sam W]

Hi anibalroberto,

While there's nothing wrong with wiping away pre-cum before putting on a condom, it's actually not a necessary step in the process. Since a condom is a barrier, any pre-cum present when you put it on will be kept inside, the same way ejaculate is. If you want to learn more about the steps needed for proper condom use, check this out: All the Barriers! All the Time!.

[anibalroberto]

Thanks for replying. Let me better explain the situation.
I'm an uncut male and as such I need 3 hands to put a condom on without contaminating it (one holds the prepuce back, one holds the tip of the condom and one unrolls the condom)

When you don't have a third hand available you have to unroll the condom and hold the prepuce back with one hand, which unavoidably causes direct or indirect contact betweem the prepuse and the outside of the condom.

So if there is precum on the prepuce and you put the condom on with two hands, the outside of the condom will likely get some precum too. That's why I wipe beforehand, but I'm not sure if this effectively removes all the precum

[Sam W]

Got it, thanks for clarifying. It doesn't really change the risk level, or create a need for wiping down the condom. If it did, we'd have to give very different advice to uncircumcised folks than we do. In fact, you can see the recommended steps for putting on a condom with a foreskin in that article I liked you to. However, if wiping beforehand makes you feel more comfortable, than that's something you can keep doing.