Interesting Medical Trivia
K-Y Jelly is a water-based, water-soluble personal lubricant produced by Johnson & Johnson, containing carboxymethyl cellulose, sodium alginate and EDTA. The initials "K-Y" are not known to represent any words, but are retained for their brand-identity.
Created in 1917 and then named Jelly Personal Lubricant, the jelly's popularity began with medical use, where it was often chosen by doctors because of its natural base. In contrast with petroleum-based lubricants, K-Y is generally biologically inert, and contains no colour or perfume additives. The lubricant has proved extremely popular as it does not stain and is easily cleaned up.
K-Y became available to the public in 1980 and was sold over the counter as a sexual lubricant. It does not react with latex condoms or silicone-based sex toys, unlike Vaseline, which does. Vaseline is not recommended for use as a safe sexual lubricant; being oil-based it destroys the effectiveness of latex condoms. It can be used, however, as a personal lubricant in the absence of condoms.
With the emergence of the AIDS crisis in the late 70s/early 80s, there was a growing awareness of the need for products (such as K-Y) that didn't react with latex. Now, we have gone from basically having two choices to having, as one website describes it, "zillions of different kinds of lubes out there."