You’d be surprised how many people want to experiment with (soft) BDSM at home, but still have some reluctance about buying fun gear. For those people who additionally love some naughty to downright painful spanking, we have some fun suggestions to make your own spanking paddle.

What is a spanking paddle?

Spanking is the English word for hitting the buttocks or other areas of the body in an erotic or punishable way. This can be particularly intimate and erotic to watch, do, or receive. The image of someone bent over waiting for his or her ‘punishment’, or the red glow across the skin after a few firm spanks is extremely arousing for some people. Now, of course, you can deliver blows with the flat hand, but you can also use other objects such as a whip or a flogger for it.

A paddle is a kind of board used by BDSM enthusiasts to ‘spank’ with. The sensation such a paddle produces depends a lot on the shape and material it is made of. Some cause a downright stabbing pain and others feel more like being slapped by a box of cereal.

In our shop, you’ll find a huge selection of spanking paddles. If you don’t know how to choose among them, you can read the ‘choice guide’ I wrote about them earlier. But if you prefer to experiment a bit with homemade paddles first, read on.

From the kitchen

The best BDSM gear can be found in the kitchen or at the barbecue. It often requires hardly any modifications. If you suddenly feel like spanking spontaneously, pull open your kitchen cupboards first. And with a few minor adjustments, you can turn those kitchen utensils into seriously good paddles.

Wooden serving boards

At any interior design shop they sell wooden or bamboo serving boards, meant to serve snacks and cheeses to your guests. They often cost somewhere between €10 and €20.

These kinds of boards are excellent for serving as paddles and are also a great basis for making a do-it-yourself spanking paddle with some modifications.

When buying, pay attention to how the board fits in your hand. Isn’t it too heavy? Where is the centre of gravity? Does it have a loop that you can attach to your wrist (you don’t want the board to slip out of your hand while spanking)?

You can adjust such boards in the following way:

1. Make holes in the board with a wood drill or surface router over 15 mm. This improves airflow, so you experience less resistance. This makes the plank hit you just a little harder and hurt considerably more.
2. Paint the board black to give it more BDSM cachet.
3. Coat the handgrip with contact glue and twist leather around it to get a better grip.
4. Provide a wrist strap. If it is not attached, drill a hole at the end of the handle and make one anyway.
5. Buy studs from a DIY or hobby shop. With these, you can decorate the board and give it more texture (and cause more pain).
6. It’s also nice to apply those studs or some other thickening in the shape of, say, the Dom’s initials, or words like ‘SLUT’.

Spatulas

Spatulas are widely available in most kitchens in different materials; from iron, wood, plastic and silicone. Many spatulas are slightly flexible, so they ‘swoosh’ nicely. Spatulas often have different shapes and each spatula therefore lands slightly differently. Moreover, they are very easy to clean, in case you want to fry another egg with them.

You can also easily customise spatulas. First of all, spatulas almost never have a wrist strap, so that might be the first thing you want to make. Funnily enough, almost all spatulas do have a hole in the handle, which is for hanging the thing. You can easily put a ribbon or string through this.

Ladle

Besides spatulas, ladles are also very suitable as paddles. Ladles also come in different sizes and textures. They are usually made of wood, but there are also silicone or plastic ones.

The authentic ladle has a concave and a convex side. You can use both sides to beat with and each side has its own effect.

Like serving boards and spatulas, you can easily customise them yourself with studs, a wrist strap and a lick of paint.

The sports department

If you have already tried all the kitchen equipment and are still looking for a good or better paddle, see what you have among your sports gear, or can buy at the sports shop.

Padel racket

Perhaps the best thing you can find in the sports department: a padel racket. This is because these rackets are fairly lightweight, unlike, say, a wooden serving board. Moreover, it already has holes for reduced air resistance. And they already have a wrist strap and a good grip. The more expensive padel rackets feel a bit like sandpaper, which brings an extra thrill.

The biggest drawback of all is that they are generally much more expensive than a BDSM paddle from the sex shop. Therefore, it is a bit of a probe to customise it with studs or with a colour. But maybe you happen to be an avid paddler and still have one lying around?

Table tennis bat

I have family members who play table tennis professionally, which is why I don’t dare call them ping-pong bats. But you know what I mean. The nice thing about these paddles is that they often have two sides, one of which is more textured than the other. The rubber surface also provides cushioning and therefore causes a more moderate pain.

Also for ping-pong bats (there, I said it), you may want to customise them with a wrist strap, a colour, some holes and/or some studs.

A nice alternative to these bats are the (extremely cheap) beach tennis rackets. These are often thin boards that you can buy for a few euros. You can also easily customise these boards with some paint, some holes and some studs.

Other options

With a little more effort, you can also make good paddles or whips out of some garments or household items.

Belt

A belt might remind you more of a whip. But beware. If you have an old belt, cut off the buckle and fold the belt in half. Fasten the ends together with duct tape or studs. Because you have a double belt, the blow literally arrives twice.

Fly swatter

That you didn’t think of that yourself, right? Swishes nicely, sits well in the hand, is cheap and chances are you still have one lying around somewhere.

You probably want to make it a bit more BDSM savvy, though. Try spray-painting it with (matt) black paint. Or cut a shape out of it (how about a heart?).

Some more suggestions

If you let your imagination run wild, there are countless things that can serve well as spanking paddles. I’ll just mention a few more, just for fun:

• A wide hairbrush: a golden oldie
• A stir stick for latex. You can easily dye these or cover them with leather. And you can get them for free at the cash register of any DIY shop.
• Knee pad or knee mat. You can buy these foam things, meant for working in the garden. for a few euros. They are easy to cut into shape. Because they are soft, they are perfect for beginners.
• If you search carefully on youtube, you will also find instructional videos on how to make your own leather paddles.
• Do you have a large piece of (fake) leather? Then cut strips of equal width in the middle. First keep one third whole, then cut strips from the next piece and keep another third whole. Now fold the piece in half and roll it up. If all goes well, you now have a kind of homemade flogger.
• Take a piece of garden hose and make a loop from it. Put the ends together and twist Duct tape around that until you have a good handle.
• Attach a shoe sole with quite a bit of texture to a board.
• Even an old ukulele or violin can serve as a spanking paddle.

Or just buy a ready-made paddle in our shop.