Since you are using a water-based lube, but budget is a concern, you might want to look into using “J Lube”. I think I may have mentioned J Lube in a different thread. It is incredibly slippery and, in my experience, it does not dry as quickly as many other water-based lubes. The net cost, for an equal volume, will probably be only 10% of the cost those silly tiny containers sold as water-based lube.
(I would be curious about what TikTok has to say about J Lube.)
J Lube is a veterinarian product – that’s what some (many) vets use when they have to “go in and grab” a difficult birth, etc., or for general inspections, etc. The manufacturer does NOT sell it as a human product. Furthermore, they do not knowingly allow their sellers to sell it as a human product. For this reason, I am willing to privately share the contact info of my source (a small company that sells human and vet medical products and devices), so let me know if you would like that info and we can PM to share the info.
However, because this is not a human product, I strongly recommend reading up on it before considering a purchase. What you read may be “concerning” to you, but that is how safety information works, when a product has not been submitted for testing for human use. For this purpose, I suggest an Internet search for “what are the safety concerns of using J Lube for humans”. By default, all such information is naturally negative.
My own personal experience, after several years of use (either alone or with coconut oil used at the same time – they have different characteristics), is ZERO problems. Before trying it, I read all about it and then experimented slowly initially. I am accustomed to reading product safety information and thus I recognized the theoretical risks, but also that, since the manufacturer does not want to go through all the work/cost for testing for the human market, they actively try to discourage human use. They can make a lot more money selling to vets than trying to get into the human lube market (which would cost them many millions for that process).
J Lube is a powder that is mixed with water. I suggest mixing with HEATED distilled water. But heating the WATER (NOT the mixure!!!) should be in a microwave, preferably in the GLASS container you are going to store it in. But be careful about thermal shock of the glass. Don’t set the glass container on a cold surface. Heat ONLY to WARM, NOT to HOT. The HEATING tremendously helps the mixing. Stir with a clean utensil; I use a plastic-wrapped fast-food spoon or knife (after removing the plastic of course). And then I shake it for a couple minutes (be sure to leave “shake room” in the bottle). Still, it probably needs to sit for a day and then be stirred and shaken further. A little power goes a LOONNG way. Test perhaps a tablespoon (NOT more) of powder for a soda-can-size volume of water. Until you determine your preferred ratio, you can always add more distilled water (or powder) to the existing mix. I suggest DISTILLED water because that avoids the additives that ARE IN “city water” and it avoids the possible contamination that MIGHT be in “country well water”.
Hygiene of the mixed material must be maintained. J Lube does NOT contain any preservatives or anti-microbial compounds. Thus it is an excellent growing medium for “buggies”. Do NOT put anything (fingers, syringes, whatever) into you primary J Lube bottle. Instead pour a VERY LITTLE BIT out of the bottle.
The generic Internet advice is to store the bottle in the fridge. BUT, be careful about labeling or re-using a labeled food/drink container – you don’t want somebody to accidentally drink it!!! The reason for refrigeration is that J Lube is a prime “growing medium” for unwanted microbes. However, I wanted to see how long it could stay usable WITHOUT refrigeration – it has been perfectly fine for WEEKS when kept at room temperature (and hygiene carefully maintained). But your mileage may differ.
When I was reading about J Lube, I ran into many complicated methods of preparing, etc. However, I have no idea why people think all that is necessary. What I described above is extremely simple and I have had ZERO problems either with the lube or with contamination.
For my own primary use with large anal toys, I use a syringe (NO needle of course!) to load some lube into me. (Start with just a LITTLE until you have determined that you do not have any sensitivities to the lube.) Then I use additional lube on the toy. Such syringes are available from pharmacies (to give liquid medicine to children) or pet supply stores (for administering pet medicines). AGAIN, for actual use, first pour some lube from your primary bottle, into a spill-resistant container and then fill the syringe from that container – never put the syringe into the primary lube bottle.
Since J Lube is probably (?) a U.S.-only product, people in other countries can probably find the same compound. Here is the product safety sheet stating what it made of:
https://www.jorvet.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/J109.pdf
My favorite factoid from the safety sheet is “slippery when wet”. DUH!!! I should hope so! (If you spill powder on the floor, to NOT try to clean it up with anything wet/moist.)
Keep on slipping and sliding!