22 Different Techniques & Tips to Spice up Masturbation – Kiiroo®

Most people have a routine. It’s familiar, it’s efficient, but after a while, it stops feeling like much at all. The body adapts, and what once felt exciting becomes just another habit.

The good news? There are far more ways to explore solo pleasure than most people realize. A simple shift in grip, a change in mental focus, or introducing the right sex toy can unlock entirely new levels of pleasure while deepening your connection to your body.

Below, we cover 22 techniques and ideas, from foundational basics you can start with today to more advanced methods you might want to work up to. Not every method will resonate. But the ones that do can genuinely elevate your experience.

Why should you spice up your masturbation routine?

Think about the last time you genuinely surprised yourself during a solo session. For most people, that memory is a long time ago…if at all.

Changing things up fixes that. And the benefits are real:

• You feel more. New techniques reach spots your usual method never touches. More of your body in the mix means more sensation overall.

• Orgasms get stronger. Slower build-up, edging, varied stimulation. These things don’t just feel different in the moment. They lead to harder, more satisfying finishes.

• You get to know your own body. Solo time is genuinely the best place to figure out what you respond to. And once you know, you can actually communicate it.

There’s solid research behind this too. Read more about masturbation health benefits if you want the details.

How to masturbate better: The basic 4

Better masturbation isn’t about doing more or doing something you’re not comfortable with. It’s about being more deliberate with what you already do. These four basics alone can significantly improve the experience.

1. Slow down 

The quickest route to orgasm works, but it’s also why sessions can start to feel routine. Your body adapts fast, and what once felt intense becomes predictable. Slowing your pace deliberately gives arousal more room to build, and that changes the entire experience.

Tip: Next session, cut your usual pace in half for the first few minutes. It feels counterintuitive, but the buildup is worth it.

2. Build tension gradually

Letting arousal develop, rather than rushing past it, leads to a noticeably stronger release.

Rushing past arousal gets you to orgasm, but not necessarily a good one. Letting tension develop leads to a noticeably stronger release. Think of it less like a sprint and more like pulling a bowstring back before letting go.

Tip: Every time you feel the urge to speed up, ease back instead. Do it two or three times before you let yourself go further.

3. Delay orgasm deliberately 

Holding back isn’t just about lasting longer, it retrains how your body responds to stimulation over time. The more often you practice it, the more control you develop, and that carries over into partnered sex too.

Tip: Set a minimum time before you allow yourself to finish. Start with 10 minutes. It quickly becomes a habit.

4. Stay present

Distraction is one of the biggest reasons sessions feel flat. Putting your phone down and actually tuning in to physical sensation gives you real information about what works for you.

Tip: Try it once with no visual content at all. Just sensation. Most people are surprised by how different it feels.

Different techniques you can start with right now 

No equipment needed for any of these. They’re small adjustments to how you approach a session, things like grip, pacing, and focus, that produce results you’ll notice immediately. Start with one rather than all of them at once. Give it a full session before you decide whether it works for you.

5. Vary Your Speed and Rhythm

Most people find a pace that works and stay there for the entire session. It works, but the body calibrates to it quickly. Instead, try starting slow, building gradually, then easing back before building again. That variation creates tension and that’s what you want.

Tip: Hold a slow pace for two full minutes before allowing yourself to build. It’s harder than it sounds, but the payoff is worth it.

6. Try Edging

Edging means bringing yourself close to orgasm, then stopping just before you get there. Wait 20 to 30 seconds, then do it again. Repeat two or three times before allowing yourself to finish. The result is an orgasm noticeably more intense than usual. It’s one of the best techniques and one of the easiest to try without any equipment.

Tip: When you feel yourself getting close, stop completely. Breathe. Start again slowly. That’s the entire method.

7. Switch Up Your Grip

The body adjusts to repeated stimulation quickly. Changing your grip, even slightly, introduces sensations your nervous system isn’t used to. Try your non-dominant hand, adjust pressure, or use a twisting motion instead of a straight stroke. 

Tip: A loose grip using just the thumb and index finger creates very different sensations from a full grip. 

8. Explore Other Sensitive Zones

Most solo sessions focus on a single area. The body has nerve endings in a lot of places like the inner thighs, the nipples, the perineum. Use your free hand to explore while continuing as usual. It’s one of the simplest ways to expand what a session can feel like.

Tip: Focus on one new area per session rather than several at once. 

9. Add Temperature Play

Temperature changes how familiar sensations feel. Warmth tends to relax and deepen them; cool tends to sharpen and heighten. A warm towel or a cool glass held near sensitive skin is enough to make something feel genuinely new.

Tip: Start with a warm towel on the inner thighs before you begin. It relaxes the area and makes everything that follows feel more intense. 

Interesting ways to spice up masturbation

These go beyond technique. They’re about changing the context: what you listen to, where you are, who’s involved. That shift alone can make a familiar experience feel completely different. Some will resonate more than others, but each one is worth trying at least once.

10. Use Audio Instead of Visual Content

Porn is the default for most people, but it’s not the only option and for many, it’s not even the best one. Audio erotica lets you use your imagination, which can be more arousing than anything on a screen.

Tip: Try swapping video for audio for one full session.

11. Try a New Location

Your environment shapes your headspace more than most people realise. The same session in a different room can feel genuinely different! More exciting, more relaxed, more charged. 

Tip: Explore new places to try masturbating for ideas beyond the obvious.

12. Try Mutual Masturbation

Masturbation doesn’t have to be a solo act. Mutual masturbation, where you and a partner pleasure yourselves at the same time, watching but not touching, is one of the most underrated forms of intimacy. 

Tip: Learn more about masturbating with a partner and why it works so well for connection.

13. Use Fantasy or Roleplay

Your mind is doing more work during arousal than most people give it credit for. Playing out a scene can show you different sides of yourself.

Tip: Decide on the scenario before you start. The more specific it is, the more effective it tends to be.

14. Try Guided Stimulation (JOI)

Jerk-off instructions (JOI) is a category of content where someone directs you through the session like pacing, grip, timing. Being told what to do adds a psychological dimension that changes the experience significantly. 

Tip: Read more about jerk off instructions to understand what it involves.

Using sex toys to enhance masturbation

The right toy doesn’t just add stimulation. It introduces sensations that are physically impossible to replicate by hand, and that’s worth understanding before you choose one. This section covers the main categories, what each one actually does, and what to keep in mind when getting started.

15. Male Masturbators

A male masturbator wraps around the penis and creates pressure, texture, and tightness that feels genuinely unlike anything your hand produces. You can choose sleeves designed to simulate vaginal, oral, or anal sex. 

Tip: Use water-based lube every time. It improves sensation and protects the material.

16. Vibrators

Vibration produces stimulation that no manual technique can replicate. For penis-owners, applying a vibrator to the shaft, frenulum, or perineum introduces sensations most people have never experienced in solo play. 

Tip: Start on the lowest setting. 

17. Interactive Sex Toys

Interactive toys sync to an app or a partner’s device and respond in real time to movement, input, or video content. That means your partner can control what you feel from anywhere in the world, or the toy can respond directly to what’s happening on screen.

Tip: They’re especially great for long-distance couples.

18. Hands-Free Options

An automatic male masturbator, like the Keon by Kiiroo, is motorised, app-controlled, and does the work for you. Hands-free means your attention goes entirely to sensation rather than technique. 

Tip: Get everything set up before you start. Fiddling with settings mid-session kills the mood fast.

Advanced techniques to try

These take more practice or preparation than the rest, but the payoff is proportionally higher. None of them require special equipment to get started, though some work better once you have the basics down. Worth working up to once the earlier techniques feel natural.

19. Hands-Free Orgasm

A hands-free orgasm is doable but takes practice to develop. It uses a combination of mental focus, controlled breathing, and pelvic floor engagement. 

Tip: Start with Kegel exercises. Strengthening the pelvic floor is the foundation that makes hands-free orgasm possible over time.

20. Simulate Oral Sex

Masturbation sleeves designed to replicate oral sex are the most realistic toys out there. Read more about how to simulate a blowjob for guidance on technique and which toys work best.

Tip: Warm the sleeve in warm water before use. 

21. Anal Play

Anal stimulation adds a new layer of pleasure for any gender or body type. The area contains a high density of nerve endings, and stimulating them feels genuinely different from anything else. For people with a prostate, anal play can trigger very strong, full-body orgasms.

Tip: Start small, go slow and use plenty of lube.

22. Breathing Techniques

How you breathe during masturbation directly affects the quality of your orgasm. Slow, deep breathing keeps you relaxed and present, stops you from rushing, and can make the climax noticeably stronger.

Tip: Try breathing in for 4 counts, holding for 2, and breathing out for 6. You’ll notice a difference in your orgasm. 

4 Common mistakes when masturbating

Most people make at least one of these consistently and fixing even one of them tends to make a noticeable difference.

Sticking to the same routine every time. The body adapts faster than most people realise. What felt intense six months ago feels ordinary now. Change up your grip, pace, or technique regularly keeps sensation sharp.

Rushing. The faster you move toward orgasm, the less you feel along the way. Slow down and build up the arousal. 

Only ever using visual content. Watching the same type of porn repeatedly trains your arousal response to a specific stimulus. Mix in audio, fantasy, or other adult content.

Ignoring the rest of your body. Most sessions focus entirely on the genitals, but the inner thighs, nipples, perineum, and lower abdomen all contain nerve endings that respond to stimulation. 

One last thing 

Twenty-two techniques is a lot to take in at once. The point isn’t to try all of them. Pick one or two that stood out and actually give them a proper go before moving on. Most people who experiment with even a handful of these notice a real difference, not just in solo sessions but in how they experience sex with a partner too. The FAQ below covers the most common questions if anything above left you wanting more detail.