I'm wondering which kinds of personal lubricants are vegan. I'm not familiar with how they are usually made, or what substances are used in their manufacture, but I would think someone's figured out how to make them vegan.
The areas I'm primarily asking about are relating to animal testing of products and animal-derived products being used as ingredients or as accessories to the production.
Astroglide Natural is vegan. It's main active ingredients are xylitol and aloe. When I last looked it was the only non-petroleum based one I could find in the drugstore, it just happened to be vegan also.
I was recommended coconut oil as a personal lubricant (by a friend), so have since successfully used it for a few years. It has great slip and handfeel, and if it happens to get on other body parts or hair, it is an oil that is proven to be more easily absorbed than other oils. The refined oil has less coconutty smell than the more expensive virgin coconut oil, so I would recommend that type over virgin.
However, there is no consensus as to the safety of this lubricant. Most casual sites that I reviewed state with some positivity that it is safe, with a few claiming it is not. The National Women's Health Network, as of February 2017, sites this lubricant's safety as unknown, so proceed with some caution, and perhaps your own continued research.
Regarding the absorbability of coconut oil vs a few other types, you can check out NIH's study here.
If condoms or toys made of latex are not involved, any plant oil will do the trick. It's cheap, unproblematic, may even taste good or be beneficial for your skin.
A word of caution: do never use oil together with latex condoms (unless you're absolutely sure your condom is oil proof), since the material deteriorates in contact with oil and may break, and thus render the condom useless. Some condoms are made of polyurethane and may be unaffected, but for good measure definitely read the instruction leaflet (as you should for any toy).
