Wet and messy fetishism

Normal street clothes, either casual or office wear, are commonly featured in WAM productions, but many other types of outfits, from wedding attire to industrial overalls or more specialist fetishwear such as PVC, latex, or leather items may be used.

WAM is sometimes also combined with bondage,[3] where a subject is first restrained or chained up and then has a bucket of green cake batter slime poured over their head and/or a pie smashed in their face.

[5] While participants who sit on cakes for pleasure will do so for the tactile sensory experience, or as part of submissive role-playing, those who enjoy watching the act will often focus specifically on the crushing of the dessert as a visual stimulus for a sexual reaction.

No conclusive research has been conducted into the psychology behind the fetish; however, it is not uncommon for fetishists to have had interest in the sensations of messy play since their formative years (age 3–4) with a sexual element manifesting at the onset of puberty.

The "breaking taboos" theory suggests sploshing is an expression of liberation, pushing back against childhood authority figures who emphasized staying clean.

One unproven theory is that individuals drawn to WAM have low tactile sensitivity, which is increased and intensified by wet substances acting as a lubricant under applied pressure or friction.

"Messy play" is a common clinical therapy used in treating hypo-tactile patients (mostly pediatric cases) to give them an outlet and appropriate time and place to engage in mess-making.