Originally Posted by obrentharris

The manufacturer's rep for a well-known cycling clothing company explained to me that many of the modern "chamois" are so absorbent that they will suck up large amounts of chamois cream, leaving very little protective cream on the surface. His suggestion, use petroleum jelly: It's considerably thicker so it won't be sucked away by the chamois and its padding.

My variation on this is to apply the petroleum jelly to the chamois and the chamois cream to my body... works great for me.
Brent