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Sat, May. 12th, 2007, 08:32 am
Cleaning Latex Clothing - Summary

I got some great responses, so I thought I'd summarize for anyone who didn't read through all the comments. Any mistakes are likely mine.

The suggestions I had were predominately to use a mild dish soap, like Ivory and to be sure that it's diluted. ([info]juliesimone and [info]industrial_grrl)
From reading several latex care notes, the big thing to watch for is any dish soap that contains any sort of grease cutter. Those are known to destroy latex.

An alternative was liquid Neutrogena ([info]rubberbondage)

[info]eddie_offermann suggested bar soap (like Ivory), but [info]tonyawinter said that she'd ruined clothing with this approach.

[info]eddie_offermann also identified the cause of all of the confusion. Apparently what's generally referred to as latex is actually any of a number of types of synthetic extruded rubber such as neoprene, nitrile or EPDM and each of these has a durability rating (durometer). So each of these has different care needed and no clothing manufacturers are labelling their outfits with the exact type and hardness of latex, so you're generally in the dark. He pointed to http://www.quickcutgasket.com/materials.html for info on some of the various types of rubber and their vulnerabilities.

For now I think I'm going to stick with a thorough rinse in water (with a super diluted Ivory dish soap if needed) and hang drying in a dark, cool place.

Sun, May. 13th, 2007 08:52 pm (UTC)
[info]vesperi

i have never ruined anything with any sort of soap.

i always take my latex off in the shower because i cant stand the feeling of peeling it off or if i was in a club, the smell of smoke. no way i can sleep that way or.. anything else.

if i have yucky dirt on my seams i will wash it with soap- anything i have in the shower. then i give it one thought maybe and blot it on a towel and leave it till morning and then hang it in a pastic bag in the latex wardrobe.

no drama.


makeup on latex comes off with a wet wipe if immediate, it helps also if someone had cheap metal on them before wearing, but not enough to make it pristine

Sun, May. 13th, 2007 10:04 pm (UTC)
[info]jwilkins

I've also always just used what ever random soap was in the shower (generally dial glycerine soap, sometimes ivory) and hadn't had any issues but I keep hearing horror stories and I've had a piece or two go bad with age. One (my favorite shirt from Geoffrey Mac) seems to have used bad glue and a Skin Two halter top I got off eBay had the neck section snap and it appears to have just dried out.

Thorough rinsing would probably save anything from even the harshest body soaps, but I can definitely see the risk of some of the newer dish soaps if they're attacking oils aggressively.

Do you throw powder or lube on anything before bagging it?

Mon, May. 14th, 2007 02:09 pm (UTC)
[info]vesperi

i wouldnt use dish soap on my car, because it will kill your paintjob, so why use it on my clothes?
geez, what line of thinking got people started doing that.
of course, i had textile studies in college, so, whatever. molecules are important too.

usually there is enough leftover lube on the garment, inside and out for safe storage over long periods of time. (i use pjur products or anything demethicone based, the higher viscosity the better, i like "light love" or cult range by them)i have never reapplied lube for stored items and i have alot of stored items.
i would never put any powder on anything for this dry out reason. besides, powder+sweat/lube=disgusting.

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