Latex and silicone -- the stickiness factor

[WavyMermaidy]

So, I am in the process of ordering my very first (and hopefully last/only) full (Dragon Skin) silicone tail, and I'm super excited. I've only gotten to touch a couple of silicone tails before (no, actually just 1...it was Nerine's Mermaid Creations tail but I handled it on two occasions), but since I don't remember how it felt sticky-wise I would like to hear about the stickiness factor of silicone. I know that it picks up dust, hair, lint, sand, and that all that will basically wash off in water or with a light brush like Raina has suggested.

I'm really curious to know how it compares to a latex tail. My Fish Butts tail (latex over neoprene) that I've had since October sticks like crazy...obviously to itself, and I have the storage method worked out using a garbage bag, which is about the only thing it doesn't stick to. Unfortunately, my tail is now purple blue and green accented with lovely shades of wood, plaster, paint, unidentified grit, and yoga mat...all of the things that have stuck there from usually just a few moments of touching/leaning against a surface.

Is silicone THAT sticky? How about when rolling it down to help get it on...does it have the possibility of ripping itself from sticking?

[Blondie]

I don't remember if you SHOULD do this or SHOULDN'T do this but, what about baby powder? What if you dusted your latex and silicone tail in it to prevent serious sticking?

[AniaR]

I had florida sand stay on my tail for 3 months, and sparkles for 6. Not really noticeable, but yeah. I have put a light dusting of baby powder on it before if I ever have to fold them up so they don't stick to themselves.

[WavyMermaidy]

Does the baby powder stick to where if you are doing a dry event it looks like you have a white powdery film on the tail? I don't want it to look like I've been sitting around in my tail snorting drugs or, at best, eating a slew of powdered donuts.

[Blondie]

You can bring a spray bottle with you and spray your tail down to get the powder off?

[AniaR]

if you're wearing silicone and doing a dry event, you're gonna need water to get it on anyway lol

[WavyMermaidy]

Well, that would seem like the simplest solution, lol. I have of course been reading up on the the ideas for lubes, conditioners, whatever else to help get silicone tails on too, but yeah water would help both issues.

Although I guess I'm more concerned about things like the yoga mat...of course I had read ideas of using a yoga mat to put on a tail on the side of a pool for example. I decided to use a yoga mat the other day when I was trying on my latex tail to do some modifications so that I didn't get carpet lint all over the tail, and it ended up ripping a chunk of the yoga mat up with it...so now there is yoga mat stuck to my tail. After only a few seconds of attachment. Would silicone do THAT? Or do you have to baby powder your butt when you use a yoga mat to put on your tail :P

[AptaMer]

I'm really curious to know how it compares to a latex tail. My Fish Butts tail (latex over neoprene) that I've had since October sticks like crazy...obviously to itself, and I have the storage method worked out using a garbage bag, which is about the only thing it doesn't stick to. Unfortunately, my tail is now purple blue and green accented with lovely shades of wood, plaster, paint, unidentified grit, and yoga mat...all of the things that have stuck there from usually just a few moments of touching/leaning against a surface.


Hi WavyMermaidy,

Actually there is a way to make latex so it doesn't stick at all, to anything! I think it only works with latex, though, it might not work with silicone.

We can thank the divers of old (before we were born) back before the invention of neoprene wetsuits when dive suits were made out of latex sheeting or molded latex. Some manufacturers treated those suits with a process called chlorination that makes latex slippery enough that you can pull it on just like any other clothes. I became aware of it because of a suit made by the Totes coporation called Skooba Totes that was made back in the 1940', maybe early 1950's? They called it the "Easy-On" feature, and when you feel the suit, even after many years of storage, it feels like teflon or something. Old timers who used the suits said you could slide it on just like ordinary clothes instead of having to use lubricant or powder like most latex, and it didn't stick to your gear, which could be another problem with old-time dive suits.

I found an ad for the suit

11692

Ha ha, it's interesting to look at the price of the suit. The dollar sure went a lot further in those days.

If there's interest in this I could find out more. There is this video of a person putting on one of these vintage suits. It's kind of amazing how she is able to just pull it on like a pair of leggings, or something.


http://youtu.be/QrvNMRiTEec http://youtu.be/QrvNMRiTEec

[WavyMermaidy]

That's pretty cool...thanks for sharing! I wonder if you can do something like that to an already made latex tail or if it would have to be part of the initial curing process.

Anyhow, if only tails could go on as smoothly as in the video...seriously looked like rubber yoga pants :)

[AptaMer]

I'll see what I can find out, after all, it has to be a fairly standard industrial process, so there should be info on how to do it out there on the internet.

The video refers to the Hydroglove suit, so I looked up the website shown at the end of the video ( http://www.hydroglove.com/ ) and it seems like this is a company making reproductions of the old-style dive suits, and they say they chlorinate them. No info on their site about how to chlorinate, but it's obviously feasible for a small operation to do. Maybe latex mertail makers could do it too?

Fire up your Google searches mergeeks!

Edit: I spoke too soon. A search for mermaids and chlorination turned up a person who has posted a description of how it's done, and she will chlorinate pre-existing latex things!

http://rubenesquelatex.com/node/22

She makes a latex mermaid tail! 11694 http://rubenesquelatex.com/node/50

so it looks like you actually can get a chlorinated latex mermaid tail, although it looks like she's just using solid colours. one could email her to find out more, I suppose. Also, could ask her about chlorinating an existing tail.

It sounds like chlorination is done with some pretty dangerous stuff (ie don't do this at home) I think this merits a new thread