how to get out of the silicone tail?

[Chrissy]

Everyone talks about getting into your silicone tail, but no one talks about getting out! Being the owner of a brand new silicone tail and I was totally prepared for getting in the tail. I have a water based lube and a spray bottle that helps spread it, that is working wonders. The first time getting in took 45 minutes, I thought I was going to die. :jawdrop: The second time getting in I was in the tail in under 3 minutes!! I am a fast learner. Swimming took a few times and getting comfortable took me about an hour so when I was ready to get out, I hauled myself on the yoga mat on the side of the pool and looked at my husband and said what now? He looked at me and went get out, I laughed and said everyone talks about getting in, but no one said anything about getting out??? :confused: We assed the situation and I was like babe I am going to live in this tail I don't know how to get it off. My awesome husband reminded me that my "sexy" butt was going to have to get out fist since that was what was stopping the process. I wiggled and wiggled and shimmed back and forth and nothing. Mild panic starting to set in.......Husband: slide your hands under your butt and carefully slide the tail down, Whew :phew: that worked and I just slid my hands down got one foot out of the mono fin and I was free. :lol:

I have video of all this happening, but due to the language content I decided I would have to really edit this to show it!!! If anyone else has any tips on how to get out of the tails, I would love to hear them!!! What is everyone else's experiences????

[AniaR]

I have a terrible time getting out of my tail. The more form fitting a tail is the harder it is to get off. Back before I had it taken in when I lost all the weight and the tail was baggy it was easy. But have it form fitting with a dorsal fin not so much. I do find my legs need to be wet, sometimes at dry gigs I'll pour water inside. Really it's just so dang hard to get your arm to fit down there to get the heel straps off. Honestly, sometimes I get sean to reach down and pop one of the straps off. so long as I can get one off, I find it easier. looks pretty bad though when the boyfriend reaches down in between your legs to get the strap haha. I just find most other ways you can end up damaging your tail. It;s the downside to having them so tightly fit.

I have debated doing videos showing me putting my tail on and off but my tail doesnt look so good inside after years and years of use so I think I'll wait til I get my new one

[Blaze]

I would REAAAAALLY appreciate videos getting in and out of the tails! :D I thought someone was going to do one; was looking for it right now actually in prep for tomorrow!

[MerMatt]

I find it alot easier to take my tail off then to put it on.

[AniaR]

sometimes taking it off IN the pool can be easier.

I can tell you though I have torn calf muscles before from pulling too hard before my foot is all the way out of the pocket. so yeah, I'll get on that video when I have a chance. We do have a video of Sean helping Mermaid Ama put her tail on

[Mermaid Galene]

I think this has been mentioned before, but I'll ask anyway: Could one buy or make a long, thin but rigid hook or grabber tool to push/pull the heel straps as needed? Like this one:

http://tinyurl.com/qz6y47c

And a tangential but related thought: why haven't silicone tailmakers figured out how to put a zipper in a silicon tail? It would sure make life easier!

[AniaR]

we have tried using loads of different things and the issues come with the fear of tearing your foot pocket/strap (which totally happens) and damaging your tail by inserting it. I also tried tying string/ribbon around the foot pocket as well to try and pull it but it's not that much easier and you still run the risk of snapping the pocket/strap

Mike had made zippers in his tails and I think in all of them the zippers broke and are extremely hard to replace.

[Theta]

While I'm still in the water, I'll stick my hands in the waist section, then slowly wiggle the tail down. When it's at my knees, I'll reach in and pull off the foot straps. Then I just slide out. I never tried taking the foot straps off first. It seems like there would be too much suction from all the silicone to do without hurting yourself or the tail?

I imagine an analogy for what I do would be pull your pants down, take off your shoes, then finish taking off your pants. It doesn't make sense on paper but it works out pretty well in the end :)

[Mermaid Wesley]

Yeah I would really worry about the zippers breaking or jamming they would be the weak link


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[AniaR]

Oh yeah I roll mine down first lol just too tight

[Mermaid Galene]

Is that because the silicone is heavier so harder to zip than neoprene? or is it that the silicone is likely to tear from the pressure of a zipper going up and down?

[Mermaid Wesley]

I would assume it's because of how tight it has to be and how heavy the silicone is


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[AniaR]

And your tail takes a beating so so does the zipper

[Aquarianne]

What kind of zipper did he have in there? because I can totally see a dressmaker's zipper or the kind you get in the craft store breaking easily, but an industrial or upholstery zipper might be able to hold up fine. We used heacvy-duty metal zippers in costumes for a scare attraction, and they were NOT to be underestimated. :)

[Mermaid Harmony]

I use conditioner to slide into my tail with water, and then when I take it off I usually slide the top part down to my thighs instead of rolling it down and it usually works, if I can take it off in the water I do because that is way easier, although putting it on in water is hard for me.

[Theta]

What kind of zipper did he have in there? because I can totally see a dressmaker's zipper or the kind you get in the craft store breaking easily, but an industrial or upholstery zipper might be able to hold up fine. We used heacvy-duty metal zippers in costumes for a scare attraction, and they were NOT to be underestimated. :)

Good question, but wouldn't metal zippers rust or have other problems with continuous water exposure?

[Ayla of Duluth]

I've never had an issue getting out of my merbellas tail. When I'm ready to get out, I stand in the pool on the stairs so that I'm roughly knee deep in the water. Then I just grab the waist and fold it down over itself so it's mostly inside out, and from there it's loose enough to push down to my ankles and get the straps off my feet. Pretty much exactly the opposite of how I put the tail on, I fold the scales inside out and then stick my feet in and use my hand to pull the foot straps on.

[Aquarianne]

Good question, but wouldn't metal zippers rust or have other problems with continuous water exposure?

yeah, definitely don't use the metal ones. But there are big zippers that are all plastic or nylon, and waterproof ones made for marine use. I'm sure if you got them in a big enough gauge, they'd be OK! i should buy one and test it out. Now I'm curious! XD

[Mermaid Wesley]

I would say go ahead! Just have a back up plan if it fails


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[Mermaid Galene]

Guess once I get my Finfolk tail I'll have to join the Slip and Slide and Struggle Club, lol!

[Seatan]

Is that because the silicone is heavier so harder to zip than neoprene? or is it that the silicone is likely to tear from the pressure of a zipper going up and down?

Also, neoprene is a fabric which is made for sewing. The zipper can be directly sewn rather than glued with silicone and even if you did sew the zipper in a silicone tail, the stitches could cut the rubber in a way it can't cut fabric. Silicone just isn't made for installing zippers while neoprene (being a fabric), is.

[Aquarianne]

I was thinking for my latex tail, putting the latex over a spandex fabric base, so the zipper can be attached to the spandex itself and not be directly pulling on the latex, which will simply overlap at the zipper to hide it. But I haven't worked with silicone so I wouldn't know about how that might work :)

[Mermaid Galene]

That's what I was envisioning, too, Aquarianne. But, yeah, I don't know if that would work with silicone.

[Seatan]

You could overlap the silicone, too, if you have a fabric base. It's really just a sheet of rubber once you have poured the scale sheet that you cut to size. So when you bond it to your fabric base you could overlap it there. It may bulge, though, since it will need to be fairly thick to reduce the risk of holes.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

A pair of zippered seams at the hips might help I think. Then you could hide it with fins.

[AniaR]

I just know pretty much every fully silicone tail with a zipper, now is a tail with a broken zipper

[Chrissy]

I think I would worry about a zipper causing more problems then helpful!!
I too have tried the ribbon on the heel straps and that was more problematic then me just reaching down!!!
I a so glad to hear that getting out for other mermaid is just as difficult. Raina I love that you have Sean help, I can only imagine the funny looks I would get it Henry was doing that!! I haven't tried to take it off in the water yet, but that might not be a bad thing to try. I figured b/c I have so many kid parties coming up I would have to get out away from the pool, but I do have a water spray bottle that will be coming with me so hopefully between that and Henry keeping me calm I should be ok!!!!

[NerineArcticMermaid]

I must be lucky or jsut good with my feet. I shimmy out of mine while in the water during practice. i can get my feet out of my comp monofin bu wiggling my heels to push the strap down of one and once one foot is free.. its easy peasy to get the other... then i just roll the body down lift it out of water at base of flukle drain it over side and jump out myself..


theres usually a poolside shower so i give it a good rinse drain again.. and go shower myself.. :D

[SeaVixen]

I just take mine off like pants. Grab the waist and kinda push down like your taking off stretch pants and when you get close to the ankles reach in and unfastened the feet from monofin

[Odette]

When I saw the title of this thread, I thought someone was stuck. lol

[Triton-Mahtlinnie]

I also use the "pants" sort of method with my latex tail. I grab the waist and push it down to my knees, then slip a hand inside and pull my feet from the straps. The place I normally swim has no shallow area (at my marina the water is at least 20 ft deep with no way to pull myself out of the water in my tail), so I've gotten to where I can do this whole shebang while treading water.

[Sherielle]

I roll down the waist until I can reach my ankles. Then I lube up my arm and reach down to get the straps. I was so happy when I figured this out and was able to get my arm down where I needed it easily.

[Mermaid Morgann]

For those of us getting tails both with a full dorsal and a lot of fins (I have five sets of fins down the length of it) what would someone recommend for getting it off? I won't be able to do any rolling. Would adding more lubricant help to get you out, do you think? Similar to what Raina said about pouring water into it.

[AniaR]

You really gotta just lube up and push it down instead of rolling. That's even ravens advice

[Chrissy]

My dorsal goes pretty high up, I just lay on my back, stick my hands under my butt and wiggle my butt out. Once I have that(the widest part) out I just reach down and pull the heel straps off one at a time. My tail doesn't roll down either, I am sure it can, but I don't want to damage it

[Mermaid Morgann]

Good to know! Thanks. c: If I find any helpful tricks with the silicone tail I've got coming, I'l be sure to share them. Guess it's time to stock up on lubricant and get some spray bottles.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Get two mertenders to shake you out of the tail the same way you would tip a bag upside down and shake out the contents.

[Mermaid Galene]

:lol: Good one, Irene!

[Mermaid Morgann]

Hahaha! I'd totally love to see someone do that.

[Mizuko]

My tail I made too thick- its sooo hard to get on and off (ah we learn from our mistakes!). To get it off I normally wiggle it down over my butt while in the water, then pull myself up on the side of the pool. If there is someone else there, I get them to hold my fluke up (as if I was standing) as I find it makes it 100x easier to slip one foot out of the foot pockets! I still need to lube my arm up before sliding it into the tail to un-hook the foot strap. lol. I personally find it harder to get out of my tail than in, usually because I've worn myself out from swimming and my leg muscles are cramping from the weight of the fluke on the land!

[AniaR]

True that lol

[Sherielle]

I have a small dorsal fin, but the silicone on mine is very thick as well. I have to roll it down past my butt before I can scootch it down the rest of my legs.