Are UV rays bad for silicone? I remember hearing somewhere that the sun's rays can break down the silicone if it's left out too long, so you should always try to keep your tail in the shade on really sunny days.
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Basically everything is bad for silicone lol. Everything will wear away eventually. UV fades most colors on any surface over time
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"Basically everything is bad for silicone" hahaha I'm starting to realize this
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Well i found it the easiest way to put on a neoprene tail dry... For the Thom Shouse Wettail i found a very simple solution. Just regular hair shampoo mixed with warm water.i would pour some in the tail and on my legs before i wiggled myself in the tail. Inside the wettail was a rapid monofin but without heel straps. That way you could slip into the tail with stretched legs. I do'nt know if this will work when my silicone tail arrives
this is a thread for putting on a tail. you'll have to go to another thread or into the tail making part of the site for those questions
Sorry I got confused :(
Don't you mean conditioner? Shampoo would probably make things even more difficult, what with the stripping of oils and lathering and whatnot. Conditioner is the slippery stuff ;) Also yes, you can use hair conditioner, but honestly it isn't made for that, and becuase of what's in (silicones, fragrances, ect) it it can damage silicone over time. I'd advise you to stick with either water based lube, natural oils like coconut oil or mineral oil, or something specific like suitslip.
No no we really used shampoo with hot water. It worked perfectly! But a wettail by Thom Shouse is made from urethan with a latex paintjob. But silicone is different indeed. But thanks for your tips Iona
when I met Thom at Merfest he also told me many of his tails are equipped so you can flush them out with water while wearing them, to get rid of different lubes right away, to get rid of pee (haha) or debris/sand.
Yep that is true hihi. He makes little tubes in the fluke of the tail so that the water can get out. In some of the pictures you can see them.
a vlog about putting tails on
http://youtu.be/ttrjqh_IJNI
I just re-read this thread looking for a specific brand of water based lube to use and couldnt find any. So my question is simple, what specific brands of water based lube work for silicone tails? Since my tail was made with Dragonskin Silicone, and in the welcome letter I received from Jesse, he doesnt mention a specific brand, so thats why I am asking for specific brands. Thanks
Slippery stuff is great
Thanks Raina.
I use astro glide and a little spray bottle of water to spread it around
Is it best to put on a latex tail in or out of water?
I found a hair conditioner that doesn't have silicone in it and it's worked pretty good for me.
I've been using coconut oil cooking spray from Trader Joe's (their version of PAM) and it works great and washes out easily! I've tried spraying my legs, and another time, spraying inside the tail, and both are perfectly fine for slipping into a tight silicone tail! Plus, it doesn't take very much at all. :)
You smell like a cookie and your skin loves it!
What are som big no-no's lubewise when you're swimming in a chlorine pool?
Don't want to clog up the system...
Coconut oil is great. As long as your lube either absorbs or is diluted by water youre fine. It mostly stays in your tail anyway
What kind of coconut oil does everyone use? Whenever I leave it on my skin for too long it starts to smell..odd. Also I'm struggling putting my feet in the foot pockets and I only got one foot in, I'm concerned about being able to take the tail off once I get it on.
Virgin coconut oil. Its always hard to get off and on when you first start. Like hella hard lol
Ok thanks it's definitely very hard haha i was grunting just to get one foot in! I don't know how you do it
Practice and lube hehe. Don't be discouraged!
Thanks! I accomplished to get both feet in this time but couldn't get it above my knees. It's a step further than yesterday though
My tail has a pair of hipfins, that restrict me from rolling it down.
It makes it harder to reach down to the footpockets.
Do you have any tips/tricks/substitute for rolling it down?
another video we made a while back
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttrjqh_IJNI
Hehehe! Sean face plant into the water!:lol:
Good try for first time in a tail.:cool:
Such a cure vid
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This thread will be perfect for when i can finally save the cash for my perfect (design not on here) and first silicone tail will probably try in water without lube though will also probably have to do it on my own lol. Which I can ee will be difficult but in the meantime I hope to get a fin and have practice swimming with a fin! Can't wait!
RECENT TRICK I LEARNED:
Use a towel to help you pull up the tail, pull the waist, or smooth out wrinkles on silicone tails. Just put the towel between your hands and the tail and grip THROUGH the tail. Gives you a better grip than bare hands, and prevents you from poking holes with your nails or accidentally tearing.
I've got swimwear lining in two of my homemade tails...
Boy, it is a pain in the rear to put on wet or dry! It involves 15 mins of tugging and shoving my hands inside front and back just to arrange that extra fabric just right and to make sure the tail sits right on legs and fluke.
The reason I have lining is that, the seams made me itchy and I thought having lining would also stop me from feeling chilled when I'm on a long swim, which it does. But bleh! For the sake of not feeling cold in and out of the water, it is worth it!:lol:
Anyone have any ideas on how to pull your tail up higher? It seems to slip down on me when I swim at even a medium fast speed. Is this normal? Today was my first day with my silicone tail, so I had lots of drama and I have lots of questions... lol
it could be you have lube hanging around once you get in the water. I try to use something all natural so if I rinse it- it wont hurt any wildlife. So when I go in the pool the first thing I do is open the waist line and let in some water and try to swish things around a bit.
For me the only thing that 100% keeps my tail from coming down is having the waist up high, and tight. But there are disadvantages to that too. If you have a tight waist you still need to get it over your booty and it can cause wear and tear.
Sometimes increasing the surface area the tail can grip to will keep it from coming off. I used to do that with my first silicone tail that was a bit baggier on me. I'd wear tights, or bike shorts inside it. Super hard to get on, but once it was on the silicone had something to grip on instead of slippery skin. Kept it from slipping or falling down.
my tail has a large dorsal and hip fins so rolling it down isn't exactly an option, any tips for that?