Quote Originally Posted by mermaid mazu View Post
Ok, so I messed up. I have my first gig next weekendra and when I got my tail out to do a couple of small repairs that I knew it needed I discovered that it apparently didn't try completely before it was put away and now it smells like mildew. I made this tail out of neoprene (not scuba grade but mixed with spandex) and then fully scaled it in silicone. How do I clean it and what is a normal drying time?
From the first post:

Quote Originally Posted by Winged Mermaid View Post

You can spray and/or rinse the inside of the tail with a half and half mixture of distilled white vinegar and water. Then rinse the solution out as well. This will discourage any mold, mildew, or other bacteria growth inside the tail. According to various sources, this will also help prevent chlorine from deteriorating fabric tails.

•There are also specialty shampoos you can use to wash your tail. You can use them with every use, or every now and then. Perhaps every 5th use. We recommend McNett's Wet Suit Dry Suit Shampoo. (http://www.mcnett.com/Wet-Suit-Dry-Suit-Shampoo-P239.aspx) This can be used on neoprene (and neoprene based) and lycra tails.
So you can try vinegar and water- for you I'd say a full tail soak if possible if it's bad. If you click the link to the wet and dry suit shampoo, it specifically talks about it getting rid of build up and whatnot to get rid of the smell, and also to help the neoprene last longer If you go that route, you'd have to shampoo the inside of the tail since there's silicone on the outside.

As for drying time, neoprene coated in latex or silicone can take a long time to dry. I had my husband build me my first tail stand (like the PVC ones in the original post) because otherwise it just wouldn't dry completely. Even on the stand it took several days to a week, depending on the temperature and humidity in the apartment. Many others have ran into this issue, it's the nature of the beast. There are more tips about drying tails in the original post too!