Latex care or cleaning latex

[madboyevil]

Yes hope some more people could gives us tips about how the dry the latex, because yesterday I washed the latex and when I thought it was fully dry, I take it out today and it was wet unfortunately. If I use talcum in the outside maybe it will dry and give the smooth sensation again but it will be opaque.

[madboyevil]

I found something interesting on Simon O website about latexcare. They mention almost the same tips about latex care some of you share with us but the focus on people who can take care of the latex with time and flexibility (something I don't have) but here is what I found in the FAQ about latexcare.

In order to polish up latex to perfection, you should use only certain, just for that use developed, but also pretty expensive sprays. As a service to our customers, we engaged into providing such care products and dressing aids and are able to offer them at discount prices.
AMOR ALL is a sheen and care product in a pump spray canister, which has aeady been used for 10 years to make latex garments shine.
You can certainly make your latex items shine as well, but only if you employ silicon oil. As aeady mentioned in "LAUNDRY", simply add a teaspoon of product into the water.

As I'm not good at understanding at 100% the english, they said the ARMOR ALL (the product they use to polish cars) is the one used to give shine to the latex (is that right?). Because ARMOR ALL is a most common item I could totally buy, but what I don't understand is the final part:
You can certainly make your latex items shine as well, but only if you employ silicon oil. As aeady mentioned in "LAUNDRY", simply add a teaspoon of product into the water.

They said that putting silicone oil in warm water will give the shiny effect (but I don't know if just silicone oil or with ARMOR ALL.) Hope someone can explain this if the heard about this. Thanks

[Strappado]

It means, that silicone oil is an unexpensive alternative to "armor all".

Tonight, I am going to do a test wash on a latex sleeping bag that I own. I left it in my wardrobe unwashed for a few weeks, because I had no opportunity to do it in the bathroom. I stored it inside-out and wrapped it in a large sheet of cloth to absorb at least some of the sweat. I will report tomorrow or Friday, I guess.

[madboyevil]

Well thanks for clarifying that. I'll be waiting what happen to your latex sleeping bag.

[madboyevil]

I bought armor all protectant to try on the latex top I have but I don't have the chance to test it aeady. While the time comes, hope someone could tell me if you have experience with armor all, because some sites specify that is toxic and has chemicals because is for cars and others claim that they use it for years and nothing happens. Of course Im not putting armor all in my skin directly, I just want to use it on the latex after I use it to give the shiny effect again. Others said that using water with few armor all will give the latex a shiny effect but I don't know what could be the best method.

Is it okay to wash my latex and after that use some armor all and then hang it and let it dry for an hour aproximately? And talcum on the inside (to avoid the "chemicals" of the armor all)?
Thanks

[Strappado]

Sorry, it took a while until I started cleaning my sleeping bag. I didn't use the bathroom. Instead, I got a bowl of water, a sponge and a towel from the kitchen. Then I placed the bag onto a clean carpet and wiped off one side with the wet sponge until the entire surface was wet. Then I used the kitchen towel to take off the water, which didn't work too well. So I started wiping lightly. This way, you can actually polish the latex a little bit, provided, that all matter got out of the pores. It took me about 10 minutes per side. The bag was inside out, so the inside is clean now. I still have to find the talcum powder, then I will try to polish the inside with talcum - instead of simply powdering it. I will try with wet talcum as well, to see, how that works. Well, that will be the next post.

By the way, I found an interesting article about latex care, in German though. One new info: Silicon oil is technically Dimethylpolisiloxane, viscosity should be 100 or 50 cst, and in Germany, it is available in pharmacies and drugstores.

And I found another washing instructions:

Put the garment into a bowl of water with a little bit of soap (ph 5.5, no oil or grease - normal soap is not so good for example). Move around, let the soap work.
Empty the water, add fresh water, add a tea-spoon of silicon oil. Move the garment to wash off any remaining soap/dirt mixture, then hang to dry.

Apparently, silicon oil has three functions:
- Preserving agent
- Dress-help
- Polish

Ok, I should be looking for the talcum powder now!

[Strappado]

Ok, found the talcum and finished

I used a light silk-like cloth (no specific reason for that, but I had it and it doesn't leave stuff) to disperse the talcum on the inside surface of the bag. I used as little talcum as possible, because I notieced, that aeady a tiny amount was enough to "seal" the surface. After washing, the surface was rough and sticky. Now it is silky and smooth.

After that, I turned the bag inside in again and talcumed the outside. The outside is shiny by design (I think, it is a chemical process, not applied to the inside). It was still shiny, but very sticky. I made the cloth a little bit wet, just one corner, and used it again, to spread the talcum over the surface. The water dried right away, just like glass cleaner on glass. Not sure, if that made any difference. After the treatment, the outside was silky-shiny (a finer shine than the inside) and no more sticky.

Perhaps i can tell you about silicon oil next week, I ordered some from Amazon. I ordered "the special stuff" for latex garments, because the price was just like the other prices. Actually, you can get high-grade silicon oil for ten times that price. I paid around 13 € for 1 litre.

[Like Ra]

I usually buy latex cleaners and then hand wash in a bucket. Or just use the cheapest liquid hand soap in the shower.

[Strappado]

I usually buy latex cleaners and then hand wash in a bucket. Or just use the cheapest liquid hand soap in the shower.

But the points in question are drying and surface finish.

[Like Ra]

I use a silicon spray or this blue polish: link1, link2, link3

And talcum powder when "not in use".