Inspired by that picture of a first lycra suit (mine looked about the same) and a few rubber items that are ruined, I would like to start a thread about preservation and care of fetish items. I am not a pro in that field but for a quick start:
Latex / Rubber
Both are not the same, I have no idea what is what. Some say to only use a damp cloth for cleaning, others allow "mild soap". It should be powdered to prevent it from sticking to itself. In order to make it shiny, silicone spray can be used. I do like the smell, but I am not sure how healthy that is.
Vinyl
Vinyl as water supply tubes is said to last for 50 years at least. I have a vinyl coat for about 5 years now and it doesn't seem to have changed at all. And I have a couple of really old pvc bags in my basement which look fine too. But vinyl is sensible to sunlight, it can become brittle. I also remember pvc floor in a kitchen wich somehow glued itself to the wood underneath. PVC clothes can be washed in cold water with some soap. It melts at pretty low temperature, so it can't be dried or ironed. In order to make it shiny, silicone spray can be used at the wearers risk. I haven't found any hint that silicone could be harmful to vinyl or pvc though.
Lycra
It seems that lycra is very resistant to standard washing methods. It is even said to recover its stretch when washed thoroughly and dried. Well, I have seen an old leotard and an old overall and they both are worn out, larger and don't recover by washing. So I guess, lycra has a limited lifespan when stretched too much. But I have been wearing a gymnastic suit almost daily for about one year and it is still in relatively good condition. However, small knots have appeared where it is streched when worn. I have seen worse though, so I guess it depends on the quality of the fabric.
Leather
I don't know much about leather, so here is a link with lots of information:
http://www.essortment.com/all/leathercaretip_rico.htm
But somewhere I read that hardening oils, such as walnut oil, linseed oil and almond oil are good for leather. I tried it on the box for my sitar which is covered in crappy leather. It looks a bit better now and hasn't fallen apart so far (about two months, not really a long term test). I also used to have a leather sofa, which I never treated with anything. The leather surface slowly became harder and started to look like fish scales - so I had to get rid of it.
Polyester (down jackets for example)
I have an old polyester wind breaker which looks like new although heavily used for quite a while - in rain and in SB. Polyester is the carrier material of photographic films as well, and so its life span must be quite long. The light-sensitive and later developed coating fades away much faster.
Well, these are my spontaneous findings and there might be mistakes. I hope that others check it and also post their personal recommendations. And there might be more materials to talk about, silk for example and, if not covered yet, the material of tights.
Latex / Rubber
Both are not the same, I have no idea what is what. Some say to only use a damp cloth for cleaning, others allow "mild soap". It should be powdered to prevent it from sticking to itself. In order to make it shiny, silicone spray can be used. I do like the smell, but I am not sure how healthy that is.
Vinyl
Vinyl as water supply tubes is said to last for 50 years at least. I have a vinyl coat for about 5 years now and it doesn't seem to have changed at all. And I have a couple of really old pvc bags in my basement which look fine too. But vinyl is sensible to sunlight, it can become brittle. I also remember pvc floor in a kitchen wich somehow glued itself to the wood underneath. PVC clothes can be washed in cold water with some soap. It melts at pretty low temperature, so it can't be dried or ironed. In order to make it shiny, silicone spray can be used at the wearers risk. I haven't found any hint that silicone could be harmful to vinyl or pvc though.
Lycra
It seems that lycra is very resistant to standard washing methods. It is even said to recover its stretch when washed thoroughly and dried. Well, I have seen an old leotard and an old overall and they both are worn out, larger and don't recover by washing. So I guess, lycra has a limited lifespan when stretched too much. But I have been wearing a gymnastic suit almost daily for about one year and it is still in relatively good condition. However, small knots have appeared where it is streched when worn. I have seen worse though, so I guess it depends on the quality of the fabric.
Leather
I don't know much about leather, so here is a link with lots of information:
http://www.essortment.com/all/leathercaretip_rico.htm
But somewhere I read that hardening oils, such as walnut oil, linseed oil and almond oil are good for leather. I tried it on the box for my sitar which is covered in crappy leather. It looks a bit better now and hasn't fallen apart so far (about two months, not really a long term test). I also used to have a leather sofa, which I never treated with anything. The leather surface slowly became harder and started to look like fish scales - so I had to get rid of it.
Polyester (down jackets for example)
I have an old polyester wind breaker which looks like new although heavily used for quite a while - in rain and in SB. Polyester is the carrier material of photographic films as well, and so its life span must be quite long. The light-sensitive and later developed coating fades away much faster.
Well, these are my spontaneous findings and there might be mistakes. I hope that others check it and also post their personal recommendations. And there might be more materials to talk about, silk for example and, if not covered yet, the material of tights.
