Hair conditioner spray for donning suits ("Suit snot")

[Kryssa]

I've heard this mentioned a few times now, spraying a conditioner/water mixture into your suit to help you slide into it.

Anyone who has used this method- did you feel slimy after diving?

Thanks

 

[spectrum]

Heck no. I use about 2/3 water and 1/3 dollar store hair conditioner and it's a good lubricant. If you make it too rich your pump sprayer will have a hard time, especially if cool.

Actually I spray it on me. For me it's the upper body that can be difficult when sweaty. I squirt it on my upper arms and shoulders that spread it well. After that I slide in and thew suit settles with ease.

After the dive I usually can't even detect the slight scent the stiff has.

I also use it down the back side of boots to let the heel slip in and in gloves so they don with ease at the last minute. My wife even uses it on her hair to slick it back out of the way.

Try it you'll like it.

Pete

 

[ColinB]

I've used a 50/50 mix with good results, and haven't noticed any post-dive sliminess. I just spray a couple times into each arm and leg, and the suit goes on quite easily, whether wet or dry.
-Colin

 

[dumpsterDiver]

yeah i find the conditioner smell a little distracting and my wife does not like it either. She expects me to come home smelling like piss, I start showing up with an aroma of lavender and my dive trips may become more highly scrutinized.

 

[Belmont]

yeah i find the conditioner smell a little distracting and my wife does not like it either. She expects me to come home smelling like piss, I start showing up with an aroma of lavender and my dive trips may become more highly scrutinized.

Spray some Doe urine on, the stuff they sell in hunting equipment stores, before coming back home.

 

[Peter_C]

Spray some Doe urine on, the stuff they sell in hunting equipment stores, before coming back home.

Isn't that how that viral video of the buck with swinging hooves started?

I have heard of folks using baby shampoo too. Either way you are going to smell better than piss. Yuck!

 

[Akimbo]

I use about a ¼" of clear liquid hand soap (Costco) in the bottom of a garden-style spray bottle and the rest filled with water. I would describe it a slippery, not slimy. I have seen commercial suit lubes with a higher viscosity that are definitely slimy, thus the suit-snot moniker.

My freediving suit is skin-in/Nylon-out and split cell (incorrectly referred to as open cell). The surface has such high friction that I can’t even get a wide suit hanger to go in the jacket so I hang it inside-out/Nylon-in. It is a typical freediving suit cut; 7mm farmer with no fastener at the shoulders, no zippers on limbs, no-zip pull-over jacket with beavertail, and attached hood. It slides on easier than my clothes.

The arms and legs of the suit slides and rotates more than you are used to, but you get a feeling for how much spray to use to limit it. Wish I had figured this out when I got my first skin-2 suit in 1962. I find it is a bad idea to spray your booties though because your foot slides too much.

The best part of all is you don’t care if the suit dries before putting it on. :thumbs_up:

 

[muddiver]

I have a furry suit, the inside has a nap type liner that when wet acts like a lubricant. I've never had trouble getting it on.

 

[vinegarbiscuit]

It's much more fun to go to your local drugstore and buy the biggest tube of generic-brand (water-based) lubricant they carry. Try developing a facial twitch while standing on line at the cashier's for extra entertainment value. Plus, it works really well (for wetsuits, I mean), and it's not at all slimy. And at least you won't come home reeking of lavender. Might be hard to explain to your home-bound significant other why there's a tube of lube in your kit box, though.

 

[stakanak]

That plastic bag you are carrying the conditioner home in will work better than the conditioner itself. Put it over each hand and foot and slide the suit on.
Get Wet!