Hair conditioner to help don wetsuit

[Divin'Papaw]

A guy I dove with recently introduced me to using a spray bottle with a mixture of 50% cheap hair conditioner with 50% water. He would spray a little of it down the legs and arms of his suit to ease getting into it. I tried it on one of our dives together and it worked pretty well. And my leg/arm hair was nice and soft for days!

Does anybody else do this? Any downsides I haven't thought of? Is there a danger of damaging the neoprene?

 

[ProfessorAronnax]

Talk about slipping into your wetsuit!

 

[Cacia]

you know, in chemistry whats that saying "like disolves like" I wonder about the effect on the neoprene. I use lots of conditioner before my henderson hood, and it feels a little gummy. But, it is three years old and has been exposed to a lot of that stuff....

I say, turning dives into a beauty treatment is always a good idea! My boatmates are at their limit with what they will tolerate though...

Sometimes I hope that the sharks don't dig that smell....one of those fleeting thoughts I get.

 

[Firefyter]

Lots of people do this. I personally use baby shampoo, 50/50, and get the same results. The benefit of doing this is that I use the remaining shampoo at 100% for defog. Works like a charm.

 

[Land Locked]

I use conditioner on my hands, without it I can't get past the wrist seals on my 7mil.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I use lots of conditioner before my henderson hood, and it feels a little gummy. But, it is three years old and has been exposed to a lot of that stuff....

I say, turning dives into a beauty treatment is always a good idea! My boatmates are at their limit with what they will tolerate though...

Sometimes I hope that the sharks don't dig that smell....one of those fleeting thoughts I get.

I hadn't even considered the hood. If I were a woman or if I had much hair left, I would see how getting the hood on could sure be challenging. Given the little hair I have left, my hood just slides right on.

 

[vetdiver]

Just last weekend, a local boat captain lent me some K-Y to get my neck seal (mine is neoprene, but he uses it for latex) off. It is safe, as it's water-soluble. And it worked great.

I am a girl with long hair...and it was the first pain-free neck seal removal I've experienced. I cannot imagine that it wouldn't work equally well for wetsuit donning.

 

[pickens_46929]

That'd be my only concern is bio-degradeability... make sure it's environmental and critter friendly... other than that... good idea...

 

[HilaryRN71]

I have done this for a few years. I go on every trip with a large bottle of Suave hair conditioner. It's less than two bucks, moisturizes my skin and hair, and helps the wetsuit slide on SOOO much easier. I use it before a dive to get the suit on, then lather it on my long hair to help detangle it after a dive. Yeah my hair is gummy until I get back to shore, but it washes so smoothly. It's the best two bucks you'll spend!!

 

[Flora]

Panty hose works well too, and it keeps you a tad warmer.
I used to use them when I dove wet. I have never heard of using hair conditioner to help put on a wet-suit

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