What causes neoprene to lose its flex?

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Can anyone share their knowledge about this? I used to have neoprene boots that did not see use for quite some time. They sat in my garage. When I took them to Bonaire last year, they were very hard to get into. Then finally the zipper broke and I had to lay down on my back at the rear of the pick up truck while my dive buddy wrestled them off my feet. I had a neoprene suit which was a bit on the tighter side. Still it had the stretch factor that enabled me to wear it. After one season of seeing no use when I tried it the zipper broke because the neoprene was not flexible enough.

If compression caused air cells inside the neoprene to flatten then it is understandable though I would think that it would cause neoprene to become loose not tight. What I have observed is neoprene loosing its flexibility while just sitting in my garage. Can anyone explain what causes neoprene to become useless like this?

Thanks.

 

[Diving Dubai]

Neoprene degrades naturally over time, generally very slowly, through oxidization. Oxidized material tends to contract and become stiffer.

The effects of sunlight (specifically the UV ranges) and heat increase this process. Ozone and certain other environmental pollutants will also accelerate the effects. Suit lifetime is a function of the amount of time it is exposed to light, heat and the elements, as well as general cleaning an maintenance

 

[Centrals]

Ageing.
This is caused by various factors.

 

[cool_hardware52]

Can anyone share their knowledge about this? I used to have neoprene boots that did not see use for quite some time. They sat in my garage. When I took them to Bonaire last year, they were very hard to get into. Then finally the zipper broke and I had to lay down on my back at the rear of the pick up truck while my dive buddy wrestled them off my feet. I had a neoprene suit which was a bit on the tighter side. Still it had the stretch factor that enabled me to wear it. After one season of seeing no use when I tried it the zipper broke because the neoprene was not flexible enough.

If compression caused air cells inside the neoprene to flatten then it is understandable though I would think that it would cause neoprene to become loose not tight. What I have observed is neoprene loosing its flexibility while just sitting in my garage. Can anyone explain what causes neoprene to become useless like this?

Thanks.

Loss of plasticizers. Most polymers are fairly rigid. Think of a piece of PVC pipe. Add plasticizers and you can get a flexible vinyl material like they make beach balls out of. Over time the plasticizers leave and you get a crispy brittle beach ball. While neoprene is not PVC the basic idea remains.

Tobin

 

[CuzzA]

Solution = Liberal Amounts of Food Grade Silicone Spray on Everything

 

[tbone1004]

one word describes your problem from your whole post and can be broken down into one sentence.

My neoprene keeps breaking down, and I leave it in the GARAGE. You have lots of nasty **** in your garage from vehicle exhaust, ozone coming off of any garage fridge/freezers, starting lawnmowers/snowblowers etc etc. Neoprene is very fragile, don't leave dive gear in the garage, it's really bad for it. Neoprene will remain stretchy for quite some time if taken care of, but if it's left in a garage with all of the chemicals floating around in the air, it will degrade quite rapidly. Chlorine is the #2 killer, so keep it away from pools.

 

[fjpatrum]

Don't keep neoprene in a garage. Simplest solution to the problem. I have wetsuits that are 15 years old that still flex almost as well as when I bought them, after hundreds/thousands of hours in the water (albeit mostly at the surface).
Lots of nasty pollutants in the garage that we don't really notice because we spend relatively little time in a garage ourselves, typically. gas fumes from lawnmower gas cans, cleaning solvents, paint, oil, and whatever else you keep in your garage are constantly spewing nasty stuff into the air, at very small levels. Over time, though, they seep into the material and break it down.

Simple aging does this as well. Hell, even people get stiffer as we age.

 

[RJP]

one word describes your problem from your whole post and can be broken down into one sentence.

My neoprene keeps breaking down, and I leave it in the GARAGE. You have lots of nasty **** in your garage from vehicle exhaust, ozone coming off of any garage fridge/freezers, starting lawnmowers/snowblowers etc etc.

Funny, before even clicking on the post in the subforum I thought to myself "I wonder if he's leaving his stuff in the garage?"

Basements are bad too if there are furnaces, AC units, etc down there.

Ozone bad too... for all those people who use hair dryers and fans to dry their gear.

 

[RJP]

I have wetsuits that are 15 years old that still flex almost as well as when I bought them, after hundreds/thousands of hours in the water (albeit mostly at the surface).

"Surface only" is probably the key here, as repeated depth-crush is one of the main (and unavoidable) things that breaks down neoprene.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

I was concerned about storing my dive gear in the garage but I do not park my car in there nor do I have a lawn-mover or paint / chemicals etc. My garage is more of a "man-cave" where I sit and work on my computer. The only thing I can think of is that it is not really a controlled temperature environment. There is no heating or air-conditioning in there so the external temperature is more or less what you will find in my garage. I am wondering if that could be a contributing factor in why neoprene gives up?