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Alex Varouxis wrote:

>I spray or liquid silicon on my seals to help them go on easier. DUI does not
>recmond this pratice but I have been using it on my latex seals for over 7
>years and never had a problem.  I replace my seals about every two years.. In
>fact they used to recommend it, some manufactures are going back and saying
>that its now ok to use silicon.

I also use just a little silicon grease - it doesn't take much.  What I
really wonder about is liquid dish soap.  I see a lot of people using this
for drysuit seal lubrication, and I have this nagging suspicion that this
accelerates latex seal wear.

Until a little over 3 1/2 years ago I lived in Florida, where I did quite
a bit of spearfishing.  I used these thick, heavy blue latex bands.  They
were notorious for breaking after only a short while of use.  The band
itself would snap right below the wishbone.  After a while I heard what
the problem was.  The company making these was using dish soap as a
lubricant to insert the wishbone.  They found that this was causing the
latex to more easily dry out and develop tiny cracks.  Since then, they
have switched to silicon, and the bands last much longer than they used to.

I wonder why this is why some people's seals age more quickly.

Christina

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