Disclaimer: I am the inventor and manufacturer of a product called Sink the Stink which is sold through dive shops, kayak shops and river outfitters specifically for removing odor from neoprene, polartec and capaline. NEVER NEVER NEVER use bleach on wet suits or any river/dive equipment. It significantly shortens the life of the equipment and reduces it's performance. Neoprene is a tough problem because it is porous and provides an ideal breeding ground for bacteria. As neoprene is compressed (walking, sitting, stretching, diving, etc) it sucks nutrients deep into it's interior. Microbes begin feasting on all this stuff and work their way towards the food source, where surface treatments can't follow. These microbes produce all sorts of nasty byproducts, many of which produce odors and others destroy the materials and adhesives used in the manufacture of wets suits and polartechs. These products include nitric and sulfuric acid as well as hydrogen sulfide. If you use bleach or any other caustic product, you're not only damaging your gear, you are only treating the bugs on the surface. When the item dries, many of the microbes will go into a state of suspended animation and wait for the next paddle or dive to go back to work. The only way to really treat this stuff is to fight fire with fire. I, in conjunction with a lab, developed a synergistic mixture of bugs to out compete the "stinker bugs" for the same food source. They were trained to eat urine and many of the other naturally occurring nutrients found in sea and river water. A quick but thorough rinse in Sink the Stink (1/2 oz in 10-20 gallons of warm water) and hang to dry. During the drying process the StS bugs biologically scour the gear and when it dries the odor is gone, not just masked. There is some residual effect on subsequent uses. StS is hypoallergenic and unlike many "biodegradable" products it does not mimic estrogens when dumped in the environment. If this sounds like an ad, it is in a way. I can tell you that StS is more a labor of love then a big moneymaker. Some of the large companies have tried to copy StS (Like McNett) and discovered that you can't make a product like StS both effective and profitable. That's why I have a real job as well! If anyone would like a sample e-mail Mary at: gulfstream_at_ibm.net <mailto:gulfstream_at_ibm.net> . We'll be happy to send you some. And PLEEEZZEE don't trash your wet suits and polartechs with bleach... If anyone is interested in further information, your welcome to e-mail me directly. Cya -----Original Message----- From: owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net [mailto:owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net] On Behalf Of Philip Torrens Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 1999 2:36 PM To: clyde_sisler_at_email.msn.com; paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Saturday (was faq?) >From: "Clyde Sisler" <clyde_sisler_at_email.msn.com> huge snip >someone was asking about >the effect of salt water on neoprene wet suits. Part of the instructor's >repsonse include throwing the suit in the washing machine to remove stink? >I vaugely recall some discussion on the list about this. I don't recall >washing machines and think I remember something about a mild bleach >solution. Would some enlighten me? This isn't an idle question. By the >end of the trip, my booties were stinking worse than the rest of me and I >like to keep the smell spread out equally. >Clyde Sisler >http://csisler.com When I was helping out in a dive shop, we used to hand wash the rental wetsuits out in a very mild solution of Dettol (spelling?) a house hold cleanser available at most grocery and drug stores. It was even effective at de-stinking suits that had been wet from the inside, if you get my drift. Rinse throughly in fresh water after the Dettol solution. and air dry. Cheers, Philip N49°16' W123°08' *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Bob Denton wrote: > > Disclaimer: I am the inventor and manufacturer of a product called Sink the > Stink which is sold through dive shops, kayak shops and river outfitters > specifically for removing odor from neoprene, polartec and capaline. > > > The only way to really treat this stuff is to fight fire with fire. I, in > conjunction with a lab, developed a synergistic mixture of bugs to out > compete the "stinker bugs" for the same food source. They were trained to > eat urine and many of the other naturally occurring nutrients found in sea > and river water. A quick but thorough rinse in Sink the Stink (1/2 oz in > 10-20 gallons of warm water) and hang to dry. During the drying process the > StS bugs biologically scour the gear and when it dries the odor is gone, not > just masked. There is some residual effect on subsequent uses. StS is > hypoallergenic and unlike many "biodegradable" products it does not mimic > estrogens when dumped in the environment. > > If this sounds like an ad, it is in a way. I can tell you that StS is more a > labor of love then a big moneymaker. Some of the large companies have tried > to copy StS (Like McNett) and discovered that you can't make a product like > StS both effective and profitable. That's why I have a real job as well! Am I the only one disturbed by this all? Call me a softee, a tree hugger, whathaveyou, but I find this a serious ethical question. Should we be training and enlisting one kind of bacteria to fight an ethnic war against other bacteria and in the process have these "good" bacteria lay down their lives to combat the odorous stuff created by the "bad" bacteria just because we humans find it offensive? Should we be meddling with the natural order of things?...neoprene is supposed to stink, otherwise it would not be neoprene. If everything smelled like a rose wouldn't life be less rich? Denton's bacteria are mercenaries plain and simple. Ever since the Brits used Hessian mercenary troops against the colonies, Americans have looked down on such forces. "Mercenary" has been a dirty word here since the birth of our nation. Why does it not surprise me that Bob hails from part of the former British Empire; no red-blooded native born American would ever think of using, ugh, mercenaries! Is there a rabbinical or Jesuitan scholar in the house who can shed some light on the moral and ethical issues involved? Or are we forever caught on the merry-go-round argument of whether water flows around or under a boat? (Personally, I find that water generally runs _over_ the front deck and into my lap and face.) :-) ralph -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com wrote: > Denton's bacteria are mercenaries plain and simple. Ever since the > Brits used Hessian mercenary troops against the colonies, Americans have > looked down on such forces. "Mercenary" has been a dirty word here > since the birth of our nation. Why does it not surprise me that Bob > hails from part of the former British Empire; no red-blooded native born > American would ever think of using, ugh, mercenaries! > > Join the Mercenary Microbe Militia! Travel to exotic places, meet aromatic natives, and eat them out of house and home! I like it!!!!! Mike P.S. Bob, could you email me on where to get your product? I have a cat with a bladder control problem........ -- Paddling along through fog so thick that only one's thoughts are visible, your reverie is abruptly shattered by the ancient cry of a great blue heron as she lifts uncertainly from the brilliant blue of a mussel-shell beach witnessed only by the brooding, wet spruce....your passage home seems as much back through time as it does through space. Mark H Hunt *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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