PVC Pants hardening

[Boby]

As a long tern nappy lover, I became latched onto the same system which was being used as I grew and became aware of nappies, terry cloth and plastic pants.

I started wanting to use these real nappies more often, which lead to storage and intense laundering, which isn't a low profile process! I still have some cloth nappies, but disposables made things easier. If I'm at home and discretion isn't required,  I adapt them by wearing terry and PVC pants over the top, making them look and feel just like the real thing, providing that comfort when all know along with loads of leak protection for night use.

An incontinence supplier in the UK sells these extras, the terry pants don't always become wet or stained, so light laundering helps them last 2 or more years.

The PVC pants are the weak link, many of us will be aware of how the soft plastic gradually hardens and ultimately cracks. I order a fresh pair with roughly each 3rd box of disposables, by then, one of my pairs is starting to harden and is almost ready to to go the way with a messy disposable. The main reason that these degrade is gradual loss of plasticiser from the material.

The pants aren't cheap and I would like to make them last longer without hardening, I treat them gently with gentle washing, only a little liquid detergent, no conditioner, gentle drying and keeping away from UV light (direct sunlight).

I have been looking for products which would re-soften the PVC and make them last longer, searching for PVC clothes treatment, I came across two options-

Using an off the shelf automotive vinyl upholstery cleaner

Applying mineral oil by wiping a very light film with a soft cloth and removing any excess. 

 

Does anyone have experience with these two, or know of a better solution to keep our PVC pants nice and soft so they last longer?

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

Avoid the cheap stuff. I have some Comco's, no longer made, over a dozen years old and, while the elastics are done,  the material is still quite soft and supple, You might try the Gary from  LL Medico or Mountain View; see RUBBER PANTIES'R'US in my siggy. Some of my Gary are starting to harden and they are going on 9 years old

Another thing; have a good supply, 1 panty for about 3 or 4 diapers. It was, in the case of  ab ies, 1 panty per day so if you ha e 1 dozen diapers then 3 or 4 panties

Avoid contect between the panties and petroleum-based oils or baby oil. I have a special oil, BabyDoll Bath, Body and Baby Oil that I use that has been tested on the material for 3 days of contact with no harm.It consists of glycerin, aloe vera and coconut oil. I have found a source for 11,000 IU, 1 fl  oz, of vitamin E, which I will test on the material. This will make it an elite therapeutic as well as protective oil  that I use to replace both baby oil and baby lotion, It can be used as a bath and body oil as well. It has a strong original baby powder scent so, you do not need much just a dab under the arms or behind the ears

Everythibg I review in RUBBER PANTIES'R'US I have had for quite a few years.

[CodHero24]

I believe the hot air in the dryer reduces their life span, significantly.

Instead, I would recommend "hang drying" the plastic pants instead of putting them in the dryer.

When I do laundry, I put the plastic pants at the bottom of the machine,

And when the wash cycle is done, I remove the plastic pants and

run one t-shirt hanger through each pair of plastic pants, and hang them up to dry.

They're usually dry in less than 12 hours.

I've personally found them to last much longer this way.

 

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

RUBBER PANTIES'R'US, being all about the matter has care instructions, includiing how to make very efficient drying hangers for them

[Bobbyca]

Once upon a time long ago, i worked in the vinyl industry (PVC) making sheet vinyl products.  it's surprising, but the only significant difference between rigid vinyl products such as pipe or siding and sheet vinyl products is the percentage of vinyl plasticizer oil (DIDP Phalates).  Sheet vinyl products are almost 50% by weight plasticizer oil.

Mineral oil is not the same as plasticizer oil and will in fact remove the plasticizer oil from the vinyl.  Phalates are a nasty class of chemicals so don't do as i once saw someone posting about sourcing phalates and spraying them on his plastic pants. 

I agree with CodHero24, wash your pants with gentle soap at low termperature and hang to dry or air dry at low temperature in the dryer.  And to Little Christine's point, buy quality pants with a better grade of vinyl plastic.  Myself, i primarily use Gary Active briefs and wash them in my morning shower and hang to dry.  Turn them right side out mid-day and they're dry later in the day or next AM.

[~Brian~]

3 hours ago, CodHero24 said:

I believe the hot air in the dryer reduces their life span, significantly.

Instead, I would recommend "hang drying" the plastic pants instead of putting them in the dryer.

When I do laundry, I put the plastic pants at the bottom of the machine,

And when the wash cycle is done, I remove the plastic pants and

run one t-shirt hanger through each pair of plastic pants, and hang them up to dry.

They're usually dry in less than 12 hours.

I've personally found them to last much longer this way.

 

@Boby @Little BabyDoll Christine @CodHero24 @Bobbyca

from my experience, Things that are made out of plastic Instead of made out of vinyl eventually get hard and they don't feel the same, so you have to make sure you're maintaining the the world to knowm properly. all of the things that I heard about indicate that Proper maintenance of these things will help them to last longer period this is not to say that they last forever, but you need to make sure that you're taking care of them so that they last longer.

I have a bunch of Garywear covers, and a whole bunch of North Shore Trifectas. what I try to do is for every time that you wash them, you wash them in warm water, and you use either the delicate cycle, or the no heat setting when drying. You also have to realize that each time you wash these things you are probably Lessening the life of the product. I don't mean that every time you wash them they're going to disintegrate, but each one of these things has a life, and I think mine say that they have a life cycle of 75 to 100 washes. once you exceed that, you should probably replace them. especially for talking about vinyl or PVC. Most people like to throw their stuff in the wash, and use hot water to get something clean, which is obviously a good move if you're dealing with soiled clothing, but you also have to know that if you're washing diaper covers in the wash, and you want to dry them, the easiest way to Extend their life cycle is not to use the hottest setting on the dryers.

@Little BabyDoll Christine Would probably tell you that the easiest way to clean these things would be to hand wash them that way you are cleaning them and being very gentle with the plastic pants. Sometimes hand washing is the best depending on what type of product you're talking about, and in some cases this would be your best bet. most of us probably don't have the time to sit there and hand wash our clothing, but sometimes that is your best bet.

So I would be saying that the best thing that you can do is to see if they have a shelf life, and not to exceed it. if you're washing them continuously, eventually those things are going to end up being harder to use, and the plastic may end up getting harder, and it may crack as everyone has stated. When you have a problem like this, you should always make sure that you're not using hot hot hot stuff to be able to dry them, but use low heat or no heat. Use heat and you let it run, most times they dry a lot faster. so far I haven't had too much difficulty, but the first time I had a pair of those pullons, I had a pair that was pretty hard after a couple of months, and I didn't wear them anymore but I got out my Garywear's and started using them and then started running the drying cycle with no to low heat.

Good Luck!

Brian

[vvp39]

Pics of my drying racks. The one is for panties that have just been washed;  it is cut and bent from a wire hanger. Incidentally, no rust after several years of continual use; I suspect the steel is alloyed with a bit of lead to prevent corrosion and/or coated.
The jury-rigged one on the closet top shelf is for pants that haven't quite dried yet but get moved from the first one and replaced with a just-washed garment. It hangs over the clothes hamper.

[vvp39]

Things to remember about caring for your plastic panties....
They are clothes. Clothes inevitably wear out with use. However understanding the failure modes helps lengthen their service life. In the case of vinyl plastic pants there are two main failure modes.
The first is loss of plasticizer, caused by the fact that soft vinyl plastic is a mixture of pvc, which is a hard polymer, with various plasticizers, stabilizers, and dyes. Plasticizers tend to be oily substances, and contact with other oily substances will extract the plasticizer relatively rapidly. So, avoid any oil-based compounds, lotions, or cleaners/detergents. Unfortunately oil from our skin also has this effect. But fortunately the parts of our body that contact plastic panties don't generally have the most skin oil. (Plastic shirts or raincoats that contact our backs and shoulders are a different story.) Hot water and detergents or soaps will also extract plasticizer, but more slowly; there's no need to use water that's hotter than you'd shower in, or harsh detergents that you wouldn't use on your body. Ideally, washing in warm water and drip drying is the best way to insure a long service life. It works for me in that my pants only have contact with trace amounts of urine or feces, and contact with seminal fluid is usually not long. This may not work so well for those of us who use the plastic pants as diaper covers.
The second main failure mode is tearing of the plastic film. The main way to minimize this, other than not wearing panties that are too small, is to avoid the side seams when you're donning or doffing your pants; pull behind or in front of the side seams. Otherwise tears will occur with normal use.
You'll notice that I haven't mentioned the elastics. This is because they very seldom fail before the vinyl film does.

[ppdude]

7 hours ago, Boby said:

The PVC pants are the weak link, many of us will be aware of how the soft plastic gradually hardens and ultimately cracks.

You seek that which is the holy grail and is your eternal quest, Grasshopper. May the Force be with you.

 

 

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

This is how I dry mine over the tub  after my orning sitzbath

The best thing that you can use to wash is a detergent like Palmolive Free and Clear. A detergent works differently from soap. It  uses a SURFace ACTing AGENT or "surfactant' this is a funny shaped molecule one end of which is "hydrophobic" and the other is "hydrophilic". The hydrophobic end latches onto the material to be removed from the surface of what is being cleaned so the hydrophobic need is taken care o. the hydrophilic part no pulls it away from that surface, taking the dirt with it and not letting it get back onto the surface from which it was taken. Other detergents are shampoo and body wash

A nice thing about the Palmolive Free and Clear is that it is quite sudsy and if you dissolve some Dreft Blissfuls, made for baby clothes and hypoallergenic, in it, it makes a heavenly little girl bubble bath with a strong baby powder scent. In fact, Dreft Blissfuls is the heart of the whole BabyDoll line of DIY supplies that runs from sachet to the elite therapeutic and protective bath, body and baby oil. The only thing I have not cracked  is how to do a baby powder

[Marta]

so hardened they stand up

[Stroller]

Polyurethane pants don't harden, and last a long time, so you might try them.  As far as I'm aware the only ones currently on the market are the Euroflex ones made by Gary - I got some from LLMedico recently.  They aren't cheap, and they're a bit noisy.  Bit they're great pants!  I'm not talking about PUL here - these are pure polyurethane.

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

I tested the new forumula for BabyDoll Body, Bath and Baby Oil, the same as the old but with 11,000+ IU/48 fl oz of Vitamin E, which now makes it a high-level therapeutic, restorative protectant, on some Comco material that I had by putting it directly on it for over 3 days and there was no change in the consistency of the material. So it can still be classed ad Rubber Panty Friendly

[BabyJune]

I've had several pairs of PUL waterproof pants become delaminated. (The plastic separates from the fabric outer layer). The rest f my pants are fine, though.

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

Be all this polyurethane and PUL as it may be, which are the REAL THING from the Golden Age, when cloth diapers were the Queen of the Nursery? What is under YOUR skirts? We know what is under mine: And many of them are PINK! Besides, I have never heard or seen polyurethane or PUL called "FlowerPetal', Taffeteen", "RoseEtte" or "French Satin"

21 hours ago, Marta said:

so hardened they stand up

If you threw them against the wall, would they shatter?