There is a natural lubricant called suit juice. Its suppose to help moisurize your skin and help condition your wetsuit as well. I haven't used this product yet, but I am ordering some. I have used their binding lubricant for wakeboarding. Its called moose juice, and it works very well. The website is moosejuice.com. They also make a wetsuit cleaner.
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Natural Wetsuit Lube?
- Thread starterwes
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
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Hi all
What I use to lubricate my 5mm open cell wetsuit is just Linseed.
I boil 3-4 table spoon of these seeds for about 15-20minutes and it produces a thick, clear and slippery substance. It is perfect for the job!
It is not expensive at all. A bag(500g) should last you for months. It is completely natural and good for your skin. What is more it should be harmless to the environment. I tested it several times. When it is boiled you can simply separate seeds, put the substance into a thermos to keep it worm (be carful when hot). Pour some into your wetsuit and rub your hands over it.
It works.
I understand the fact it can solidify may present an issue, but I'd hardly be worried about its combustion. how tight is your suit to generate that much friction??
LOL
This is also probably theoretical but apparently the drying process of linseed generates heat which is why it's a fire hazard. Might not be an issue if you are in Scotland but if it's the middle of the day in Dahab and you soak your suit in linseed oil you might combust lol
Have no idea really, just didn't sound like a good product for the suit eg http://www.esfrs.org/blackmuseum/linseedOilRags.shtml
Maybe the substance that comes out when you boil the seeds is not linseed oil - no idea.
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The most environment friendly and 100% natural lubricant is ... well ...water, and it works. However, the truth is it can be pain in cold conditions, very painfull indeed, then from my experience a good biodegradable phosphate free handwash liquid mixed with water does the job. Problem with talc powder is that it does cause friction, which may lead to skin problems such as folliculitis (also personal experience) and any oily substances could damage the suit I think.
Fully agree with water it's easy enough to put the suit on in the water. Wet the suit, Go in until the water comes above the knees, the start putting the trousers on and work up, letting a bit of water in. Once you have the trousers on you should be in waist deep and trousers should cover up to your chest so it's not cold.
Then wet your upper body, slide in the sleeves and adjust and to slide the suit above your head just scoop a lot of water with the suit and quickly slide over your head (make sure hair is wet beforehand). If it's bearable it really helps if you dip yourself in the water for a moment while doing this but can easily be done without doing this.
You can then get out and adjust the sleeves/shoulders by blowing through the sleeve and down the hood etc and of course roll down the trousers to create a seal etc
I live in the UK and I get cold easily (though admittedly I don't mind it much) and I can do put the suit on this way May-Oct so I am sure everyone can do it. The rest of the months I don't dive, my philosophy is that if it's too cold to put on the suit this way, it's too cold to dive lol
it's easy enough to put the suit on in the water. Wet the suit, Go in until the water comes above the knees, the start putting the trousers on and work up, letting a bit of water in. Once you have the trousers on you should be in waist deep and trousers should cover up to your chest so it's not cold.Then wet your upper body, slide in the sleeves and adjust and to slide the suit above your head just scoop a lot of water with the suit and quickly slide over your head (make sure hair is wet beforehand). If it's bearable it really helps if you dip yourself in the water for a moment while doing this but can easily be done without doing this.
You can then get out and adjust the sleeves/shoulders by blowing through the sleeve and down the hood etc and of course roll down the trousers to create a seal etc
I live in the UK and I get cold easily (though admittedly I don't mind it much) and I can do put the suit on this way May-Oct so I am sure everyone can do it. The rest of the months I don't dive, my philosophy is that if it's too cold to put on the suit this way, it's too cold to dive lol
Linseed OLI??? I NEVER suggested using linsed OIL.
What I use is the substance that comes out when you boil the seeds. This is different. It is water-soluble.
I've been using this for 4 weeks, don't see any change on my wetsuit. I'll let you know if I see any difference. My skin is more important than my watsuit anyway. This is my natural alternative. Hair condittioner is not natural.
Water is obvious,it helps, averybody knows about water.
Have you tried that linseed substance guys?
Sorry I assumed that what comes out when you boil linseed seeds is linseed oil. If it isn't I'd be curious to find out what it is, couldn't find any info.
Agree water is obvious but you'll be surprised at how few people put on their suit using only water, whereas it's quite easy and also not bad at all in terms of cold if you do it right.
Agree water is obvious but you'll be surprised at how few people put on their suit using only water, whereas it's quite easy and also not bad at all in terms of cold if you do it right.
I'm glad you use only water. Totally agree. If I didn't know about that linseed substance I'd use only water too. I don't know much about that substance neither. I'll let you know when I find out more. All I know is that it is natural, you can eat the seeds raw or boild and it is good for digestion. It can not be harmful to the environment.
My intension was to provide a natural alternative to hair conditioner.
It works, it helps and I use it.
Water is really not adequate if you use a smoothskin out/Open cell in suit - to much risk of ripping the suit. It also depends on the inside coating - I've actually found that my uncoated yamamoto suit, while it is much more frictive when dry, gets very slippery when wet - more so than my suits with coating on the inside.
Also thinner suits are generally easy to get into.
In any case - I would not go water only with a suit that has no fabric on the outside.
We also dive down to 2c - even putting a suit on in the air during winter would chill you to the point that you could not dive.
I use organic hair conditioner - diluted about 1-5 or 6 in a spray bottle.
Also thinner suits are generally easy to get into.
In any case - I would not go water only with a suit that has no fabric on the outside.
We also dive down to 2c - even putting a suit on in the air during winter would chill you to the point that you could not dive.
I use organic hair conditioner - diluted about 1-5 or 6 in a spray bottle.
Good points - i base my comments on my 5mm elios suit, it's got fabric on the outside. It's pretty slippery when wet, maybe the green lake water helps lol
Out of curiosity, would you guys still use lubricant even if you were in a nice, hot place where you could get in the water very comfortably without the suit?
Regarding tearing the suit: i think lubricant or not, one of the dangers is cold. The only time I did some damage to my suit it was freezing cold and raining hard, my hands were numb after diving and I was desperately trying to get my suit off - without realising I dug my nails in the suit at various places...
Yes, combustion is a serious worry for Freedivers with all that flammable water about... isn't it a good job neoprene is completely fire-retardant to keep you safe.
I often wear my Elios 5mm while BBQ'ing or lighting occasional fires just in case a spark falls on my extremely flammable skin and I instantaneously combust. You can never be too careful.
Broseidon - here in the great north we are not bothered by flaming wetsuits.
We welcome the mild warmth as we hunt the ravenous Ktheros in liquid helium.
Simos - suits with no nylon are a whole different animal - you have to be very very careful grabbing them.
I have a 90cm pneumatic for sale - but it ain't cheap.
We welcome the mild warmth as we hunt the ravenous Ktheros in liquid helium.
Simos - suits with no nylon are a whole different animal - you have to be very very careful grabbing them.
I have a 90cm pneumatic for sale - but it ain't cheap.
Haha yes good point, I didn't mean combusting in the water - that would be a first. Good tip on BBQing, I'll give it a go
I was thinking more along the lines of the suit soaking in it and then left in the sun to dry. When I did my first scuba dive in Cyprus, we put on the suits and had a safety briefing etc in 40+ degrees heat and I felt I would go up in flames anytime lol also whenever I leave the suit in the sun to dry, it burns like hell when I pick it up.
But I will try to worry less about combusting lol
I was thinking more along the lines of the suit soaking in it and then left in the sun to dry. When I did my first scuba dive in Cyprus, we put on the suits and had a safety briefing etc in 40+ degrees heat and I felt I would go up in flames anytime lol also whenever I leave the suit in the sun to dry, it burns like hell when I pick it up.
But I will try to worry less about combusting lol
Mate move over here, then you'll worry a lot less. When you live in those temperatures you realise that linseed oil igniting from the sun is going to be an enormous rarity, if not impossibility. We even had plastic on our assault rifles when I was in the forces as this allowed them to be handled after hours in the sun!