# Old fashioned way of preserving rubbers



## moongalba

Way back in the 30's and 40's we made elastic driven paper planes. A way of preserving the band was to take it out of the paper and balsa wood plane and submerge it in what was then called Liquid Soap. I have been giving my rubbers a thin coating of washing up liquid which has the ability of keeping out air and to some degree ultra violet sun rays. It seems to be working fine and I guess there is no harm in giving it a try.

The Old Codger


----------



## Btoon84

Old Codger? You're THE Old Codger? Already a few of those around these parts.... lol  J/K good sir. As for the soap, no harm in giving it a try at all! But I'd be careful if the rubber maintained a slippery feel from the soap, it could slip out of the ties. Dry latex holds very well on itself. Be sure to wait for everything to lose the slipperiness or you could draw back and pull out from a tie. I know there is 303 aerospace protectant. That works well and is not greasy or oily.


----------



## wombat

If you're worried about protecting your bands from the elements, then you're not shooting enough!!


----------



## moongalba

Both of the above comments are useful information. I always make sue that the rubbers are clean of any liquid soap, the binding is not touched at all.

I think that you are right Wombat. Something that is not used often becomes worthless after a while.


----------



## Tube_Shooter

Latex tubing/bands lasts ages kept in a cool dark place even better store it in the fridge ideal if you are a vendor of rubber stuff.not so much needed if you just shoot with the rubber.As for lubricants I think they may have a place applied where the tube or bands contact the forks,I recently purchased some amber 2040 from fineslingshots and it came with a 10ml bottle of some type of lubricant but I cannot tell you what type.

P.S Message for my wife,NO darling that in the fridge is NOT precooked prepacked spaghetti


----------



## moongalba

I find that the old liquid soap was the best in its time. Washing up liquid serves the purpose and thought it seems to dry a thin film is still left on your rubber. This can be cleaned off before shooting.


----------



## VillageSniper

Great advice, although I am not sure what type of soap here in the states would be suitable? I like finding cheap practical solutions and respect your advice. The aerospace 303 protectant is awesome, as a side note, I love it for the interior of my Xterra and the door seals. The lubricant that came with the latex tubes most likely is pure silicone as it is also used as a lube for latex condoms. I have some for my .177 spring pistol, as chamber lube, and have applied it to latex tubing with no effect.

Vs


----------



## ZorroSlinger

I use variety of office rubber bands for some slingshot set-ups. If some kind of lubrication would help the longevity of bands so they snap/break less often, that would be great. I'm not so much concerned with U/V as much as, maybe giving a little extra life to bands. The soap technique is interesting ol school method. I just got some Turtle Wax 2001 Super Protectant. It costs less than 303 protectant but I do not know if what I got is as good quality as 303. Maybe just very light coating the bands but not where the ties are. I am guessing the liquid type would penetrate more into the rubber compared to talc which is mostly on surface. Just speculating as many have different views about this.


----------



## Metropolicity

Don't ask me how I know this but latex is best served with silicon lube to keep supple, a light rub with a few drops will work wonders.

*quick backstory*

I was working on a set as a PA for a commercial that has a bit of latex involved, the wardrobe dressers were using silicon polish/lube to clean it up and keep the latex from drying out. We were working with over head heaters, so the latex keep on going dull. Silicon won't harm latex, mostly soak into the upper layers and keep it from hardening.


----------



## moongalba

Good tips from both of you for which I give you my thanks. You remember that I used black spear gun rubber cut down the center. The next grade down to that is a fawn color which in my opinion is just about useless. It breaks up far to quickly when left in the sun. The spare pieces I used for ties broke even faster even is left in a darkened shed. One thing in the tubes favor is that it I easier to pull back than the black.


----------



## JetBlack

Old school rocks!! thanks for the tip.Tube shooter I have heard that a fridge actually dries out the rubber. Not sure if true.


----------



## moongalba

I believe that you would be right here. The molecules that go to make up the rubber are indeed affected by temperature and so become unstable when reverting back to their normal state. The space between each molecule is different when reverting back to their normal temperature.


----------



## Dannyparker

Goona try that on my square bands nice one !!


----------

