Rubber pants

[Rope_Wrench]

I'm going to post this a bit odd to help save some people time. First the question and then the description on my routine.
I need to know the best way to care for rubber pants for cloth diapers.


I was restocking some of my cloth supplies and while ordering, thought I would give rubber a try. I ordered one pair and it came in yesterday but before I use it I was wanting to know the best was to care for it. For the past several years my routine with my plastic ones has been to take them off, turn them inside out and set them on top of the diaper pail till time to wash. Then I put the diapers in the washer to do one cycle to rinse out the water and stuff they soak in and then rinse out the pail and fill it back uo with the water and vinegar mix I keep them in. While the washer is doing the first run, I soak the plastic pants in the pail/tub I use. They soak for maybe an hour and then I add the soap to the washer, add the plastic and then do the second round of washing. The washer is set up to add two extra rinse and spin cycles at the end. Then I take the plastic out, put the diapers in the dryer for a half a cycle and take all the pants and let them hang to dry.
My concerns are the vinegar, soap from washing and the agitation in the washing machine. What do you guys do for your rubber? Another question is it even worth the hassle?

Thanks

Rope

[john1050]

Wipe rubber pants off with a damp cloth using no soap or detergent. Air dry by hanging up. Add a light sprinkle of talcum powder (scented) to both sides for storage and before wearing.

Over washing, agitation in a machine, detergents and soaps, soaking, etc. -- it works to quickly deteriorate your vinyls or rubbers.

More durability and resistance to deterioration can be found in the newer 'Euroflex' vinyls. That is a more recent option.

[Patrick]

When I used rubber pants, I found that machine washing nearly destroyed them. They had to be hand washed, frequently, so I resorted to polyurethane and polyurethane laminate. End of problem. If you can make them work for you, or perhaps newer rubber formulations are more durable, wonderful.

[Rope_Wrench]

Thanks guys. I only bought one pair just to try it out but now I'm glad I didn't invest more. The plastic pants I get from Kins are the most comfortable and most durable I have ever used. If you have not tried theirs, I would highly recommend them.

[Ellyn]

Maybe try urethane (LLMedico). They are clear, thin, extremely durable, very soft, but slightly noisy (but fine under compression briefs). I do a no frills wash in a garment bag with liquid laundry soap and color bleach. Never ever put them in the dryer... just hang to dry. I never use any lotions near the material, though I think that urethane can handle it better than most materials.
I occasionally use PUL pants but urethane is my choice most often.

[wetr]

I wear rubber pants over my cloth diapers at night and disposibles during the day.I hand wash them in warm water and liquid hand soap, rinse and hang them up in the shower to dry. A pair usually lasts a couple of years. I buy my rubber pants from Kins they are pretty good quality.

[Rope_Wrench]

So far I have tried them over disposables for a few hours. They are actually pretty comfortable. Maybe one day this week, I'll try them with a cloth. For me, that will make or break it for me.

[Patrick]

I look forward to reading a report on your extended experience with rubber pants. I'll be in the market in another moth or two and value your opinion.

[fiacs]

Do you think the extra protection from plastic pants over disposables is worth it?
I will wear them off and on. The heat bothers my skin.
Sometimes I will wear a cloth backed diaper with a plastic pant but that doesn't help my skin either

[Padded53]

fiacs:
If I'm in a situation that I just cannot afford a leak, say during a ling drive or a social situation, and depending on the exact situation I will wear my Gary PUL pants or better yet my side snap LeakMaster PUL pants. The side snaps allow a bit of air to circulate and keep things cooler than the pull-up style pant. Otherwise just around the house or for short errands around town I usually don't bother. Generally wearing anything over my diapers gets really uncomfortable here in hot and humid Central Florida except maybe for the 10 weeks or so of the "Winter" that we get down here.