I had a good look at my wetsuits. There appears to be accelerated deterioration around the back of the collar. Prompts me to ask the question, does Bodyglide speed wetsuit deterioration?
Further thoughts… Or perhaps it is natural body oils? I suspect there may be a slightly greater concentration around the back of the neck?
To clarify the deterioration, best description I can come up with is that the rubber is starting to “melt”
Not sure about Bodyglide. But if you do happen to be in Australia, then Lucas Paw Paw ointment won’t damage a suit at all, and I find it’s better than Bodyglide in terms of preventing chafing. I find Bodyglide doesn’t actually work that well no matter how much I use.
I only use Vaseline. It’s supposed to be terrible for Neoprene (any petroleum product is). However, it’s not so bad to damage the wetsuit to a point that it affects performance. Bodyglide will do less damage. I wouldn’t worry about it. The wetsuit will get old and dried out before your Bodyglide ruins it.
Not sure but Suit Juice sold direct and ow through Profile is awesome, the more your sweat, the slippery/non chafing it becomes,. I have never one back to a “stick” since
The wetsuit will get old and dried out before your Bodyglide ruins it.
If that were the case I wouldn’t have made the post. The wetsuits are approx 2 1/2 & 1 years old. I repair any small damages, the suits are in very good condition, except for the neck lines. The oldest suits neckline is almost a liquid, and the newer suit shows indications of heading in the same direction. Incidentally I don’t use anti-chafe anymore, don’t seem to need it. I think my neck has toughened a little, and my form no longer causes excessive movement at the neck.
I use approximately 30oz of BodyGlide on my calves and ankles and my wetsuit doesn’t seem to be deteriorating that quickly. I’m not a neoprene expert but I imagine that the neck of a wetsuit gets the lion’s share of wear as your neck is rubbing on it a lot and it’s flexing with your body a good bit. Might also explain why you don’t need BG much anymore, as your neck has effectively worn the wetsuit to where it won’t chafe.
It ruined my neckband as well. It turned into a gooey mess! I take very good care of my wetsuits and now I will have to replace mine due to Body Glide deterioration. I will not be using Body Glide any further. Works great, but it ruined my wetsuit!
Tracetman raised a good point. Is it that the suit would have worn there anyway, and just also happens to be a bit gooey because of residual BG? Or is the BG accelerating wear? I had used the suit a few times between these posts (without additional BG) and it didn’t seem as bad at the end of it.
not in my experience, and I get lots of OW miles every year.
Just a small note. When I initially raised this thread both suits had just come off the hanger from the summer months.