Vivishine vs. the others

[asfxea]

I posted the following in response to a question on informedconsent.co.uk and would welcome your reactions:

Here's my take on vivishine and latex polishes in general.

There are two kinds of product to polish latex:

(1) silicone products that leave a semi-liquid coating on the latex that is incredibly shiny and great for photography, but rubs off easily. Vivishine^{G M Y} is one of these, which differs from the others in the way you apply it. You put some vivishine in some water and dip the clothing in it. Most other silicones you spray or wipe on, like Pjur cult spray or many others.

(2) products that give a dry shine, like Black Beauty, Blue latex polish and good old Armor all (this last is readily obtainable from shops like Halfords).

The silicone products make the surface incredibly shiny and great for photography, but the shine rubs off easily. The "dry shine" products give a less intense shine but it is more durable.

My own experience with vivishine is that there can be problems. If you put too much vivishine into the water you can end up with the latex drying with droplet marks that can be difficult or impossible to remove, making me worry about permanent damage. If there is too little vivishine in the water, coverage will be patchy and you may need to start again. If you dip lots of clothing in one session, you can start with clothing over-coated, pass through good results and end up with patchy coverage. The other problem is that the silicone shine can be ruined by contact with other latex, so that every treated garment must be stored out of contact with other clothing and with no part of the latex touching any other part of the garment.

YMMV, but I don't think this product is the magical solution some people make it out to be. If others disagree, I'd love to learn how to use it properly. I am posting this to rubberist.net, the source of all wisdom about latex, and will report back any suggestions from there.

[MissFuzzyBunny]

I think the trick to ViviShine is to use it from the start of your garment's lifetime. It works wonderfully for my brand new garments as there's no residual polish left from other products and applications.

You can get an almost as good as new shine on your other garments, however, but you must make sure they're cleaned totally of all former shiners and silicone.

I've been very happy with my results, particularly on things I've brought home from Latexa. Their latex seems to take to ViviShine like a duck to water.

Count me among its fans!

[asfxea]

and count me amongst yours, MissFuzzyBunny!

[MissFuzzyBunny]

Awww, thank you!

[drgummi]

Hmmm, interesting question. I found the opposite of MFB; that it doesn't do to start with Vivishine. This is because very often the manufacturing process leaves a number of substances on the surface of the rubber, and they have to be removed before the garment will be properly shiny. If you have a garment like this (the most frequently encountered, I suspect, is any of Westward Bound's stock - they ship unpolished. I don't mean to imply that this is a bad thing: it's just how they do it).

So from my experiments, it's always best to start off with a "physical disturbance" polish - Son of a Gun, Black Beauty, et cetera. This helps to break up and lift old talc, by-products of gluing, the sheet manufacture process, and so on.

Once this first polish has been done, subsequent polishes will really bring up the shine - and if Vivishine is used, then you get the prospect of that really deep, liquid appearance which also cmes from the use of Cult/Eros - though vivisihine is so sparingly applied, by comparison, that I find it doesn't leave a slippery residue on furniture or flooring.

I have noticed the "spotting" some people refer to, but only when I forget to wipe the item down with an absorbent cloth afterwards, using little or no pressure. Red and semi-trans latexes seem to be most susceptible: my Vivishine process includes a deep clean first, with Gum-ol or similar, with the garment inside out. Then a turn to right way out, and vivishine: a dry: and another turn to inside-out to let the dull surface dry off too.

[yellobird]

yup, I think the general consensus is, that a good cleaning before usage has (most times) never hurt anyone or anything. I guess MFB could have cleaned her clothes before the vivishine treatment and it would not have had negative effects on the shine.

What I have to add is that if your are like me a cheapskate (spoons ... teaspoons what is the difference anyway), you might end up with dull patches, which look especially bad on the colour gradients of [rdx]Polymorphe[/rdx] stuff. But I redipped the affected regions into the vivishine+water and it looks now ok.

On the other hand, too much might leave a slightly slimy residue (has not happened to me yet, but I tend to be overly careful ... sometimes).

[edit]
just came back from clubbing, and I have to say, that the Vivishine didn't survive 9 hours (6 1/2 dancing). Especially at the bits were a lot of movement occurs. Maybe after a few rounds of vivishine it sticks better to the latex (was tested only with a a few dips).

[asfxea]

Where do you get this Gum-ol stuff? I have only found it in German shops, like here. WOuld be good to find a UK supplier

[Zennor]

Where do you get this Gum-ol stuff? I have only found it in German shops, like here. WOuld be good to find a UK supplier

Between the sheets sell it as part of a latex care kit consisting of Gum-Ol Latex Wash and Sanitizer, Micro Fibre Magic Cloth and Liquid Polish

[drgummi]

just came back from clubbing, and I have to say, that the Vivishine didn't survive 9 hours (6 1/2 dancing). Especially at the bits were a lot of movement occurs. Maybe after a few rounds of vivishine it sticks better to the latex (was tested only with a a few dips).

I don't find it lasts that well, but then i don't expect it to. It also doesn't survive being splashed with custard, as I found out in Wasteland this weekend...

[Rubbmeuk]

I'm a big fan of Vivishine, ever since the proprietor of Breathless recommended it to me. I've not had to use talc or any other shine since then. So simple and effective