Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Latex repair

I'm often asked about damage to latex and whether we do repairs. We are happy to repair your latex items, though what can be done for an item is substantially based on the condition of the latex and the type of repair needed. If you would like a quote we will need to see the item's condition before we can determine the amount of work that is required. While some items are beyond repair, we do manage to save most of the latex sent our way.

For those of you who are so inclined I have included some instructions for repairing your own latex garments. I hope you find them useful and feel free to ask me questions.

First off you want to obtain the right glue and thinner. Here is a photo of the type I use most frequently. You can find these in art supply stores in the US. Notice that there are two different cans of glue here, they are essentially the same. For a repair the smaller one is all you should need.



Glue and thinner.



Now you'll want to get yourself an old credit card or similar piece of rigid thin plastic (I use hotel room cards that were given to me by someone who took my latex repair class a while back). You will also need some latex to patch with if you have a hole or tare and a piece of soft cloth that won't leave behind little bits of itself. I use scrap spandex that is never in short supply around the http://winterfetish.com workshop. :) Finally you'll need something to cut your scrap latex to size for patching; I like to use a rotary cutter and mat, though cutting latex with a sharp pair of scissors is possible (this can be a -bit- challenging).

First, soak your little scrap of soft cloth with thinner and clean off the back side of your latex item where it needs repair and one side of the latex scrap you plan to use as a patch. This will likely cause your items to curl, they will curl more if they are a thin gauge of latex, don't worry. Allow them time to relax and get your card and glue ready.

Place a bit of the glue at the edge of your card and use it to smooth on a thin layer of glue where you cleaned your latex item and patch. Try to keep the glue in the areas you need it. You will want the glue on your item to be slightly larger than the patch. Again your latex pieces will curl. Just wait for a bit and then the will uncurl. Don't try to keep your little patch piece from curling in and touching itself, this is nearly impossible. If it touches itself a little it will pull apart easily later. (If you have a lot of trouble with this it works to glue a larger piece and then cut it down. Just be careful not to let the glue stick to anything and pull off.)

Give it a few minutes and then carefully lay your patch from one edge to another to avoid trapping bubbles of air in between. Once you are sure the patch is on correctly be sure to press it down firmly and allow it some time to set.

Finally take a clean piece of your soft cloth and soak it in thinner. Carefully clean off excess glue you may have on the garment, making sure NOT to clean it off too completely near the edges of your patch. Make sure your little cloth doesn't become dry during this process and if you need to use several to get the glue off that is better than smearing excess glue around.

If you are going to store this garment right away be sure to talc this area well to make sure the glue doesn't stick to another part of the garment and cause a problem later.

To make a less visible repair you can use blue painter's tape to preposition the
latex before you start. Tape the area together from the outside and make your repair on the inside. Once the patch is in place, turn the garment over, remove the tape and split the seam open just a bit from the outside. Now that you have that done, glue the edges of the latex lightly to join them (pressing two seams together creates something called a "butt seam", this means the seams are joined by butting them together, as opposed to overlapping). This seam needs to dry for at least 8 hours, though the longer it is left to cure, the better. It is important to remember that this type of repair needs more time to cure than the patch that needs only a couple hours to be reasonably strong.


These instructions can also be used to make your own new latex garments. Essentially you simply need to clean and glue both sides of the seams and carefully stick them together.