Water stains and / or a gray / white haze on my latex

You naturally want to maintain your latex and rubber clothing well. And you do this by washing it with soap and water after wearing it and treating it with, for example, ViviShine.
But to your shock you see that the latex will discolour when it comes into contact with water!

Don't worry ... that's normal. Latex and rubber clothing becomes a little lighter when it comes into contact with water (or other liquids, sweat, rain, etc.). Black latex turns gray, red latex also gets a gray haze etc.

Besides ... not just latex. Put a wet glass with dripping water on a painted or lacquered table… in no time you will see a light circle where the wet glass has been.

How did that happen?

When you wear latex you have the feeling that it does not let moisture through because you often sweat enormously and the latex sticks completely to your body. But nothing is less true. Latex rubber is a natural product. It's very porous even though you don't notice it when wearing it. Moisture such as water, sweat, but also body lotion, deodorant, perfume, oil, etc., will absorb directly into the latex.

The difference can be large, especially with dark colors. A black dress suddenly turned gray during and after washing.

The difference can also be large with double-sided latex. For example, our glitter latex has a top layer so that you cannot feel the glitter. But the water does soak into the sheet, so it will also sit in the top layer. The top layer is transparent, but during / after washing there is a gray haze in the latex, so that is the moisture. If the top layer is applied over, for example, pink latex with glitter, then that haze is almost not visible, but if the latex is black or another dark one with glitter, it is immediately noticeable.

We do not make glitter sheets without the extra top layer. Because if glitter latex only consists of glitter and latex, the sheet is a lot weaker. Glitters are "things" that do not stick to the latex. You can also see that if you hold the latex up to the light and gently pull on the glitter latex, there is space around each glitter. And without a top layer, glitter falls out, and the latex feels like sandpaper ... not something we want to sell.

How to fix?

As soon as the latex has dried, the latex returns to its original color. And it has to be really dry, so with just a little drying, the core of the latex is still damp. Depending on the respective ambient temperature, the latex dries slowly or faster. When the latex is thoroughly dry again, the discolouration has disappeared because all the moisture has evaporated.

Pay extra attention to glitter latex with a dark background color. Because if you sweat a lot, this haze with the glitter latex can also occur during wearing. So keep that in mind. The gray haze then arises on the sweat spots such as armpits, buttocks at the breasts and hips.

This only happens with tight latex and rubber clothing and with tight spots in clothing. So for example, jogging pants made of glitter latex with a dark color, the chance is very small, but with tight leggings or body the chance is there.

The glitters are not trapped in the latex because as you know, nothing sticks with latex other than latex itself or highly absorbent surfaces. A glitter is super smooth in an air chamber. That air chamber then also fills with moisture, which also makes the sheet a lot weaker.

Examples

In this first photo you see two glitter sheets that have just been placed in the water. One sheet does not have a top layer over the glitters, the other sheet does have a top layer over the glitters, but you will not see any difference.



This second and third photo were taken after 5 minutes. As you can see the difference is obvious. The glitter sheet with the top layer now has a milky white / gray layer. That is the moisture that is drawn into the latex. And the black back is now dark gray.