Softening nylon webbings

[bygolly]

Have you tried boiling it? Seems I heard of this a while back. Supposedly will take some of the stiffness out. Never tried it myself so if you were to give it a shot I'd try a small section before tossing a whole harness in.

I tried this with a small sample and had no luck Jim. I also tried a few different solvents with no results as well. Still looking for a solution that will do the trick without harming the webbing.

 

[gekodivebali]

What happened after boiling? General meltdown?

 

[iluvtheocean]

have you tried soaking it in warm/hot water with fabric softener? that's how some fisherman soften up nylon rope. it was suggested the clothes washer with fabric softener for agitation. I've heard the same method works for nylon halters for horses. I'd use about 1/4 cup per gallon of water, let it soak overnight, then give it a light rinse & dry out of the sun.

 

[SnorkelLA]

I find that fraying the inside side of the webbing on my shoulder straps with a somewhat sharp knife softens it up enough for more comfort.

That and just doin lots of diving. Some guys at my LDS say that being hung on a coathanger and then running very hot shower water over it for a long period of time breaks them in.




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[Robert Gillcash]

try some Silicone Spray. I've used that before on BCD straps to soften them and it worked quite well.

 

[rjack321]

The proper resin coated weight belt webbing will never really soften up like you want. Maybe in 5+ yrs but realistically you are way better off getting new uncoated webbing in the mail.

 

[TropicRat]

Has anyone tried a soak and wash in fabric softner?

 

[TigerDiver8]

I kimda scaned the thread but reefscuba.com i just ordered a red harness and i love it. Its comfortable and flexible and about 80 cents a foot.

 

[PhatD1ver]

Don't know if anyone found a solution, but fabric softener works great (Downy)... just soak, and rinse in hot water, and they are supple as a puppies butt

 

[ZzzKing]

I have a friend that dives in the tropics a lot with a Tee shirt. He uses standard untreated Nylon webbing:

Flat Nylon Webbing 2 Inch

It tangles a little more than treated Scuba/weightbelt webbing but is very comfortable and packs much smaller. It is as soft as the DuraSoft used in commercial bell harnesses, but the same thickness as weightbelt webbing so buckles and glides fit.

According to the product description, that stuff relaxes when wet by about 2% so you would have take that into account when setting up.