For a while now, I have been telling my fishing buddies my clever trick. “When you get back from fishing, hang your waders on a coat hangar, behind the fridge”. The slow release of dry heat, gently dries them, and it is so much better than putting them in the sun. By morning they are generally dry, and you can roll them up and put them away. Or just leave them until you are ready …like next Friday when you get around to it. In fact I have a chest freezer in front of a window, and it is perfect. The waders hang from the curtain rail, and the domestic worker routinely gets a fright because while she is ironing, out of the corner of her eye, she sees a man standing there eerily.
So for dry waders and that little “pie in your face” humour streak that some of us are afflicted with, it all works rather well.
Then my old fishing buddy, who was in the tackle industry, murmured something under his breath about “as long as you don’t do that with your neoprenes”.
What? Why?
I googled it. The answer didn’t pop up all that quickly…I had to scroll several pages into the search, and the most useful article I came upon was published in 1952.
It elaborated on the resistance of neoprene Vulcanites to ozone. Elsewhere I read that any electrical motor with slightly worn brushes forms tiny sparks that in turn result in Ozone gas. Or something like that. And Fridges, for reasons I couldn’t understand, are the worst. Apparently Neoprene is 3 to 5 times more resistance than natural rubber, but still vulnerable. And I read elsewhere that “Wood rosin” is the best product to prevent ozone deterioration. Wood Rosin or Esther gum, AKA E445, is a common food additive, and seems to come from wood sap. It sounds awfully sticky, and I have decided that rather than basting my neoprenes in this E445, I am going to find somewhere else to dry my waders.
That will be after I have bought a new pair. The last ones only lasted a season or two and are shot to hell.
I am hoping that the tackle dealer will include a free rubber snake with the waders. That of course will be for frightening the maid. And no, I won’t store it near the fridge.
Although maybe putting it inside the fridge, just behind the milk (If I put aside the longevity of the product) , may have a pleasing result!
Very Scientific research references
Rubber gloves article…one of the more clear explanations
I googled rubber snake pranks too, but decided not to stoop that low.