In answer to the first question, it does depend what you've been doing. When I had a muddy dig, I washed my socks in the steam afterwards, or a bucket at home. Now, I'm more frequently in wetter caves and I just hang them out to dry.Why wouldn’t you wash them? Chuck a bit of fabric softener in every now and again (read about that bit of knowledge on UKC)
Wait, does neoprene actually shrink? I always thought it was an ongoing joke about the user enlarging 😂Pretty sure the shrinkage of neoprene is due to the nylon shrinking rather than the neoprene itself
rarelyyou wash your normal socks dont you
Wait, does neoprene actually shrink? I always thought it was an ongoing joke about the user enlarging 😂
I might be totally wrong but I'm fairly sure I heard that there's also a nitrogen bubble shrinking factor involved as neoprene ages, and 'good' neoprene is pre-aged on the roll for a long time before use to counteract that effect. Entirely likely the nylon then continues to shrink with wet/dry cycles too so may not be a total mitigationPretty sure the shrinkage of neoprene is due to the nylon shrinking rather than the neoprene itself. (It's the same effect as with ropes.) I don't think washing neoprene socks frequently is a factor in their shrinkage and there's very little you can do about the nylon shrinking with age, other than what Pete Hall said (use fabric conditioner to make them go on slightly easier.)
It's a particular problem with neoprene drysuits, which are very expensive. When I get measured up for mine I always tell them to add to the dimensions they record, to allow for it. (I once ended up cutting a drysuit in half and glueing in a 75 mm wide piece of neoprene to extend it as it'd reached the stage where I was struggling to do up the back zip. That shouldn't really be necessary when you've forked out a small fortune to get the suit made to measure.)
Ahhhh makes sense! I got a super cheap Chinese wetsuit jacket and despite washing it on cold super quick wash (so face fabric shrinkage seems unlikely) it dropped a size after about 4 or 5 washes or something. Was wondering how that was possible, maybe the above is the explanationI might be totally wrong but I'm fairly sure I heard that there's also a nitrogen bubble shrinking factor involved as neoprene ages, and 'good' neoprene is pre-aged on the roll for a long time before use to counteract that effect. Entirely likely the nylon then continues to shrink with wet/dry cycles too so may not be a total mitigation
I wonder if neoprene normally used to be pre-aged in 'ye olden days'. I got through 2 suits between 1968 and 1983/4, they were generally just washed in the nearest stream and apart from knees/elbows/crotch being regularly wrecked (with very average repairs ) and becoming a bit tighter on the zip as I progressed into my 30's I don't recall any obvious shrinkage problem.I might be totally wrong but I'm fairly sure I heard that there's also a nitrogen bubble shrinking factor involved as neoprene ages, and 'good' neoprene is pre-aged on the roll for a long time before use to counteract that effect. Entirely likely the nylon then continues to shrink with wet/dry cycles too so may not be a total mitigation