Soaping your string to make it less slippery?

[Hack]

now I use liquid soap and whip my string around until it dries.

I've never tried liquid soap, I've always used just a bar of soap, but I'm gonna try the liquid soap.

Now its still got the pretty bright yellow colour.

Which is a great reason in itself to not use dirt. 

[William]

It honestly is! Videos look better with new string.

[ETAMark]

I'm generally the type to use it new until it breaks in. It lasts so much longer and I've gotten used to it well enough that I can do hover starts and most everything with slippery string (not as well, of course)
   However, when I need it grippy quick, like before a performance or such, I have two tricks that work fantastically:
  get a piece of beat up rope or a very beat up diab string, step on it on the ground so you have a loop, then drag the new string very quickly through the loop while pulling hard.
  The second method is similar, but you find a wooden post or something rough like that to drag it across. Those have both worked perfectly every time I've tried them.
  Sidenote: both work very quickly and I'm guessing it would be very easy to overdo it and end up tearing the string. Do it a little bit and then test it with a diabolo.

[ERIK da blue]

If I use liquid soap, will it dramatically reduce the usable life of my string?
Or is there a way 2 extend it after it becomes unusable?

[Hathaway]

I would have thought liquid soap would have a pretty adverse effect. Similair to when it gets wet, it just gets grippy I would have thought similair things would happen.

[bourgeois.jason]

I used to have the problem with my Circus diabolos, but now that I use the Finesse G3's, I find new string is just a little less sticky but still playable.  I did have a problem with my Finesses when I first got them in.  They were all really slippery on the axles.  Maybe the axles had some sort of anticorrosive coating on them from the factory.

Anyway, I have been washing my string in the washing machine for years and never had an issue with it going into the little holes in the machine.  I usually don't put it into the dryer, though.

Thanks,

Jason

[Hack]

I would have thought liquid soap would have a pretty adverse effect. Similair to when it gets wet, it just gets grippy I would have thought similair things would happen.

Yeah, I tried the liquid soap and it didn't seem to have any effect at all. So I just use a dry bar of soap, and the color is still there, it might even be a little brighter, and it makes the break in period a lot shorter. So, regular soap is the best choice in my opinion.

[mike.]

I used to have the problem with my Circus diabolos, but now that I use the Finesse G3's, I find new string is just a little less sticky but still playable.  I did have a problem with my Finesses when I first got them in.  They were all really slippery on the axles.  Maybe the axles had some sort of anticorrosive coating on them from the factory.

Anyway, I have been washing my string in the washing machine for years and never had an issue with it going into the little holes in the machine.  I usually don't put it into the dryer, though.

Thanks,

Jason

a lot of axles when they are new have that feeling, but it wears off eventually.

[ERIK da blue]

i tried liquid soap, it didn't make the string as grippy as a perfect string but almost. it was definitely usable and that was all i was looking for. haven't tried a bar of soap, but liquid definitely works well.

Janion

[Tipper]

just tried the dry-soap thing on my new henry string didnt use any liquids and it works surprisingly good now, perfect to play with 2 diabolos after pressing the string down very hard with my thumb on the block of soap and pulling the string d; i am also experiencing with putting ducktape on the ends of my glass-fiber sticks to make them more economical as it is there the string breaks all the time xD ill report on different tapes and so on later

[burkaman]

So I'm trying to learn two diabolos, and I was getting pretty good at the wrap start. I had Henry's white replacement string (I think), but it was getting dirty so I switched it for Henry's yellow string that I just bought. The new string's slipperiness makes a wrap start nigh impossible, as the second diabolo drops into the center almost immediately after it's wrapped. I vaguely remember someone mentioning that the slipperiness goes away after a while, but I was wondering if it does, how long it takes and if there's any way to speed up the process.

[Sean]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Have a look at this thread I merged your post to. Also, if you go to the main forum page and then search for "slippery" you'll get some other potentially useful threads.

In short, soap or even sandpaper can make it more usable quickly, but the best option for longevity seems to be to suffer through it. Go somewhere humid if you want to speed up the process. As you get better you'll be able to adapt and the slipperiness won't bother you too much. At this stage (learning a 2d wrap start) you might do better with the white string.

[Tipper]

even sandpaper

Please.. Dont ever use sandpaper. It doesn't make your string alot grippyer. It just tears apart the little fibers that would otherwise protect the core from wear and tear. I tried this so many times with Henry's yellow and think i wasted about 3 meters of it. Changed my string 3 times because it snapped within half an hour. Best thing is to use a dry bar of soap, run it a couple of times while applying pressure and you will be set. The new Henry's yellow is wearing down faster than the old so playing with this for around 30 minutes with 1d and adding 3 wraps while doing speed-orbits will get it just fine. The string will last a little longer when not applying soap but if you want the perfect string just from the start then use the soap. Spray with deodorant for the opposite effect and just stand there doing whips in the air to dry it out. Hope this will help (:

-Tipper

[NiekG]

Please.. Dont ever use sandpaper. It doesn't make your string alot grippyer. It just tears apart the little fibers that would otherwise protect the core from wear and tear. I tried this so many times with Henry's yellow and think i wasted about 3 meters of it. Changed my string 3 times because it snapped within half an hour. Best thing is to use a dry bar of soap, run it a couple of times while applying pressure and you will be set. The new Henry's yellow is wearing down faster than the old so playing with this for around 30 minutes with 1d and adding 3 wraps while doing speed-orbits will get it just fine. The string will last a little longer when not applying soap but if you want the perfect string just from the start then use the soap. Spray with deodorant for the opposite effect and just stand there doing whips in the air to dry it out. Hope this will help (:

-Tipper

Running the string through candle wax also has the opposite effect.

[Ben.]

Everyone who uses soap needs to man up and use slippery string for about 30 minutes until it becomes grippy.

Slippery string is still useable completely.

This thread is waste.

[NiekG]

Everyone who uses soap needs to man up and use slippery string for about 30 minutes until it becomes grippy.

Slippery string is still useable completely.

This thread is waste.

Soap is a good alternative if you don't have the time.

[bourgeois.jason]

Soap is good for me.  I don't think that it lowers the life of the string, at all.  It also only takes about 1 minute to put the soap on.  It makes the play much more enjoyable for me.

[Not Skilled Yet]

Ben is right. This thread is rubbish.