4 replies to this topic

[LoveWillSteerTheStars]

Anyone try soaking stiff vinyl straps in some sort of conditioner?

Old bins often have perfectly strong straps but they have taken a tangled bent set & need to be limp again.

 

You could stick most of a strap down the neck of a spray bottle of conditioner & let it soak.

 

Anyone know a good trick to "unbuttoning" a strap that is thru the bino loops?

Without buggering up the plastic button?

I've used a small screwdriver to open up the long slot & manipulate the button thru it.

Edited by LoveWillSteerTheStars, 05 December 2022 - 11:58 PM.

[columbidae]

As far as I understand, vinyl conditioners like ArmorAll mostly just clean and provide a protective layer on the outer surface.  It will slow UV and oxidative damage, but it cannot reverse it.  Leather conditioners work by a different mechanism  and can help a dry and stiff leather become pliable again, but even then, everything does eventually wear out.

 

Personally, I'd look into finding a nice replacement strap, for comfort and safety's sake.  If the current strap's worth preserving for other reasons, it might be better preserved off the binocular anyway.

[TOMDEY]

Problem with plastics is that they degrade irreversibly. That "new car smell" is the essential esters forever wafting away. I guess I could be wrong... but that's a rare occurrence.    Tom

[drd715]

Boil them

[LoveWillSteerTheStars]

Boil them

If they are of a thermoplastic formulation, that might be helpful.  Then dunk 'em in conditioner while still hot.