Santi Diving Equipment USA, Inc.

Recommendation for Care & Laundry

Properly caring for your Jumpsuits, Warmer Vests and any other products made with Thinsulate™ is essential. By following these simple insulations, your products will provide years of service. Please read the following instructions carefully.

If, directions are not followed, break down of the insulating properties can occur.

Special Note:

To obtain the longest life possible from your Santi Diving Equipment USA, Inc. Jumpsuits, Warmer Vests and Accessories, wash it as infrequently as possible. The best way to accomplish this is to wear thermal underwear beneath your Jumpsuit. The liner will absorb odors and perspiration from the body. Avoid using cotton as a liner because it saturates with moisture easily and will conduct heat away from the body when wet. The liner can then be washed as needed, minimizing the need to wash the Santi Diving Equipment USA, Inc. Jumpsuits, Warmer Vests and Accessories with Thinsulate™ insulation.

Machine-wash in cold water at the temperature of 60-100 deg. F. Hand washing is not recommended since it is difficult to work the water into and through the Jumpsuit to flush away dirt and it is also difficult to remove the water by hand without damaging the insulation. The Jumpsuit should be washed separately to avoid crowding in the machine and to maximize the cleaning action. Add detergent at the beginning of the wash cycle. Wash the garment for an additional complete wash cycle without detergent.

Warning: Never spin your Jumpsuit or Vests!

To dry, lay the Jumpsuit flat or tumble dry using a delicate cycle (very low temperature) or air only. For the first drying cycle, turn the Jumpsuit inside out and repeat if the lining is still wet. For the second drying cycle, turn the Jumpsuit right side out again and repeat until the lining is dry.

Warning: Do not hang to dry!!!

The weight of the water in the garment will cause the Thinsulate™ Insulation liner to separate.
When washing your Jumpsuit that has not been washed before, the following recommendations are made when minor cleaning is needed:

• Salt crystals ? Wash with clear water without detergent.
• Disinfect ? This may be required due to a unique application such as saturation diving or to remove mold if the Jumpsuit was stored wet in a dark place. Add one cup of liquid non-chlorine bleach (follow label instructions) at the beginning of the wash cycle. DO NOT add detergent.
• Odor ? If odor is the only problem, wash the Jumpsuit using one cup of white vinegar then put the Jumpsuit through one complete wash cycle with water only.
• If the Jumpsuit has already been washed in detergent and you are having a problem with water absorption, it is probably because all of the soap has not been removed. Putting it through 2-4 complete wash cycles without detergent can renew the insulation properties of the Jumpsuit.

Caution:

Use of chlorine bleach can cause color change or spotting under some conditions, and may damage the insulation.

Thinsulate™ - Overview.
What you should know about product materials.

Thinsulate™ insulation material is made of micro fibers that are 1/1000th the size of a human hair. There are 1000 Thinsulate™ micro fibers in a given space, on the other hand the best other insulating materials have only 10 fibers of synthetic insulation in the same space. This means that effective area of Thinsulate™ micro fibers is 314 000 square millimeters, while the others - only 31 400 square millimeters. This thermal insulation is the most effective one (weight and size to warmth ratio) among all known existing materials at the moment.

Below is a list of different kinds of Thinsulate™ insulation we use:

Jumpsuits with Thinsulate™ CS-100 are recommended for sport and recreation diving during summer

CS-200 is recommended for deep diving

CS-150 has features of both CS-100 and CS-200 insulations, that is why it is the most versatile

CS-250 for extreme diving

THL-1, THL-2, THL-3 also known as Thinsulate™ Lite Loft. It has the lowest weight to warmth ratio

FX-100 - Thinsulate™ - elastic, so-called Flex. The main advantage is its elasticity, which gives exceptional elbow room. Recommended for sport and recreation diving rather during summer.

FX-200 - for deep diving, due to long exposures.

Thinsulate™ B-200 and B-400 have the best insulation ability and are certified (so-called US Navy approval) and used by US Navy. These materials are resistant to pressure, so it can be used for commercial and military diving.

Most of the European companies with a top producer C. Bear use Thinsulate™ CS group, while American and Canadian producers use B, FX and THL groups.

Thinsulate™ from the B, C, THL and FX groups are water resistant, because it absorbs less than 1% of its weight in water and even in damp conditions it retains its insulating properties. It is a fully breathable, giving optimal thermal comfort to a human body.

Thinsulate™ from the CS group should be quilted in widths of 4-12 inches (or 12-18 inch panels) or laminated. In this case insulation properties decrease by about 30%. You should remember that the smaller the thickness of the fabric, the quicker insulating properties will decrease. There is no such problem with the B group, but it is recommended to for the B 400 to be quilted.

Materials used to make the outside layer: Taslan, Suplex, Pertex, Tactel - different kinds of high-class polyester fabrics.

Materials used for linings: different kinds of soft polyester fabrics, Treviva Microtherm, fleece.

What is CLO?

CLO is the measure of the ability of an insulation to keep you warm.  The CLO unit is defined as the amount of clothing required by a resting subject to be comfortable at a room temperature of 21°C (70°F), relative humidity <50% and air movement 20 ft/min.
If you are familiar with the tog rating system, 1.5 tog = CLO.9,16

You may download Jumpsuit Manual in *.PDF format.