Why Options to Petroleum-Based mostly Neoprene Are Now Higher Than Ever

Other than a fleeting blaze of neon within the ’80s, wetsuits have been largely monochromatic — most surfers simply stick with black. In the identical vein, wetsuit producers have taken an identical method to manufacturing, sticking with neoprene, a textile first invented by DuPont in 1931.

Whereas neoprene continues to dominate the market, increasingly more wetsuit suppliers are adopting sustainable stand-ins to the petroleum-based normal.

On the forefront of that divergence from the pack, unsurprisingly, has been Patagonia. Yvon Chouinard’s firm began wanting into sustainable substitutes to neoprene lengthy earlier than it turned compulsory for manufacturers to handle environmental influence.

Patagonia Groups up With Yulex

In 2008, when the model first cross-stepped into the wetsuit market, Patagonia partnered with Yulex, a bio-based supplies innovator. Collectively, they developed clear pure rubber first from the guayule plant, then the hevea tree, the latter of which turned the muse of Patagonia’s present lineup of Yulex fits — the gold normal in sustainable wetsuit manufacturing.

The fabric ultimately enabled Patagonia to commit absolutely to sustainability in 2016, turning into the primary surf firm to nix neoprene altogether. Ever since, Patagonia and Yulex have been bettering the recipe. After we examined a few renditions, it’s secure to say Patagonia’s on its greatest batch of wetsuits but.

We chatted with Hub Hubbard, Patagonia’s Ventura-based wetsuit developer, who can testify to why it’s been an extended street to get Yulex to the place it’s now.

The place It Began

At first, Yulex was only a pipe dream.

The supplies producer approached a handful of surf manufacturers with its futuristic, sustainable rubber, and whereas most manufacturers applauded the concept, they couldn’t be bothered to take a position what it will take to make the idea scalable. One, nonetheless, gave them an opportunity: Patagonia.

“I really obtained to take out one of many very first Yulex wetsuits ever made,” recalled Hubbard, shortly after he joined Patagonia in 2012. “It was unbelievable. I’ve advised the story many instances — however I ran all the way down to Emma Woods with this go well with. It was one foot, and onshore, I used to be the one one out, and it was this second. I used to be like, ‘Oh my God. That is the most effective go well with on the earth.’ Which it was not, by any means,” he laughed.

Since that fateful surf proved the concept had sea legs, there have been inevitable rising pains as Patagonia introduced the brand new tech to market. Yulex, it turned out, can’t be handled the identical as neoprene. It was a totally new materials that required a distinct lexicon of development strategies. Subsequently, early manufacturing fashions have been on the stiffer aspect.

Patagonia realized because it went, constantly tweaking the design and dealing with Yulex to enhance the fabric. Like a well-earned wave after a wearisome paddle-out, the laborious work’s been properly price it. “Over the past six years, the evolution has been unbelievable. What we now have now’s, so far as I’m involved, equal to any neoprene product that’s on the market,” mentioned Hubbard.

The place Yulex Is Now

After such a painstaking and dear street to market, it would shock you to be taught that Yulex isn’t unique to Patagonia fits.

Whereas many firms would possibly select to maintain such expertise secret, Patagonia deliberately shared its findings with opponents. “Patagonia’s such a tiny % of the wetsuit market as an entire. We knew from the start that we weren’t going to make a distinction if we [kept] this solely for ourselves,” Hubbard mentioned. “So from the get-go, we all the time meant to make it an open market expertise. We absolutely assist help some other model that wishes to undertake it.”

And in recent times, the tech is catching on, with surf manufacturers like Billabong, Finisterre, and Want Necessities incorporating the material.

And as Hubbard says, the extra the merrier.