Can baby powder hurt my bladders?

[dandaka]

I've always used baby powder to put bladders in place. Few times heard, that it is bad for bladders. Can someone confirm / confute this statement?

[cglazier]

Baby powder doesn't hurt anything, it just makes a mess... and is of little value. I have done over a hundred bladder replacements and we never use it. Bladders easily slide inside kite fabric without it.

It is one of those myths that are hard to dispel like people who believe you should rinse your kite with fresh water after every use (don't bother).

CG

[southflorida]

I've repaired bladders using talcum powder (aka baby powder) for LE bladder insertion. I still have those kites repaired years ago, and never a problem. So, no "hurt" going on with mine.

In a pinch I've not used talcum, and was able to successfully insert LE bladder on first try...so yeah, maybe not absolutely needed? It does seem to make the bladder slide around a lot when you stack it in accordion form before insertion, so it does serve a 'lube' purpose. If everything is 100% dry and I've got the talcum on hand, I'll use it, otherwise can get by without.

[edt]

I've always used baby powder to put bladders in place. Few times heard, that it is bad for bladders. Can someone confirm / confute this statement?

it's not bad at all for the bladders the problem is when you get a hole, and need to do a repair, the baby powder is all over the bladder, so if you just do a regular stick with tear air or a fix it valve, it will peel off. On a regular bladder, you can just use rubbing alcohol to clean, but on a bladder with baby powder I will always make sure to lightly sand the bladder before fixing a hole, it not only gets the powder off so your patch will stick, it also gives you a better mechanical adhesion -- which I guess is something you should do every repair, but it is especially important if a bladder has powder on it, make sure you sand it before a patch.

Short answer -- no it's not bad for the bladder, but it will mean when you do your next patch you have to make sure to get all the powder off so your patch will stick.

[Tiago1973]

funny, i use to drop baby powder into the bladder to the stop air leakage from small holes

[dejavu]

I have changed struts and bladders and always use normal talc. Definitely makes it easier to insert back, slides nicely. No issue with the talc and just use sparingly not saturated.

Tip.... I learnt to always ensure all sand a small shell fragments are shaken out of the bladder and struts fabric.