comments:
Mild dish detergent and warm water in your sink with a washcloth. Hand dry them with a towel after rinsed. I've found the Serious Steel bands (in particular)... along with their overly-saccharin sweet smell, have some sort of dry powder coating on them that is supposed prolong the life of the bands, but the residue of it gets on everything, including your hands, so it has to be washed off. X3 bands are the same. I have both brand bands and had to wash them to get that stuff off. Washing also significantly cuts down on the overly-saccharin sweet smell of the bands. For longterm conditioning maintenance on 100% latex bands, it's best to give your bands a light coating of 100% Silicone Oil - aka "band butter". Many band manufacturers recommend you do that at least every couple months. It keeps the bands conditioned and helps prevent drying/cracking along edges. It's also good to wipe a little of the oil on footplate edges, as it will help the bands move with less friction-catch on the footplate. Make sure the oil is 100% silicone oil with no additives or alcohols, etc. Additives can degrade the latex quickly. The silicone oil does make the bands feel a little greasy, but that's why it works. Some manufacturers even ship new bands with a light coating of this oil (Clench and Quantum) for example. The silicone oil is better than the serious steel powder film stuff IMO (at least from a tactile perspective.)