-----Original Message-----
From: Lucky Pittman
Sent: Friday, March 16, 2012 2:07 PM
To: 'nafex mailing list at ibiblio'
Subject: [nafex] Grafting/Budding rubbers
Years ago, I used to purchase the soft red grafting/budding rubbers from
Mellingers, but they closed, and since then, I've just been using 3/8"
rubber bands from the local OfficeMax store. They've worked OK , but break
down pretty rapidly in sunlight - like within a week or two. So. if I think
they need to retain their integrity a bit longer, I over-wrap the rubber
band with a couple layers of masking tape. Not sure whether it slows
degradation or not - or if it just hides it so that I don't see the
degrading bands so readily. I'm sure aluminum foil would block UVL, but I
can't always guarantee that I'll get out to remove it in a timely fashion.
Anyway, while I was at OfficeMax, laying in a supply of rubber bands for
this year's grafting, I saw that they also had (orange) 'non-latex/no
natural rubber' bands. Wondered if anyone had ever used those and had any
comments, good or bad, pertaining to them.