I have contest in 3 days and I’m entering panic mode. We’ve been getting record amounts of rain. It’s rained almost nonstop for a month. It just rained 9 days in a row non stop (we got 3 and a half inches on monday night alone). The rain finally stopped and it got really hot. It’s been super humid for weeks now and I’m not really sure what to do about it. My kitty strings are getting destroyed after an hour of play (it’s getting really frizzy, losing insane amounts on tension making suicides nearly impossible, and sticking to itself). Just to make things better, the humidity loosened the glue under my response pads and made them fall out (they were only a few days old) and I’m down to last pair. So… is there any way to get around this? I’m starting to freak out.
Do you have a basement?
Yeah I have a basement. But it’s still just as hot and muggy down there as anywhere else. And the air conditioning is on. And a glove won’t help with the response pads. Plus I haven’t used one for years. I can’t really switch right before competition.
If the AC is on how is this possible? Did the yoyo get wet? I have left yoyos in my car for hours on end and never had a pad fall out.
Try buying a a dehumidifier it reduces the humidity of an area of your basement so it’s somewhat normal for string not to get destroyed.
When the humidity gets really bad here, I start using a different type of string. I dont really like them as much as 100% poly string but I’ve found that nylon/plasticy feeling strings do better in high humidity. I’ve got a batch of old Alchemy string that works great for me. As far as response pads, I guess you could do a silicone mod but you probably don’t have time to do that and still practice if you’re competing this Saturday (going to MER?)
I’d suggest putting on new stickers, and making sure to fully dry the surface before you apply them. When your not using the yoyo, store it in a cool dry place like in a sock inside a closed drawer or cupboard. If you run out of stickers you can use tape. It will give you vibe and wont work as well as stickers, but it will work.
Worst case scenario is that you burn through alot of supplies over the next few days, but if you are at a contest this weekend you can stock up.
Good Luck 
I think a lot of people have had this problem when competing at worlds, especially when it was held outdoors.
I don’t see how humidity knocked your pads out though. Silicone is waterproof, so it should have stopped any water from even getting to the adhesive side of them. The only way it could have that I can think of is that the pads didn’t fill the recess completely, in which case, simply using flowable silicone should solve that problem.
String wear/stickiness isn’t really fixable I don’e believe. I’ve heard of people using baby powder though, as well as gloves to prevent it from sticking to your hands. Wouldn’t hurt to give it a try.
Well when the pads fell out the backside of the pad and the whole part of the yoyo was wet. Normally when they fall out after being in for a few months it’s dry. Anyways, I found our dehumidifier and set it up. It’s been on for 3 minutes and the back of it is already soaked and dripping (it’s from the early 90s :P). But it appears to be doing it’s job. Tonight is supposed to storm again but it’s also supposed to get pretty cool so it should be okay.
It seems like baby powder would mess up your bearings…
Baby powder on your hands is exactly what you need.
I sometimes switch between baby powder. At worlds Paulo showed me that spraying your hands with Arrid Extra Dry deodorant dries them out really well too. I still prefer to run really hot water, then really cold water over my hands. It works better than anything else I’ve tried.
The dehumidifier is doing it’s job. It’s collected about a liter of water out of the air and the basement is starting to feel cooler. I’m gonna let it run for a bit longer and I’ll practice once night comes along so the basement is dry from the dehumidifier and cool because the sun isn’t out.
I live in the same town as you. The rain has been pretty brutal. I’ve found strings with nylon blended in hold up a little better. And keep the dehumidifier going. A damp basement can raise the humidity in the whole house. I’m assuming you’ll be going to Ohio States. We’re supposed to get more rain before then from what I hear.