Soak it in water before installation and
ALWAYS wear latex gloves when handling it.
Brass or stainless safety wire from aircraft makes a dandy (and inexpensive) clamp
I am not disagreeing with you on any of this but having done a few sets recently, my experiences suggest that:
- soaking is a good idea but if you unroll 50 or 100 feet of the stuff to soak it in a bucket, you'll have a nightmare of a snake trying to wrap your pipes with, say after the third wrap, you have 90+ sitting on the floor to wind around. I've found more manageable to work the roll from the package and use a spray bottle to wet/soak the material as it goes on. It may add a bit of stretch but it's far easier to navigate around corners and bends with a roll in your hand instead of a pile on soaked wrap on the floor.
- do wear gloves, disposable latex ones are good and cheap, mechanics gloves (if you already have a pair) also worked for me.
- safety wire is certainly a cool, old school way of clamping the wrap - you do it at start and finish of the wrap. Wrapping it around several times and hiding the twist away from view makes a cleaner look, so does using two rows or wire looks beter and more effective than one. The stainless zip ties they sell for the wrap also look good but remember most rolls don't come with zip ties in them, they're an extra item to purchase.
- also, add a few inches to the cut end length and fold it over inside itself so you get a nice clean folded edge that won't fray.
- once complete add more spray to soak the wrap even more.
My additional 2ยข worth
