Washing, Cleaning and Caring for Your Wetsuit
Looking after your new wetsuit is something we all forget about and then we wonder why our suit stinks, the zip catches or it just starts to feel old. You have to look after your new purchase, it needs to be cared for - washed, cleaned and generally well maintained. For proper wetsuit maintenance, follow these easy cleaning and storage tips to ensure you get the maximum life span out of your new purchase.
The Basics: How to Care for Your Wetsuit
Every time you surf you should be washing your suit with fresh water, even at the very least have a shower at the beach in it as you come in. If you have the time, or are able, give it a proper rinse inside and out and let it dry before putting it away. There’s more to looking after your suit so follow along below for some helpful tips and pointers that will not only give your wetsuit a longer life, but it will also keep it fresher.
• Grab a mat, towel or a plastic tub that’s big enough to stand in. When you change out of your suit, stand in the tub or on the mat so your suit doesn’t touch the ground. This keeps debris and harmful chemicals from getting on your wetsuit as well as helping you avoid the road/rocks which can create tears in your suit.
• Throw your suit under the hose or shower and give it a proper rinse in cool freshwater as soon as you can after surfing. Wash it thoroughly – inside and out - to ensure you get all the salt and sand out of it.
• With your suit inside out, hang it halfway through the middle of a clothes hanger. Avoid hanging your suit from the neck or shoulders as they will stretch out.
• Avoid direct sunlight as UV rays break down the neoprene & hang your wetsuit in a shady place, ideally with a breeze.
• After a few hours – or when the outer side feels dry – flip your suit right side out and continue the drying process in the shade.
• Once your suit is fully dry, store it on a wide-shoulder hanger until your next surf.
Hot Tip: Don’t leave your wetsuit outside overnight or it’ll be damp in the morning.
Washing Your Wetsuit
While regularly washing your wetsuit in fresh water increases its lifespan, you can do more to ensure your wetsuit stays in top shape for as long as possible. How? Wetsuit shampoo! You can get some from your surf shop, dive shop or hardware shop. Grab some and every month or so rinse your suit and add in the shampoo. Follow as per the bottles instructions but essentially give the suit a proper wash, let it sink it, then rinse and rinse it again. Once you think you’ve rinsed it enough to make sure you get all the shampoo out let it dry thoroughly. Enjoy the wetsuit equivalent of fresh laundry.
Washing and Drying Your Wetsuit Booties
If you’re not sold on using neoprene shampoo for your actual wetsuit, you should definitely use it for your booties. Like socks and shoes, wetsuit booties can be disproportionately stinky, like trash day stinky, if you don’t look after them. A quick drying hack? After you rinse them thoroughly, roll the tops of your booties down then hang them upside down so air can circulate.
How to Dry Your Wetsuit Quickly
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A damp suit is not a dry suit and in the early winter mornings we only want dry suits. To help skip the damp suit use these tips to help your dry wetsuit faster:
• After rinsing in fresh water, hang your suit halfway through a wide hanger in a ventilated bathroom over a shower or tub.
• Gently squeeze the water out, starting in the shoulders, working your way toward the wrist openings.
• Repeat on the bottom half of the wetsuit.
• Wait 30 minutes then repeat the steps above.
• Once the suit feels dry, flip it right side out.
• Repeat the squeezing technique every 30 minutes until dry.
In the colder months, hang your suit to dry indoors in a well-ventilated space (a bathroom over a tub or shower is best). Wetsuits don’t dry quickly in cold or poorly ventilated areas like garages or basements. Hanging is the best option for wetsuits, but stands work great for booties and gloves. Squeeze out the water as you would your wetsuit, then place your booties on a mop or broom handle.
Storing Your Wetsuit
After Surfing
After you’ve cleaned, rinsed and allowed your suit to dry, always keep it indoors. Storing your suit in a garage can lead to dampness and car fumes can also damage neoprene. Leaving it in the sun can damage the seams and neoprene as UV eats away at the materials.
For the Season
Some of us need to use multiple wetsuits through the year, differing in thickness, etc depending on the season. During summer, winter wetsuits need to be stored and vice versa, if you’re in this camp make sure you dry your wetsuit completely before storing - it’ll help avoid funk or mould from developing. Also, lay the suit flat if you can (avoid folding) to help the suit maintain its shape and fit for the next season. And if you can, have time and space, get the suit out mid-season and just air it out.
The next best option is to hang a suit on a broad-shoulder, plastic hanger. Special wetsuit hangers are available and remember to Never use a wire hanger. A neat little hack, if you’re stuck, is to grab a normal plastic hanger, cut some foam (pool noodle) and fit it onto the hanger. Put your suit over that, and away you go. Do not fold your wetsuit for long periods as the creases will damage the neoprene.
Following these steps will ensure your wetsuit keeps you warm for many seasons to come.
Don’t Tumble Dry Your Wetsuit (and other things to avoid)
While most wetsuits can take a pretty solid beating, there’s some things you should never do to do your newly purchased piece of neoprene.
• Never tumble dry a wetsuit.
• Never put your wetsuit in the washing machine.
• Never use laundry detergent.
• Do not dry your wetsuit in direct sunlight. UV breaks down the neoprene and is a sure fire way to shorten your suits lifespan.
• Avoid folding your wetsuit, creases lead to cracks (especially on seams).
• Keep an eye out for sharp objects and snags, even fingernails can damage neoprene when putting on or removing your suit.
How Long Should Your Wetsuit Last For?
The single most asked question with the widest ranging answers. To be honest, different factors will determine how long your wetsuit will last for. Factors to take into consideration include how often you use it, how you store it, how you care for it and the type of neoprene it’s made from.
If you follow the basic care steps we outlined above, you should get at least a year or two out of your suit. If you’re not a regular surfer (multiple times a week) and you really look after your suit you could stretch that out to 4-5 years.
Generally, the more flexible and high performance a suit is, the shorter its lifespan. No matter what type of suit you own, it will have a shelf life. If you use your wetsuit every day then it will wear out faster. Conversely, if you buy a wetsuit and leave it in the closet for years and use it out for one winter session, you may find it’s shrunk. Neoprene that doesn’t see water for a long time can harden and become prone to cracking.
