Wetsuit Maintenance: Cleaning - Care - Storage - and Repair

How to Clean Your Wetsuit

In this article, you will learn the proper steps to cleaning and maintaining your wetsuit. Following these procedures will extend the lifespan of your wetsuit so that it will last many years to come. Also, you will learn how to do some simple at-home repairs that will help extend the lifespan of the wetsuit.

Step One: Initial Rinsing Off of Your Wetsuit

Proper wetsuit cleaning starts with giving the outside a good rinse with freshwater, gently rubbing dirty areas with your hands. This will remove any debris that may be dried on the outside of your wetsuit. Use cold water, avoid using hot water and salt water, as these can eventually break down the fibers in the neoprene itself. Now go ahead and make up your shampoo wash in a clean tub, trash can, party tub, etc., according to the directions on the shampoo container. I prefer OdoBan wetsuit shampoo and deodorizer. I have been using it for years, and any of them will work.

Now start rinsing with a water hose on a spray setting. So, just cold, fresh water is all you need. Then turn the wetsuit inside out. Rinse the inside of the suit thoroughly, front and back. Now you are ready to give your wetsuit and plunge and dunk!

Step Two: Shampooing Your Wetsuit, The plunge-and-dunk!

Ok, now with both of your hands, start doing the plunge and dunk, which cleans any algae, bacteria, and salt deposits from the rubber. Remember to mix the shampoo and water in proportion to the amounts listed on the product label of the suit shampoo you’re using. Do this step until you think it's clean. If it has sat wadded up in your gear bag for days, it will require more time and dunks. If you had an accident in your suit, the same thing. Simple as that!

After you're done with your suit, do any other neoprene equipment you have too!

Peeing in Your Wetsuit: We’ve all done it, but peeing in your wetsuit can damage the crotch portion of the wetsuit through uric acid, creatine, and potassium salts. If possible, avoid doing so to prolong the life of your suit and keep that nasty urine smell out of your neoprene.

Step Three: Deodorizing if you DID NOT USE OdoBan

Lastly, dunk your wetsuit in the odor eliminator. Mirazyme and Pau Pilau kill all the microbial odors that get trapped in your gear, but so does Odoban because it has it built in. However, if you bought a separate deodorizer and shampoo, you have to do this step! It is a very important step.

Same steps as above after emptying your tub of the shampoo water, follow directions on the bottle when mixing the solution, then plunge and dunk. This must be the last step before drying because, for it to work properly, it needs to dry on the suit.

Step Four: Drying your Wetsuit with Care

Dry your wetsuit in the shade. The key to drying is to leave the wetsuit inside out and dry it outside in the shade or inside in your shower if outdoors is out of the question. Doing this will take an extra amount of time, but it will protect the rubber against ageing from direct sunlight.

While it is still wet, it is important to only hang the wetsuit by the waist. if you can’t hand-dry it this way, you can hang it by a hangar by inserting a wetsuit hangar in the shoulders of the suit.

Taking Care of Zippers and Fastenings

The zipper is often the first thing to fail on an otherwise perfect wetsuit. Salt, sand, and corrosion are the primary enemies of your suit’s hardware. The Zip Care can be applied to just about any zipper.

After you have done all the steps above, zipper care is vitally important. It is simple to do. We sell a product called Zip Care that cleans and lubricates the zipper in one fell swoop! Follow instructions on the bottle, use the built-in brush, and you are done!

How to Store Your Wetsuit

Properly storing your wetsuit after it is completely dry is crucial to its longevity. Hang it correctly from a wetsuit hanger, NOT a regular hanger or clothesline, as those put too much stress on the wetsuit's small surface area and stretch out certain parts. If you do not have a wetsuit hanger, a heavy-duty plastic hanger will work. Folding your wetsuit will likely create creases in the wetsuit over time, compressing the neoprene, so I don’t recommend this practice for long-term storage.

What Not to Do with Your Wetsuit

• No Hot Water when cleaning
• No Saltwater when cleaning
• Do Not Machine Wash or dry it in a clothes dryer
• Do Not Store it wadded up
• Avoid drying or leaving your wetsuit in the sun for an extended period of time
• Do not hang it on a clothes hanger

*Remember that it is made of neoprene rubber, so use your judgment. If it doesn’t seem to be a good idea, just do not do it.

When to Buy a New Wetsuit

You should buy a new wetsuit when your wetsuit has a hole too large to repair, develops thin or weak spots, or gets permanent creasing. If your wetsuit starts to lose its shape and becomes too loose, or doesn’t fit properly, it is time for a new suit. Your suit should not be loose anywhere to function properly. Lastly, if the stitching and gluing at the seams start to come apart.

Repairing Your Wetsuit

Before I go into repair materials and techniques, it’s VERY important to bring up the fact that every wetsuit carries at least a 1-year warranty on manufacturer’s defects.

Any home repair will void your warranty. If you have any chance of using your warranty, you should take it. We see this mistake all too commonly, so save yourself the cash and hassle and have a professional warranty service person fix your suit if possible. We recommend using the following for any repairs when your suit is out of warranty:

Using Aquaseal/ Contact Cement:

This urethane-based repair cement comes in a tube like toothpaste and works like a charm to repair leaks, tears, cuts, and holes. It was designed for wetsuits, but it will work wonders on other things too, and can even work with synthetic fibers and fabrics.

Simply apply a thin layer with something like a plastic picnic knife or a popsicle stick and let it dry overnight. Use a few layers, especially if it’s a deeper cut or tear. If you’re trying to patch a hole, you can use a thicker clear tape as a backer on one side and work out the adhesive. This means that once the outside area has dried, you can remove the clear tape and apply the aqua seal to that side as well. Otherwise, we’d recommend something more heavy-duty, like a piece of scrap neoprene, for anything larger than a spot bigger than a dime.

As I had mentioned above, if you have a hole or a spot that is bigger than something like a dime, you can use a scrap piece of neoprene, or you can buy pieces of neoprene for just this purpose.

Cut the neoprene patch a little larger than your repair spot and use the adhesive just as specified above. Apply the adhesive to both the suit and the patch and press firmly in place. Use the thick, clear tape over the repair to cover it temporarily while using a dive weight on top overnight. Once the repair is dry, remove the weight and peel off the clear tape, and the repair is done!