Wet-Suit cleaning

[Fireup2020]

I have googled this and discovered conflicting posts from other forums. So, am posting this in hopes that trusted (and frugal) folks will save my day. Wet suit is not "funky" yet. Don't want it to get to that point! Currently, I just rinse it off (no salt water - just cold river water useage) and hang to "dry"

What do you use to keep yours clean and avoid the funkiness?

 

[TromboneAl]

For some reason, mine doesn't get funky. I always just rinse it in fresh water and hang it up. I have a plastic tub that I put it in for soaking (5-10 minutes).

I've read that no detergent should be used. I've read that you shouldn't hang them, but mine has a loop for hanging.

It definitely should never be in the sun, as in the picture below.

Here's a picture of it with my new bootie/glove dryer.

​

 

[Fireup2020]

One thread mentioned Woolite and Listerine! Others mention special wetsuit cleanser..

 

[JB]

I have a 4/3 steamer that's been hanging in the closet for 6 years. It's starting to smell so I washed it inside out with a dilute mild soap and let it hang dry in the sun for a few hours. I don't think you'll have problems if you rinse it out and let it dry thoroughly before storing it.

 

[donheff]

I simply washed out my lightweight shorty and my steamer with fresh water and hung them up for years. Never seemed funky to me. But then, I do have allergies Those were the suits I used for windsurfing from my house so it was easy to wash them and hang them up. When I used to do a lot of diving I traveled frequently with a 1/4" wet suit. It used to get pretty funky in the dive bag. But still, rinse it out and hang it up and the funk would disappear.

 

[Nords]

I have googled this and discovered conflicting posts from other forums. So, am posting this in hopes that trusted (and frugal) folks will save my day. Wet suit is not "funky" yet. Don't want it to get to that point! Currently, I just rinse it off (no salt water - just cold river water useage) and hang to "dry"
What do you use to keep yours clean and avoid the funkiness?

We made dozens of ocean dives in our Monterey Bay wetsuits, sometimes sweating like crazy, and never encountered funk. We just dunked 'em in fresh water and hung them up to dry outdoors (out of direct sunlight).

You can buy wetsuit hangers & bootie/glove drying racks (or make them as Al shows) that will allow air to circulate while they're hanging. Others turn theirs inside-out until dry but that's never seemed to be worth the hassle.

We've had ours for over 20 years. These days they only get used once or twice a year, but they're in fine shape.

 

[Texarkandy]

There are special wetsuit shampoos you can buy - I've not had the opportunity to try any personally - we generally just fresh water rinse & leave out to dry

- or do a search on the ScubaBoard forum &/or Scubatoys forum for lots of ideas on keeping your wetsuit from getting funky

(I highly recommend ScubaToys for dive equip & accessory purchases - they are located in Dallas but do a big online business & unlike some other online dive retailers - they are licensed sellers of everything they sell - important for warranty purposes)