Wetsuit maintenance (cleaning) at the end of the season

    Hi,


    do any of you wash your wetsuit before you put it away for a long time (winter)? I just read here (French) that it is good to do this at the end of the season to remove all the salt and that it makes the wetsuit last longer :


    A la chasse sous-marine


    It says to do the following:


    1) Choose a short & delicate program (wool, silk, etc)
    2) Make sure the temperature is no higher than 30°C for this program
    3) Put half a regular dose of detergent, the kind for delicate things like wool
    4) Deactivate the spinning cycle of the program
    5) Once done, dry on a hanger inside and out for several hours on each side. Do not use heat to dry it!
    6) Hang in a dry cool place with little heat and humidity variations, do not fold.


    Do any of you do this? Is it really safe? What about for tailor made wetsuits?


    Thanks,
    Gabriel

    I do not do anything more than I do after every dive.


    Fresh water rinse in the shower little bit of bar soap. Hang up inside out until dry, flip it, once dry, lay it flat over my dive bag until used again

    i like to spear fish

    Yes Dan, I do. I said in my latest post that I havemuo until now rinsed it in fresh water and hang up to dry inside and out. My first post was asking if anyone did as that article says you can do (wash it in the washing machine before long storage) , I never said I did that ;-).

    I think whoever wrote that had to be joking. Did they mention anything about ironing the fins too? :)


    For open cell suits; rinse (I use a garden hose outdoors) turn inside out, rinse, let dry, turn right side out, let dry. Store rolled up to avoid creases. Don't put anything heavy on top of the suit.

    I have had to store my wet suits for the "season" many times. All I have ever done is leave them submerged in fresh water for a few hours to absorb any salt etc. After that I hang them out of the sun for a really thorough dry. I have had the the inside of suits stick together before. For this reason I turn them inside out for long term storage. I don't know if the sticking together is a come problem or not.

    I've only seen the interior of new suits stick together occasionally, but it separates fine. If one of my suits was sticking together after being used and rinsed, I would have to conclude that some foreign substance caused it. Who knows what it could be, sun tan lotion, some weird lube.. an open cell suit lubed with hair conditioner and rinsed should never stick.

    Leave it to the French:crazy: Wait I min....I'm French/Irish decent .;) best food, best wine, best pu---.:thumbsup2:


    Fighting......well that's the Canadian in me aye?:toast::toast:


    Like a true pussy... I have warmed up my suit on low heat in the dryer before hitting the 54degree in winter water.:thumbsup2:


    Cheers, Don

    "Great mother ocean brought forth all life, it is my eternal home'' Don Berry from Blue Water Hunters.


    Spearfishing Store the freediving and spearfishing equipment specialists.

    You can actually was your wetsuit in a washing machine. I've done it when it becomes stinky.


    No problem at all. Just follow the instructions of the first post. Delicate cycle, low temp and mild soap.


    ;)

    Marco Melis

    A bad day fishing is ALWAYS better than a good day at work.

    Truth be told. Ive had my 2 mil rob allen suit for a year and a half almost two and as god as my witness, when i get home. Its usually late and dark, so my suit goes in the dryer..


    i never thought id admit to this on a public forum but here goes... Id say its been in the dryer at least 100 or more times. Smtimes i forget about it and itll go longer, most of the time it goes in for about 30-45 minuets. My roomeate just the other day said, its crazy how perfect and almost new my suit looks. And its one of the longest running piece of gear i have used since starting spearing. Im rough as hell with it, i lay on the bottom, kneel, up in rocks whatever. I had only one part of the stiching come undone, basically a single thread on the pant. I put a few hlaf hitches on it with a needle and its never came back. I wear the suiit year roun and scuba dive with it regularly. Not only does it keep my skinny ass warm, but it has held up suprisingly better then most other suits ive seen. Not only is the matrial still like it was the day it was born, but the outside looks brand new still as well, and even still has that new smell too.. I held it up to my friend suits for comparison, and it was hard to tell the difference between the two. I have read on countless forums and sites about how heat will destroy your wet suit, and found almost no indication that people are even stupid enough(like me) to do it....but in the end, this RA suit is still rocking like a champ.

    I do nothing at all, I just toss the wetsuit and I let it dry in the shade. A funny smell and that´s it. I have been doing this for a long while, my 2 suits are still holding just ok.

    I'm a Speardiver, not a freediver

    Same qith the guns, I dont even rinse them with fresh water, we don´t have that luxury around here. Tap water is a precious thing around here. If the gun dries in the sun properly nothing happens. All of my guns are the same, I just toss them in open sunlight with a home made band cover. They hold just well.

    I'm a Speardiver, not a freediver

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