For water sports enthusiasts, our wetsuits are an integral part of our year round kit, and for many of us, we have spent a hefty sum on a well-made and innovative wetsuit to support our watery endeavours no matter the temperature or conditions.
It is a given that if you invest in a high quality wetsuit, you will want to retain its quality for the longest time possible, and this can be achieved by following a few simple wetsuit care steps, which we will highlight within this article.
How To Properly Rinse Your Wetsuit
If you do nothing else to maintain your suit, at least rinse your wetsuit with fresh water inside and out after every dip in the sea or after every surf session. Leaving salt water festering inside the neoprene of your suit will cause the rubber to decay at an alarming rate.
Top Tip: save time when you are rinsing your suit by tipping a jug of fresh water over you and another jug inside your suit to flush it through, do this straight after you get out of the sea and before you take your wetsuit off.
Even if you flush your wetsuit through at the beach, you still need to thoroughly clean it when you get home, every single time. For the winter surfers out there, you also need to rinse out any of your wetsuit accessories as well, and treat them with the same care you apply to your wetsuit.
How To Properly Hang And Dry Your Wetsuit
Hanging your wetsuit up properly to dry is just as important as raising it thoroughly. Direct sun will also cause the rubber to decay quicker than you can say ‘surfs up’, and hanging it up incorrectly can cause the neoprene to stretch and distort, resulting in an ill fitting wetsuit and a chilly surf session.
You will often see surfers draping their wetsuits over side car mirrors in the sun or hung up by the neck or shoulders of the suit. These are sure fire ways to accelerate the deterioration of your wetsuit.
Using a plastic wetsuit hanger, thread the wetsuit through the hanger until the hanger is situated at the torso and the wetsuit is doubled up, then hang it in the shower or garage out of direct sunlight.
Top Tip: If you are outside for an extended period of time, maybe indulging in two or three surf sessions throughout the day, hang your suit up in the shade out of direct sunlight.
Don't forget to hang up your wetsuit boots, gloves and hoods using the wetsuit accessories double hanger, they are made of the same material as your wetsuit, so it will degay in the same fashion.
How To Ensure Your Wetsuit Drys Sufficiently
Just throwing your rinsed and hung up wetsuit in the garage and forgetting about it until your next surfing adventure isn’t enough to ensure the longevity of your wetsuit. You need to rotate your wetsuit from inside out to outside in, fairly regularly.
As the water evaporates from the wetsuit, you want to be sure that all that rubber-destroying moisture can escape leaving your wetsuit bone dry and just like new!
How To Shampoo Your Wetsuit
When we are in the shower, we don't just wash ourselves with water, so why would we just wash our precious wetsuits in only water. Occasionally using a specialist wetsuit shampoo will help to remove all the salty missed spots and keep your wetsuit feeling fresh as a daisy.
The best practice when cleaning your wetsuit is to fill up a wetsuit bucket with lukewarm water, add the recommended amount of wetsuit cleaner, dunk in your wetsuit and kneed the product into every crack and crevice, massaging out all the remaining salt and pollutants.
Top tip: Pay extra attention to the zipper on your suit when shampooing it, you want to keep it clean and free from corrosion.
For more wetsuit tips you can find a wealth of information, from first time buyers’ guides to wetsuit reviews in the Wetsuit Centre blog.
Alternatively, contact the Wetsuit Centre team, we can answer any burning question you may have and guide you through the process of purchasing a wetsuit.