4 Tips on how to take care of your wetsuit

By following some good practices to keep our surfing material in good condition will help us extend the life of the neoprene suit and also save some money.

1. Always rinse your wetsuit after surfing. The best way to rinse it is in cold water as hot water deteriorates the neoprene. Take your time rinsing the suit. Remove all the sand and dirt it might have inside and out. This is one of the basic practices we should follow to take care of our wet suit.
2. Hang it in the shade and in the correct manner. Leaving the wetsuit to dry in the sun drastically reduces its lifetime. Who hasn´t left their suit to dry in the sun before getting back into the sea? We’ve all done that! However, if you won´t be surfing again, let it dry in the shade. If you want your suit to dry quickly, then leave it in the sun inside out, this will avoid damage to the rubber and the colour of the suit. One way to hang our wet suit in order for it not to be damaged is by using the Slide Hanger which reduces tension on the material, otherwise you can use a normal hanger but never hang it from the shoulders, always from the waist. Remember to also dry the wet suit inside out so that it dries well from both sides.
3. Never wash in the washing machine. Do not use detergents, soaps, stain removers or softeners when washing your suit as such products may be damaging. Try to use products specifically for washing neoprene, otherwise you can use bicarbonate of soda or baby shampoos. Just one tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda for each wetsuit is sufficient.
4. Do not pee in your suit.  If we were to ask who has done it before nobody would own up, however this is actually very common among surfers. This is a bad custom for the care of your wetsuit. It damages the suit and smells bad, furthermore, this smell is very hard to remove.  Give it a deep wash with special neoprene soap or baby shampoo, rinse it well and hang it up in the correct manner. However, the more you avoid urinating in your suit.. the better.

Other tips:

If you need to remove wax from your suit, fill a bucket with water and ice and submerge your suit in the water so that the paraffin hardens. Slowly peel off the wax a little bit at a time; never brush it off.

If you want to deeply clean the zips of your suit, for example to store it away for next season, use a toothbrush. The same applies for travel bags. These are used once a year and when you need them again you realize that the zips don’t work.

If you are going to store your wetsuit for next season rinse it well, make sure that is completely dry inside and out and if you want the seals to last longer use talc powder.  Make use of such buckets, below, to carry your suit in your van after a day at the beach, it makes it easier to carry around and easier to rinse the suit at home. You can find them at your nearest ironmonger.