How to care for your wetsuit in six steps

There is something powerful about putting on your wetsuit. You can withstand cold temperatures, bypass beauty standards in favour of fun, and float quite buoyantly in water.

After emerging from a watery adventure, it can be tempting to throw the wetsuit in a bag and forget about it until later. But giving your suit a little care can go a long way. Aside from lasting longer, your wetsuit will smell nicer and be more hygienic for your skin.

We’ve put together six quick and easy tips on how to care for your wetsuit, so you can enjoy it for longer:

1. Protect the seams

It can be a struggle to put on and take off a wet wetsuit, but all that pushing and pulling can damage and break apart the seams. Broken seams let in cold water and are tricky to fix, so it's better to prevent.

To protect your suit as you take it off, grab the wider upper panels of the suit when peeling it off, as opposed to lower sections like the legs or the sides of the body.

2. Pre-wash

Once it’s off, it’s time to wash it in fresh water. If you’re still at the beach or a lake, you could keep a bucket in the back of your car and rinse it with a bottle of water.

3. Making bread

As soon as you get home, rinsing and kneading your suit at the same time (making bread!) is the golden step to keep your suit fresh and avoid the build up of smelly bacteria.

Place your suit in a container (bucket, bath, or shower) of cold water (not hot), and knead at the neoprene for a few minutes, not forgetting the zip areas. Make sure to turn the suit inside out and repeat, before giving a final fresh rinse.

Top tip: Don’t be tempted to put it in the washing machine – all that warm water, detergent and spinning will damage your wetsuit.

4. Hang it properly

Hang the suit:

• In a well-ventilated area

• Out of direct sunlight

• Double it over, instead of hanging from the shoulders on a hanger

Make sure to turn the suit inside out every half a day or so to make sure that it’s dry all the way through before you store it away.

Top tip: A wide hanger is best to hang the wetsuit through the middle, doubling over the waist, as opposed to from the shoulder. If you have to store it in a drawer or box, try to roll it as opposed to folding, to not weaken any areas. 

5. Occasional shampoo

If you use your suit regularly, you might want to consider buying a wetsuit style shampoo for your suit. Made especially for neoprene fabrics, these products help remove all of the residues from your suit and leave it smelling nice, while caring for the seams.

Top tip: Use only a little bit, and make sure it’s washed out properly.

6. Pee patrol

It’s happened to the best of us after a long session in the water, but if you can hold it, try not to pee in your suit. While it might seem that it’ll wash out immediately, in reality neoprene is thick and not very porous.

Top tip: If you can't hold it, make sure to run some water through your suit before you do the ‘kneading bread’ washing trick, and apply some of that wetsuit shampoo.

Wetsuit care equipment check list:

• Dry bag

• Container (bucket or bath)

• Wetsuit shampoo

• Wide hanger

If you can do these 6 steps every time you use your suit, you’ll be enjoying it for years to come, and hopefully saving some money and increasing sustainability in the process.

Do you have any other top tips? Let us know on Instagram!