How To Properly Disinfect and Clean A Wetsuit

The wetsuit is one of the greatest inventions, created so that human beings could remain warm while wading in cold temperatures. Nature imposed restrictions on our activities in the fall and winter due to the coldness of the oceans and deep bodies of water like the Great Lakes. Now with wetsuits, coming in several styles and varying degrees of thickness, we can maintain our body temperature while surfing in water temperatures below 60 degrees. But the wetsuit must be maintained for it to remain like new and working properly. Here is how to properly disinfect and clean a wetsuit.

A brand new wetsuit comes clean and pristine with a familiar neoprene smell. Not only does a wetsuit keep ups warm and dry, but it also helps up so be better surfers. After a time, the suit begins to lose its newness. We stop taking care of it like in the beginning. But some of us know the benefits of keeping a wetsuit-like new.

1.     Rinse Your Wetsuit In A Bucket After Each Use.

Sand, grime, and seaweed collect on a wetsuit after a day of surfing. There are also invisible impurities in much of the world’s oceans today that also need to be rinsed off to keep the wetsuit-like new.

Wetsuits must be rinsed in a tub after every use. Grime will build up if you skip rinsing, making it harder to clean the next time. Rinsing your wetsuit is easy to do and isn’t time-consuming.

Peel off your wetsuit and leave it inside out. Drop it in a bucket of cold, fresh water. Hot water is awfully bad for a wetsuit, so you should never use it. Lukewarm or colder should always be used when rinsing your wetsuit.

You might think that simply taking a shower while in the wetsuit is a good idea. You cannot use the hot water in a shower to clean a wetsuit. Besides, the wetsuit needs to rinsed inside out first. After a few minutes in the cold tub, turn the wetsuit right side out and rinse it for a few minutes.

2.     Hang The Wetsuit On A Sliding Hanger After Rinsing

Turn your wetsuit inside out again to dry and fold it at the waist. Do not use a steel or plastic hanger to dry. There are two ways you can dry a wetsuit.

•     Folded at the waistline, you can let it dry anywhere that’s away from grime and direct sunlight. You can hand it indoors over a door, and even in a darkened room.
•     Never hang your wetsuit by the shoulders, because hanging this way will cause the shoulders to stretch. This will make your wetsuit ill-fitting and will begin doing a poorer job keeping you insulated.

If you have duct tape, gorilla tape or electrical tape, tape up the corners of a heavy duty hanger, wrapping the tape around the corners until they are very thick with tape. Hang the wetsuit on the hanger in a dark and dry area.

3.     Add Wetsuit Cleaner From Time To Time to Remove Odors.

There are many different options to choose from to clean your wetsuit in addition to rinsing alone. Let’s face it, lots of surfers stay out for hours in the water, yet bodily functions continue. This means that some surfers will pee in their wetsuits.

Some studies show, when surfers are asked if they urinate in their wetsuit, more than 75% said they do either routinely or once in a while. This is because it’s a lot of effort to get out of the surf, walk to the bathroom, strip out of the wetsuit, pee, and then put the swimsuit back on.

If you do not excrete blindly fluids while surfing, that is great. But be aware that others around you are probably doing it, so even if you don’t, theirs is coming into contact with your suit. For this reason alone, you want to use a disinfecting cleaner.

Look for cleaners that are gentle and antibacterial. The options range anywhere from the periodic use of baby shampoo to mouthwash.

One of the most popular wetsuit shampoos on the market is Jaws Slosh Wetsuit Shampoo. It’s scented and contains no harsh chemicals. You do not want to use anything like bleach or ammonia on a wetsuit, because harsh chemicals like these break down the neoprene rubber from which the wetsuit is constructed.

Don’t go into chlorinated water in a wetsuit either since chlorine is bleach or it will weaken the molecular structure of the wetsuit.

This cleaner removes odors, salt, and the residue the wetsuit collected while you were surfing on the ocean. You can even use Jaws wetsuit shampoo to rinse your body too.

4. Advanced Wetsuit Shampooing And Deodorizing

When you think about it, it doesn’t take exceptionally long to rinse your wetsuit after a day at the beach, nor does it take long to disinfect and deep clean it. There are just a few simple steps you need to extend the life of your wetsuit.

• Fill 2 large tubs that can hold about 20 gallons of water. Fill up each tub with lukewarm water.
• Add shampoo. Fill the first tub with a wetsuit cleaner. You can use the Jaws Slosh Wetsuit Shampoo or try baby shampoo. It is okay to pour a small amount of mouthwash in. The second tub can have water only in it, or it can have an added disinfectant. There are a few particularly good disinfectants on the market.
• Turn your wetsuit inside out.
• Slowly submerge the wetsuit into the tub. It is best to let in a little of the wetsuit into the shampooing tub at a time because it has air bubbles in it, and you want to make them come out. Start by immersing the ankles first, dipping more of the legs slowly, followed by the top part of the suit until you reach the top.
• Scrub the wetsuit. Using your hands, agitate the wetsuit as a washing machine does. Scrub for about 2 minutes.
• Lift the wetsuit out of the water. Hold it until it stops dripping and is drained completely.
• Now put the wetsuit in the 2^nd tub containing water and a disinfectant. The shampoo in the first tub will clean the wetsuit, but the 2^nd tub will also add disinfecting agents. Repeat agitating the wetsuit using both hands for about a minute.
• Leave the wetsuit in the disinfecting solution for 10 minutes. Agitate twice while it is in the solution.
• Remove the wetsuit from the water. If you use a product like Mirazyme disinfecting solution, leave it on the wetsuit. Don’t rinse it off. This will ensure the wetsuit is fully deodorized.

If you’re an active surfer, meaning you go to the beach 4 days or more each week, you should perform this more thorough wetsuit cleaning process about twice a week. If you go to the best less than 4 days a week, you should disinfect and clean per the above instructions at least once a week.

5.     Dos And Don’ts For The Care Of A Wetsuit

•     Don’t use harsh chemicals when cleaning, such as chlorine or ammonia
•     Do rinse it out in a tub each time you use it.
•     Don’t hang a wetsuit on a regular hanger.
•     Do either fold it to dry it or tape up a sturdy hanger at the corners
•     Don’t leave a wetsuit out in the sun to dry, or for any other reason.
•     Don’t leave your wetsuit in your car; avoid exposing it to heat.
•     Don’t ever iron your wetsuit.
•     Do hang over a door in halves on each side of the door.
•     Do disinfect a wetsuit once a week for casual use, twice a week for heavy use.
•     Do always dry your wetsuit inside out.

6.     The Materials A Wetsuit Is Made From

Wetsuits are made out of neoprene, which is a synthetic rubber. The neoprene is then formed and sliced into sheets.

These sheets are then laminated onto different fabrics that are built into the wetsuit. There are different types of neoprene rubber, but the neoprene used in surfing wetsuits are lightweight and are easily stretched. The neoprene used in automobile tires, on the other hand, is thick and very stiff (cannot be stretched).

The materials to which the neoprene is laminated need to be comfortable to wear and able to dry quickly. Since surfers go into and out of the water, these materials need to be able to dry every time a surfer comes out of the water.

Wetsuits come in different thicknesses, from 1.5 mm up to 7 mm thick. The thicker the wetsuit is, the warmer it will be inside.

Now the wetsuit is constructed. A pattern is made, and the placement of seams is decided. The pattern includes the fit of the suit (its size), the placement of the zippers, the areas of reinforcement, and the closing around the ankles and wrists.

7.     How To Choose Wetsuit Thickness

The warmth of a wetsuit is based on how thick the neoprene is. Thickness is different in different parts of the body. For example, the torso area will be rated at one thickness (in millimeters), and the second will be for the legs. There can be a third number for the neoprene thickness around the arms.

Our bodies lose the most heat in the torso area, so this part of the wetsuit is usually the thickest. Near the core is the heart and the lungs, organs that you want to protect from cold water and hypothermia.

Wetsuits are made of several layers. Wetsuits work by letting in a little water from the ocean under the top layer. The layer of water lies between your body and the innermost layer of the wetsuit.

Your body warms the water in this layer to match the temperature of your body. By heating up, both the water and the suit prevents your body’s temperature from falling.

If you were to walk along a boardwalk or a pier on a 60-degree day, you won’t need a jacket and can walk comfortably in jeans and a shirt.

However, it’s quite different if you go into 60-degree water. You would start to shiver because your body is doing everything it can to maintain its normal temperature. The main purpose of a wetsuit is to trap heat, not to keep you dry, although it keeps you mostly dry.

The water layer that’s been heated up and in contact with the body is one of the causes of odor that clings to the wetsuit.

The thickness of the wetsuit you buy is causally related to the temperature of the water. If the temperature of the water is 72 degrees or higher, you would not need to wear a wetsuit. Here is an example of wetsuit sizing based on water temperature.

H2O Temperature: between 58 and 63 degrees

Wetsuit thickness: 3 mm ( feet)

2 mm (hands)

4 mm (torso)

3 mm (legs)

It is also advised that if the water is this cold, one would also wear wetsuit gloves and boots. Also, you must wear a sealed wetsuit.

Be careful in colder temperatures. Hypothermia occurs rapidly. The worst thing about hypothermia is that it incapacitates the body quickly, making it almost impossible to reverse the symptoms without a heat source. Hypothermia begins with shivering, followed by a slurred speech. Breathing becomes harder and the heart rate decreases.

The bad part is that a weaker pulse causes drowsiness and decreased energy. Following this is confusion and disorientation, just before the victim loses consciousness. Hypothermia is more common than many people think.

Unfortunately, surfers are known to die of the condition. It catches one off-guard. One moment they’re enjoying the waves, and the next, they begin to shiver.

Wetsuits are designed to prevent hypothermia. However, if you are wearing a poor-fitting wetsuit then you’re at risk of hypothermia.

Choosing the right wetsuit is based on other factors in addition to water temperature. When choosing a wetsuit thickness, take into account the temperature of the air, because this will impact the way the water feels. It may feel colder than its actual temperature when the air is cold.

Wind speed does the same thing. Let’s face it, surfing in cold water in the offseason (fall, winter), is a different kind of experience than surfing in the summer. It requires a bit more endurance and resiliency than summer surfing. If you are an active person who does other activities like swimming, biking or running in addition to surfing, then winter surfing in a wetsuit will likely not be a problem.

Beginners and those who engage in physical activity on a limited basis should begin an exercise program to increase their endurance for winter surfing. Just because one wears a wetsuit doesn’t mean it’s the same as summer surfing. A wetsuit is not an equalizer.

Surfing in waters lower than 42 degrees would get a wetsuit rated at 5 mm to 6 mm in thickness. Boots for the feet, a pair of gloves, full-body wetsuit and a hood for the head are required to be worn.

Between 42 and 53 degrees, the thickness is rated at 5 mm. Boots, gloves, a full-body wetsuit, and a hood are required.

On the warmer side, oceans with a temperature that is between 62 degrees and 68 degrees would wear a wetsuit between 2 mm and 3 mm in thickness.

When the water temperature is between 65 and 72 degrees, we only need a wetsuit between .5 mm and 1 mm thick.

These levels of thickness c\an vary by air temperature, wind speed and your body’s sensitivity to the cold. It is not less masculine for one man to be more sensitive to cold than another, nor is it a sign of personal weakness. You can be a healthy, fit individual who is born with a body that doesn’t adapt to dramatic shifts in temperature well. The best thing you can do is go a thickness higher than the ratings listed here.

Different Kinds Of Wetsuits

There are 5 types of wetsuits. We’ve been speaking here about full body wetsuits, but there are other types as well.

•     Wetsuit Vest

A vest-type wetsuit contains neoprene and covers the chest area. It’s designed mostly to negate the effects of the wind, and when there is wind chill that lowers the air temperature.

It’s advised you wear wetsuit bottoms as well, but it is not required. Wetsuit vests are between 2 mm and 3 mm thick.

•     Wetsuit Jacket

Unlike a wetsuit vest, a wetsuit jacket covers the arms completely and also adds extra chest protection. The chest is 2 mm thick while the arms are 1 mm in thickness, making it easier to paddle.

There are two more designs, one a steamer wetsuit, which has shorter legs, and a spring suit design that is short sleeved.

Wetsuits are far more advanced in their ability to keep surfers warm that they were just 10 years ago. The key material that makes a wetsuit is neoprene. Taking care of your wetsuit by rinsing it after every use and deep cleaning and deodorizing it at least twice a week for regular surfers will keep it in new condition and prevent the neoprene from breaking down.