Storing and cleaning Semi-drysuit

[Tony Bruhn]

Hello.
Does anyone know how to best store and clean a semi-drysuit? I have a Novascotia semi-drysuit and to be honest the internet confuses me, alot of people say you should hang your suit and clean it with shampoo others say the opposite - dont wash with shampoo and store it folded.
Please help!

 

[kelemvor]

You know what they say about opinions.... Everybody has one. I rinse my wet and semi drysuits with fresh water and store them on wide hangers in a closet. The argument for storing folded is that hangars can cause wear on the suit. I don't have convenient shelf storage for all my suits, and so far haven't had a problem. My oldest suit is only about 4 years old though.

About once a year or so I wash my wetsuits in "slosh". It's good smelling shampoo that diveshops around here sell. Baby shampoo would probably be about the same I'd guess.

I do store my full drysuit folded, because it came with a storage bag, and folds into the bag. Also it's way too long to store on a hanger.

 

[miketsp]

Just my opinion. After each trip, thorough soaking in fresh water with occasional manual agitation for at least 24h followed by 2 days drying hanging inside out then another 2 days hanging right side out. Once fully dry, fresh beeswax on the brass zipper. Then stored on the hanger with the zipper almost closed. The hanger is a proper one for dive equipment with wide shoulder support (about 2 inches).

 

[Doby45]

I also rinse my wetsuits with a mixture of fresh water and two caps of Listerine in a 20gal tub. Listerine kills any bacteria and leaves the neoprene smelling FRESH. Hang to allow drying and then stored in a spare bedroom closet on a big strong hanger..