Her wetsuit shrank!

[Groundhog246]

Forwarding this question from a local board.


I had a custom wetsuit made by Atlan about 2 years ago. First year after each dive I meticulously rinsed it in cold water, scrubbed any dirt marks and hung it to dry in the shade. I washed it wetsuit soap every month or so and at the end of my dive season, I hung it on a wide hanger in a closet where it would not be touching anything so it wouldn't get squished at all.

The second season it seemed a bit tight and there were some shrivel lines through it. Okay, so maybe my shape changed a bit (not likely but hey, I'll give the suit the benefit of the doubt). After a couple of diveweekends I noticed that practically the whole suit had shrivel lines and was really tight. Now I'm not talking about in the spare tire zone. I mean the biceps and calves are tight to the point of being painful. I had gouges in my arms after a dive as a result of the suit digging in which I did not have the previous year. And I haven't been doing great amounts of bodybuilding or running to enhance those particular zones.

I took it to my LDS and he agreed it looked funny and sent it back to Atlan. I spoke with my LDS yesterday and Altan thinks I put the suit in the washer on HOT and then in the DRYER!! At this point they are offering to make me another suit at a reduced cost to me.

Has anyone seen or heard of such a problem?

 

[rmediver2002]

We used to joke about it (blaming it more on the divers fitness level than the shrinkage...)

Neoprene will shrink to some dgree over time and if the suit was custom fit tight then it may become unusable...

A larger problem is usually the loss of flexibility of the neoprene, it looses its stretch and becomes more and more inflexible with time... Old car tires are another example (cracking and drying out) but the neoprene is such a soft material to start with the effects seem more dramatic...

Jeff Lane


p.s. my fitting problems are a combination of abdominal expansion syndrome (beer belly...) and the ageing of the rubber...

 

[erichK]

To what degree does this affect crushed --sorry, compressed---neoprene? Am thinking of buying a Bare Tech drysuit of "hypercompressed" neoprene, but since I dive cold waters only a couple of dozen times a year I (if that!), I want the suit to last a decade or so.

Would I be better of getting a trilaminate suit? Or getting "radical" and buying a Viking rubber one?

 

[rmediver2002]

But that is not your question is it?

Compressed, hyper compressed, crushed, etc. neoprene dry suits are not going to show the effects very much and may never show them at all.

The crushing / compressing / etc. procedure is used to remove the small air bubbles from the suit resulting in a denser material not as visibly effected by the loss of resilience over time.

But even more importantly, dry-suits are fitted somewhat loose anyway...

I am afraid if your dry-suit begins to get tight it is going to be from abdominal expansion syndrome...

With any suit storage is going to more than likely end up being the biggest factor in longevity, make sure it is stored in a relatively cool dark area and always clean it real well before storage (body oils and sunlight are the quickest ways to destroy latex seals...) Also try not to store the unit in an area were ozone is being produced or is likely to build up (keep it away from electric motors)

You will be able to get a decade easy out of the suit, but plan on replacing seals (latex) a couple times in there.

Not a hard task to DIY if you like that sort of thing, I do...

Jeff Lane

 

[Rick Murchison]

The oldest wetsuit I still have is a custom DUI quarter inch from 1975, about 50 pounds ago. It still looks brand new, and the neoprene is in excellent shape (I've always taken care to store it in a "cool, dry place") Someday I'm going to use it again. But not tomorrow.
Rick