Mold/Mildew Spots on inside of drysuit gloves

[al248005]

After diving my drysuit last week, I rinsed the suit off and turned it inside out EXCEPT for the gloves (blue zipseal-smirf gloves). I forgot to pull the gloves through to dry them out. When rinsing my suit after today's dives I noticed black mildew/mold spots on the inside of the gloves. The problem is just isolated to the gloves and not the rest of the suit. The rest of the suit dried completely but the gloves didn't since they were tucked up in the sleeve when I turned the suit inside out. Is there any hope in saving the gloves? Can I clean them and if so what kind of soap would I use?

 

[bl6394]

Yeah - I had a mistake like that. Usually - I dive the zipseal orange gloves - but I cut them on a wreck - and swapped them out for wrist zipseals / neoprene gloves while on the boat between dives. A month later - I found damaged / wet gloves in a gear bag - quite moldy...

I used diluted bleach and Lysol to kill any mold / mildew spores. Some of the material on the inside of the glove had degraded - but they are still serviceable. They still have a bit of a smell - but they are OK.

Bjorn

 

[Peter_C]

Flip them inside out and put them through the wash without the rings. You could replace the gloves pretty cheap too by gluing new ones on.

 

[Ethosb]

The mold won't ruin the gloves as it doesn't cause direct damage to the material. The mold is growing on the organics on the surface such as skin cells, dirt, etc. You can use Dawn liquid detergent with a small amount of bleach. Dawn detergent has a surfactant that will remove the mold and the bleach will act as a biocides to kill the spores. No need to replace them at this point.

 

[al248005]

Yeah - I had a mistake like that. Usually - I dive the zipseal orange gloves - but I cut them on a wreck - and swapped them out for wrist zipseals / neoprene gloves while on the boat between dives. A month later - I found damaged / wet gloves in a gear bag - quite moldy...

I used diluted bleach and Lysol to kill any mold / mildew spores. Some of the material on the inside of the glove had degraded - but they are still serviceable. They still have a bit of a smell - but they are OK.

Bjorn

Were you able to get rid of the black stain spots? I posted this same thing in the DUI forum and Kathy said to use Simple Green. I used it but the black stains are still there.

 

[bl6394]

Were you able to get rid of the black stain spots? I posted this same thing in the DUI forum and Kathy said to use Simple Green. I used it but the black stains are still there.

The bleach turned the black stains sort of greyish (see photo). The cotton like material on the inside of the gloves has also started to break down. But they are still dive-able - and for the money - I'll keep diving them until the aquaseal won't stop the leaks anymore.



Bjorn

 

[al248005]

The bleach turned the black stains sort of greyish (see photo). The cotton like material on the inside of the gloves has also started to break down. But they are still dive-able - and for the money - I'll keep diving them until the aquaseal won't stop the leaks anymore.

View attachment 159235

Bjorn

Thanks, Bjorn for the info. Ya mine look pretty much the same as yours do minus the cotton ripping. The spots are a lot more apparent if the inside of the gloves are wet. I agree too for the price I'm getting my use out of them.