vile smelling wetsuit

[Phil TK]

One of my wetsuits smells like it has died.
It has been used about three times a week this last season and washed after every dive in fresh water but I have to keep it out of the house because it pongs so much.
I've tried to wash it with wetsuit shampoo (can't remember what brand) and mild detergent buit to no avail. I did try dog soap which seemed to work but only for a while -I havn't got time to 'dog soap' it every time I've used it (it takes 15 minutes of scrubbing).
What I need is a reccommendation of some anti-bacterial wash that will kill the bacteria that is obviously living in it.
For the record, yes, I have peed in my wetsuit before (if you dive often this is gonna happen quite often) but the smell isn't 'pee' smell and besides, my other suit doesn't have this problem (used just as much)
Any ideas or reccomendations chaps? -I need a do or die remedy, the suit will get junked if I can't sort it out. The suit is a Gul Contour -and is jolly nice btw.
Phil TK

 

[Rickster]

You might try tomato juice. When I was a kid, I had a dog that was sprayed by a skunk. My dad washed him in tomato juice and the smell was greatly reduced. I haven't tryed it on a wetsuit yet, but, it is worth a try. Let me know if it works

 

[spectrum]

Peeing has little to do with it.

Your suit has accumulated a bio-load of the aquatic food chain and it is rotting. Perfectly normal progression, happens to all suits eventually.

You need an enzyme product that will deal with this. There are dive shop items such as Myrazyme (sp?) and sink-stink that you soak your gear in a dilution of. Remember not to rinse after soaking, you want this stuff in/on the suit through the drying process. You can also buy domestic product such as capet cleaning solutions to deal with odor, look for enziyme based products.

Pete

 

[HNITSUJ]

My cave instructor told me that he puts all his wetsuits in the washing machine with woolite and they stay more flexible and colors are maintained longer. Plus, they don't stink.

 

[spectrum]

I would not put a wetsuit in a top loader. Many have but not all have had happy endings.

Flexibility would be attributed to effective removal of salt.

I don't know why woolite would help the colors. It seems that staying out of chlorine and not drying gear in the sun would be keys to bright colors.

Since when do cave divers wear colorful suits?

Pete

 

[HNITSUJ]

Thanks for the grillin. Was just passing on what he said. Since he has been a diver since the 70's I would guess I have a decent reason to believe him!

 

[booth22]

We haven't used woolite, but once home we have two rubbermaid garbage cans we use to clean our gear. one has a 1/4 cap of detergent and the other a little fabric softener. works wonders for our suits as well as gloves, boots, hoods, and bc's. stays nice and soft and doesn't stink!

 

[D_B]

Havn't had that problem with my wetsuit yet but my boots started smelling so bad that I put a capfull of bleach in the sink just for the boots (don't do this unless your willing to risk ruinning the boots) that helped a lot but what fixed the problem was an enzyme cleaner "Sink the Stink" Another brand that's good is "MiraZyme" (oops, sorry, missed that Pete )

Fabric softner, may have to try that ... mmmmm , smells Downy Fresh!

DB

 

[Phil TK]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. The tomato juice method made me smile -but that doesn't mean I won't try it if the other idea doesn't work!
I'll report back on this -I'll be trying an enzyme based cleaner primarily (thanks Pete).
Phil TK

 

[k8brandt]

I wash our wetsuits in the washer with detergent and double amount of Oxy-Clean, gentle cycle and let them soak for a while. Of course they air dry.
Also on the last day of diving before packing them away, we add about a pint of Simple Green to the rinse tank and let everything soak for a while. We get the Simple Green at Costco.