Ways to keep your wetsuit from getting smelly???

[marcienko]

A dish detergent works for me.

 

[regul8r]

my personal fav is to go to walmart and buy a bottle of cheap equate mouth rinse. Fill a 30 Gal trash can with water and the wetsuit. Dump about a third of the bottle in there. Kills bacteria.. as well as makes the suit smell like wintergreen. Usually let it sit in that mix overnight.

 

[abba.adams]

I shampoo my wetsuit and also use Stink Guard spray. This works very well.

 

[MarkUK]

Try natural soap flakes. A 500g pack over here in the UK costs about £1 (US$1.80) and you only need to sprinkle a small amount into a bath of cold water, leave the suit and booties to soak, then hang 'em up to dry. Completely kills any odors, costs bugger all and has worked well on several suits, no causing them any damage.

Mark

 

[Liquid Fit]

I recommend that you rinse, rinse, rinse your suit. In the final rinse water, add some Listerine type mouthwash to the final rinse water. Let it soak for awhile. Most of the smell that you get is being caused by bacteria. That is why you need an anitbacterial type mouth rinse. After the suit dries, spritz the suit with some Febreeze. I always carry a small bottle of Febreeze in my dive bag. This works wonders!!! Don't forget to add the listerine to your dive boots. Those little critters get a smell all of their own. Those who suggested Simply Green are also right on. You need to use a biodegrable product. I also recommend LOC by amway. You would have to buy that from an Amway dealer. Never, never use detergent on your neoprene suit.

Hope all of you boys and girls smell like roses.
Carolyn

 

[Charlie99]

In most cases, a simple rinse with a bit of J&J baby shampoo works well, particularly if it's low enough humidity that the suit drys out well overnight.

Sometimes, in very humid locations, the wetsuit gets kind of funky after several days of not drying out. Only then do I move on to the next step, which is to use enzyme-based cleaners --- Sink-the-Stink (available at dive shops) or Myrazyme (at outdoor sporting goods shops).

That has always worked for my wetsuits. On rare ocassions, my boots still had an odor, even after the enzyme cleaner. A short soak in a dilute bleach or chlorine solution cured even the most stubborn smells. The chlorine doesn't have to be much --- just like a strongly chlorinated hot tub or whirlpool.

 

[1_T_Submariner]

Do you rinse out the simple green afterwards?

Sorry Yes rinse them afterwards then dry completely.

 

[Plug]

For me, my wetsuits never stink, but I don't pee in them either, my boots however have been known to reek! I have found that its usually caused beacuase the don't dry completely, now after a dive my get rinsed and then my boots into the sun for a day and no more skink

Plug

 

[Rick Murchison]

For me, my wetsuits never stink, but I don't pee in them either

Bingo! I doubted this made much difference until I conscientiously did not pee in a new suit - I've managed to keep that one pee-free for over five years and it has never developed the stink that plagues most wetsuits.
As for booties, not peeing in the wetsuit helps, and simplifies the process of keeping them from stinking too. The key to stink free booties is in getting them drained and dried quickly, which requires that they be hung in a way that promotes drainage and drying. As examples, if you have a chain-link fence handy stick the toe in one of the holes with the boot upside down. If you have a scuba tank handy use the valve to achieve the same position. On trips where drying isn't an option then I find a little baby shampoo helps retain freshness, but most any soap will go a long way towards preventing the growth of the "stink-bugs."
Rick

 

[Wayward Son]

XS Scuba makes a hanger for gloves, boots & such: