wet suit cleaning solutions

[Rooster1]

anyone here have any good home brew solutions for washing and taking the smell out of your wetsuit and booties??

 

[Dee]

I usually use Sink the Stink but when I'm out of that I'll use Listerine™. If all else fails, I'll use an anti-bacterial soap like Dial™ and rinse it well.

 

[JamesK]

Febreeze and Woolite. I let mine soak for about an hour, and then wash it on the gentle cycle. I even put my wetsuits in the dryer!

 

[raviepoo]

What works after mildew has set in? My favorite swimsuit was packed away damp for too long. I tried a quick dunk in mirazyme to no avail.

 

[JamesK]

I had the same problem. Vinegar was the cure. The hard part was getting the vinegar smell out! LOL! However after the vinegar, my febreeze and woolite mixture worked well.

 

[Bob3]

I've salvaged fabrics that've been soaking in a grungy river for a week & vinegar was the trick too.
1 gallon per load of wash water, or soak small items overnight in straight white vinegar.
Never had a problem getting the vinegar smell out, but I'm the kind of guy that uses diesel oil for aftershave.
:mean:

 

[Ranz]

Bob3 once bubbled...
........ but I'm the kind of guy that uses diesel oil for aftershave.
:mean:

Have to beat them off with a stick Bob?
:devious:

 

[pipedope]

Aftershave? What is a shave?

The best thing to do is to rinse (wash) the suit and booties as soon as possible and dry them quickly. I use a boot drier that blows air into the toe of the boots with them hanging toe up so water drains out and the air flow drys them in a few hours.

The only time I have a suit smell problem is when I can't do this the evening after a dive.

You would not believe the soup I usually dive into. Well Bob3 would.

 

[Bob3]

Hey, that ain't the proper word to use; I'm a soup fan & that's a degradation to the word.

I have a PVC suit stand that breaks down, an old hair dryer (hose & hood type) blows warm air down into the boots, exiting neck & wrists.
Hotel rooms started looking strange after a while, especially when inflated suits were standing around for leak tests. Scared the crap outta housekeeping a couple of times. :mean:

As far as shaving goes, I don't get pestered by the ladies to shave my beard anymore. (diesel oil trick worked, by golly)

 

[pipedope]

Some of the job sites have been more like stew than soup. Lots of chewy stuff in the water.

Most of the time it is LOTS of sand, silt and a moderate amount of living critters.

Visibility? We don't need no stinking visibility. We don't got no stinking visibility!