How do you dry your wetsuit?

[FreeFloat]

Turn inside out, and if possible hang it up outside but out of direct sunlight. A breezy location in the shade is ideal. Direct sunlight will not only fade the material but starts to 'weather' (degrade) the neoprene. I should know........ check out my wetsuit, the black cloth lining is more gray now!

In winter, I turn it inside out and hang it in an area of the house with good air circulation. I found that hanging it in the bathroom would get it kind of to "moist", but hanging it in the kitchen would get it quite dry except for the cuffs.

 

[Warren_L]

Lets say your doing multiple days of diving. You need your wetsuit dry within 12 hours. Whats the preferred method?

Will putting a wetsuit in the dryer hurt it? How about drying it with a hair dryer?

I don't dive wet too much these days, but one thing I did do when trying to dry a wetsuit is to use the washer (note: not the dryer). With neoprene, much of the water just drips out of it when you hang it to dry (as opposed to evaporation). I would simply put it in the washer set to the final spin cycle and let the washer act as a centrifuge. This takes most of the water out of the suit relatively quickly, then hang dry with a fan in front of it. Dries in no time. Also, you should flip the suit inside out first.

If the suit is the only thing in the washer, it should not be rubbing against anything. The only thing that will happen is the suit will compress a little, but it's nothing compared to the compression of the suit while diving.

 

[Mel.B]

I HATE putting on a wet wetsuit (or wet booties or gloves for that matter!), so if I am diving for two days in a row or more, after I have rinsed my gear I hang it up in the bathroom and then get a portable heater and plug it into the bathroom. It creates a nice sauna effect and by morning all your gear is not only dry, but toasty warm

Mel

 

[scubacopper]

Just recently I had the same question for my wetsuit/drysuit......how do you dry it?

Well...after much research I came across a product that is based on the silica sachets you get in boxes, only these are much bigger, and they eliminate the smells that can come from diving as well as leching up all the water. I bought a pack of these for £24.95, and they are 2 sack like things that you can hang inside your suits, and then place in your boots etc. Basically they leech the water right out. In the long run they will get damp and not be so effective so you microwave them to dry them out and hey presto, good as new.

they work quite well, and thought I would pass on the idea (I'm nothing to do with the company at all). I bought them from the dive store at Gildenburgh Water in the UK, and they mailed them overnight.

product is called: DZ-dryzone made by a company called "dampire" (as in vampire, but with water!!). their website is: www.dampire.com

 

[mgmonk]

Turn inside out, and if possible hang it up outside but out of direct sunlight. A breezy location in the shade is ideal. Direct sunlight will not only fade the material but starts to 'weather' (degrade) the neoprene. I should know........ check out my wetsuit, the black cloth lining is more gray now!

How fast 'till it started to Gray?

 

[CALI68]

Sell the one you got and get a Henderson Gold Core. It will be dry before your second dive...the part that touches your skin at least. They are also comming out with the Insta-Dry that dries right away inside and out.

 

[Henryville]

idratherbediving and i made a stand out of PVC and a fan motor it cost like 30 bucks for all the parts. i will have to get some pics and post them. we incorporated additional pipes for our hoods, gloves and boots. we are working on a way to put in a second motor to allow more air to blow through the gear as it hangs. The only reason we created the monster was because when you live in a 2 b-room apt. there ain't much room for the dive gear to be laying out all week waiting for it to dry.

just my .02

John

Is it something like this:

http://atlanticunderwater.com/equipment/dryer.shtml

I made one of these for drysuits and after a little modification to make it narrower can now use it for wetsuits.

 

[bruce o]

Neoprene + Sun = ruined suit. I leave mine overnight inside out in the woodshed, ayuh. Close enuf. I'm using a Henderson 7mm that looks and feels like terrycloth inside and it's comfy even when damp. ' Would we rather dry the wetsuit or wet the drysuit? '