Mold in a wetsuit

[ZenDiver]

A friend of mine opened his gear bag to find mold had taken over his wetsuit and hood. Does anyone have a good way to get rid of the mold in neoprene?

 

[Liquid Fit]

Wow, that's a tough one. From a health standpoint, mold can potentially be so very dangerous The only thing I can think to do is to soak the suit in a very weak bleach solution. After, it has soaked for about 5 min, rinse, rinse, and then rinse again. This shouldn't damage the suit.

Good luck. Let us know what happens.

Carolyn
Liquid Fit

 

[mania]

Or try after weak bleaching wash it in the washing machine.....
Mania

 

[mike_s]

If not bleach solution, how about a vinegar solution? (any thoughts on that?)

 

[Liquid Fit]

Vinegar won't work. All that will do is change the PH of the suit. Bleach is just about all that will kill mold. The only other thing is to trash the whole suit. I think that it's worth trying a very, very weak bleach solution. I would even go so far as to say, put it in a spray bottle and spray the areas with the mold. After that, you need to really rinse the suit well.

Best regards.
Carolyn
Liquid Fit

 

[cpmyoung]

A friend of mine opened his gear bag to find mold had taken over his wetsuit and hood. Does anyone have a good way to get rid of the mold in neoprene?

Please, please do not wash your suit in the washing machine! You will ruin the neoprene. The aggitation will ruin it. Go with the mild bleach. If the suit is a loss hopefully next time your friend will hang the suit until it is totally dry, but hey life happens. Good luck!

 

[firemedic296]

the gentle cycle on the washing machine will not hurt the neoprene, but DO NOT let the washing machine go in to the SPIN cycle. The neoprene will float and either rub on the top of the tub or when the tub drains it can rub on the bottom of the aggitater. if it rubs on one spot long enough it will make a hole in it. Best if you use a front load machine (laundry mat), but we have used an aggitating machine many times and only tore one suit, due to the spin cycle. Don't forget to bleach first.....

 

[miesemer]

Dive more frequently

Go for a pool dive.

 

[dive]

Buy a new one ity_part

 

[mike_s]

I left a wetsuit in a gear bag one time for a little over a week after an ocean dive. I didn't have any clue that something could smell that bad after a situation like that....

I mean it was bad. It was drawing stray cats it was so bad.

I went to the LDS and got some "sink the sinik" and poured in a whole bottle. It really worked. Don't know if that will work on mold, but it will help with stink.