Cleaning my Fusion

[micboucher]

I have a Fusion with over 100 dives on it. I always rinse the inside of my drysuit with fresh water after diving and sometimes wash in a tub with wetsuit/drysuit shampoo. I didn't do much diving last year and I found that it was harder to slide into and I can no longer reach my fins in the suit. I chalked it up to gaining a few pounds (8-10) and thought maybe my tight BC was the problem. After a process of elimination, I realized last week that it's not my BC because I now have a BP/W and it's not that my suit is too tight because I can still fit my hands into the legs with plenty of expansion room. I think it's because the inside of the suit is actually grabbing my undergarment when I try to bend my knees because it's no longer smooth inside. What is the best way to clean the inside to restore the smooth surface? Is the wetsuit/drysuit shampoo not good to use on the inside?

 

[zekethesheik]

I'm kinda having the same issue... I just wipe mine down with a towel.. Someone on this board said something about wiping the inside with Sailkote. TS and M and fdog seem to have success with it. Got me to thinking, I will go buy some today and se if it helps in Seattle tomorrow!
Steve

 

[micboucher]

I'm kinda having the same issue... I just wipe mine down with a towel.. Someone on this board said something about wiping the inside with Sailkote. TS and M and fdog seem to have success with it. Got me to thinking, I will go buy some today and se if it helps in Seattle tomorrow!
Steve

Great, I'd love to hear how it works for you. Thanks!

 

[micboucher]

I'm kinda having the same issue... I just wipe mine down with a towel.. Someone on this board said something about wiping the inside with Sailkote. TS and M and fdog seem to have success with it. Got me to thinking, I will go buy some today and se if it helps in Seattle tomorrow!
Steve

Hi Steve, Did you get a chance to try the sailkote? If so, how did it work?

 

[TSandM]

I periodically wash the inside of my Fusion with dilute dishwashing detergent (you don't want to use any soap or anything with lotion that can leave a residue on the bag). I then hang it inside-out to dry, and liberally coat the arms and legs with SailKote. This works great, and only needs to be done every couple of months (or about every 30 dives or so, more often if I get salt water in the suit).

 

[Teamcasa]

Ditto on the SailKote but be aware, it's not a cheap date...
There are other PTFE based dry lubricant sprays out there and they all work great on your Fusion.

 

[micboucher]

Thanks for the info! I'll try dish soap to clean the inside and either get some SailKote or another less expensive one this weekend.

 

[merxlin]

Dave- any idea how this CRC PTFE compares to Sailkote? Not that $18 is a fortune compared to a drysuit cost, and it would probably be enough to last the life of the suit.

 

[Teamcasa]

The CRC stuff works just fine and you can get it at Graingers.

 

[Akimbo]

The disadvantage of using internal suit lubricants, especially silicon based, is it will require much more aggressive cleaning to apply successful patches and repairs. A water soluble lubricant will not last as long, but will make repairs much easier. Note manufacturer’s warnings against using silicon spray on drysuit zippers.