Washing neoprene 5mm semi-dry wetsuit in washing-machine.

[chillyinCanada]

Given the amount of salt that comes out of a wetsuit when hand washed, I would be a bit worried about what the salty waterwas doing to the pump in the washing machine.

I'd only worry about that if washing multiples of suits on multiples of days

 

[PBcatfish]

My Lycra dive skins go in the washing machine. My neoprene suits go in the shower. If they get funky, a little Sink The Stink gets added to the program. I've been doing it this way since the 1980's I haven't tried any other method.

 

[scuba_heidi]

I wash my 5mm semi-dry in my top loader washing machine on gentle (no central agitator) and have done so for almost 100 dives in it now. No adverse affects. I only add a little wetsuit wash. My washing machine is holding up ok too. The spin cycle gets a lot of the water out so it dries quickly.

Honestly your wetsuit gets more beaten up with you getting in and out of it than it would being tumbled around a machine. I can imagine an agitator might not be friendly, but my washing machine has a clear lid and whenever I’ve peeked in to see how it’s going it’s doing just fine.

Each to their own, but I’m all for it.

 

[Hatul]

I would never wash my wetsuit is a washing machine. The manufacturer warns against it and there's no need. I just rinse my wetsuit with my other gear in plain water and it's enough. Maybe if I were to buy a used wetsuit I'd use some shampoo the first time for psychological reasons but otherwise plain water does the job.