So you've invested in a wetsuit to swim in but how do you look after it? Here we will run you through the Top Tips for Looking After Your Wetsuit, so that you can prolong its life which means getting many more swims out of it.
Step 1 - How to Wash a Wetsuit
As soon as you get home, before you post your swim pics to social media, the first thing you should do is to wash your wetsuit. Do not leave it scrunched up in your bag thinking "Oh I'll get to that later". Wetsuits which are left will start to smell so it's a good habit to get into of washing it straight away.
Use fresh cold water to rinse your wetsuit thoroughly, making sure you get into all those nooks and crannies. So, down the arms and through the legs and all over the outside and inside. We recommend washing your wetsuit inside out, which is easy as this is how you usually take your wetsuit off after a swim.
Top tip - do not let the velcro at the top of the zip get caught on the inside of the wetsuit lining, as this will pull on the wetsuit fibres. To avoid this, make sure that the velcro part is covered by the velcro cover at the top of the wetsuit.
Do not ever put your wetsuit in the washing machine or tumble dryer nor wash it with detergent or bleach and do not iron it.
Step 2 - How to dry a wetsuit
After you have rinsed your wetsuit you need to hang it up to dry on as wide a hanger as possible.
Top tip - Use a hanger like the C Monsta hanger to hang up our wetsuits to dry, it’s made from recycled material and it’s been a game changer for us as you can also dry your boots and gloves on it as well.
As the wetsuit is drying, all of the water will run down the suit and drip off the ends at the legs and arms of the suit. So we would recommend squeezing the ends of the wetsuit every so often to help get the water out.
We start by hanging it up inside out and then switch to turning it the right way round.
We would advise only using a hanger for short periods of time, don’t leave it on there for days on end.
Do not dry it in direct sunlight and if you are hanging it up outside make sure it is in the shade.
Step 3 - How to Store a Wetsuit
Once your wetsuit is nice and dry, you then need to store it. It’s best to keep it flat or folded and to do this simply old in the arms, behind the knees and then in half.
When your wetsuit is all folded up in a nice neat pile, you want to store it somewhere where there will not be anything lying on top of it.