Rinse It the Moment You're Out of the Water

Salt is the silent killer of trilaminate and neoprene drysuits alike. The moment seawater dries on your suit, sodium chloride crystals start working their way into every stitch, every zipper tooth, and every latex seal. They abrade the fabric, corrode the metal, and dry out the rubber. By the time you get home, the damage is already done.

Give your suit a thorough freshwater rinse the second you step off the boat — before you even start taking off your kit. A garden hose with a gentle shower setting is perfect. Pay extra attention to the neck and wrist seals, the inside of the zipper, and the inside of the suit around the crotch and underarms (where sweat and saltwater collect).

Wash It With a Suit-Specific Cleaner

Dish soap, laundry detergent, and bleach are all great — for dishes and laundry. On a drysuit, they're a slow-motion disaster. Detergents strip the natural oils out of latex seals, dry them out, and crack them within a season. Bleach attacks the butyl rubber lamination that keeps your suit waterproof. Even "gentle" body wash leaves residue that breaks down neoprene over time.

Use a cleaner that's actually designed for dive suits. A small bottle goes a long way — you only need about a capful per wash. Mix it in a basin of lukewarm (never hot) water, turn the suit inside-out, and gently hand-wash the interior. Then flip it right-side-out and do the exterior. The whole process takes about ten minutes.

Five Minutes of Inspection, Years of Performance

Most drysuit failures don't happen mid-dive — they happen because a tiny issue was ignored for a few months. A pinhole in the fabric, a slow valve, a slightly sticky zipper. All easy to fix if you catch them. All expensive if you don't.

Once a month (and definitely after any sharp contact), run through this list:

• Neck seal — stretch it gently and look for hairline cracks, especially where it meets the suit fabric.
• Wrist seals — same check. These wear out before the neck seal because your hands move more.
• Front zipper — slide it closed with the suit flat. It should glide smoothly. Any grit feeling means it needs cleaning and waxing.
• Inlet valve — press the button. It should spring back crisply. Listen for any hissing when the suit is inflated.
• Exhaust valve — hold it under water and look for bubbles. A single bubble is a slow leak you'll feel on a long dive.

Sunlight Is the Enemy

UV light is the single biggest cause of premature drysuit aging. The outer fabric of a trilaminate suit will fade and become brittle in direct sun. The color dyes in neoprene suits will literally cook out. The latex seals — already under stress from chlorine, salt, and ozone — will dry and crack fast when exposed to sunlight.

Dry your suit in the shade, in a spot with good airflow. A covered porch, a garage with the door open, or a shaded corner of the boat works. Turn it inside-out halfway through drying so both sides get airflow.

Plan on 24–48 hours for a fully dry suit, depending on humidity. Don't rush it with a heater or hair dryer. Heat damage is just as bad as UV damage — the seams and lamination can delaminate at temperatures as low as 140°F.

Store It Right, and It Returns the Favor

How you store your drysuit between dive weekends has a huge effect on how long it lasts. The two enemies here are: compression creases (which crack the lamination over time) and heat (which dries out the seals and breaks down the fabric).

Store your drysuit hanging vertically on a wide, padded hanger. Keep the zipper open — never store it zipped up, because that's how zippers slowly lose their shape and start to leak. Store it somewhere cool, dry, and dark. A closet is fine. A hot attic or a damp basement is not.

If you have to transport the suit, roll it loosely rather than folding it. Folding puts sharp creases in the lamination that can become leak points later. A drysuit bag is a small investment that pays for itself the first time you avoid a repair.