Do you wash your wetsuit with fresh water?

[Kykeon]

I do, every time!
but I'm wondering if it is a waste of time...

[Ludmil]

That's general relativity.

[norcom]

Throw my suits in the washer after a sesh. Have been doing it for years. From back in the day in the top loaders with agitators and now front loaders. Use a little of regular detergent. Do the same for all my wet clothing/booties after each sesh. Yes, I know it's not recommended.

Then I dry the wetsuits/booties and other wet gear with a fan afterwards <--- this is crucial to me.

The wetsuits last longer than the times it takes me to want to upgrade to the latest model. Some stuff fares better than other. Surprisingly the biggest issues I had on the most expensive, delicate and warm NP smooth skin suits were UV degradation on shoulders, nail nicks and other small abrasions from sharp objects and just the wetsuits loosing elasticity VS washing machine damage. Never had any suit damaged in the machine; knock on wood!

I miss the top loaders because the suits could sit submerged in the water to soak. Though I think the front loaders do a better job getting all the sand out. I usually wash the suit with a hose if it has sand on it before I throw it in the washer. I can't stand neoprene that stinks.

[Barryg101]

Always rinse the wetsuit after each session it definatley helps, I've noticed if I don't rinse the wetsuit and let it dry salty it's much tougher . The fresh water keeps it feeling much better in my opinion

[TheJoe]

Just dry my suit. Our water is brackish so not as salty as straight ocean water. We have 2 rivers that dump into our bay plus any rain run off. Mildew is probably worse than the salt and no one wants to put on a wet wetsuit in the cold.

[Leon van Bergen]

Throw my suits in the washer after a sesh. Have been doing it for years. From back in the day in the top loaders with agitators and now front loaders. Use a little of regular detergent. Do the same for all my wet clothing/booties after each sesh. Yes, I know it's not recommended.

Then I dry the wetsuits/booties and other wet gear with a fan afterwards <--- this is crucial to me.

The wetsuits last longer than the times it takes me to want to upgrade to the latest model. Some stuff fares better than other. Surprisingly the biggest issues I had on the most expensive, delicate and warm NP smooth skin suits were UV degradation on shoulders, nail nicks and other small abrasions from sharp objects and just the wetsuits loosing elasticity VS washing machine damage. Never had any suit damaged in the machine; knock on wood!

I miss the top loaders because the suits could sit submerged in the water to soak. Though I think the front loaders do a better job getting all the sand out. I usually wash the suit with a hose if it has sand on it before I throw it in the washer. I can't stand neoprene that stinks.

The only downside is that you can not kite often with your methods, Kiting 4 times a week and put your wetsuite in the washing machine after each session, can you picture it already? none of it remains.
Just rinse after each session is more that enough and necessary.

[longwhitecloud]

if you leave a freshwater wetsuit and forget/dont dry it for a while... gross mould. salt is a great anti bacterial agent

the best thing ever is buying 2 wetsuits if you live somewhere cold.. wear out at half the rate and always have a dry one

[matth]

I turn mine inside out and hose down with a high focus on the piss zone. Then I leave inside out and hang to dry..

[norcom]

Throw my suits in the washer after a sesh. Have been doing it for years. From back in the day in the top loaders with agitators and now front loaders. Use a little of regular detergent. Do the same for all my wet clothing/booties after each sesh. Yes, I know it's not recommended.

Then I dry the wetsuits/booties and other wet gear with a fan afterwards <--- this is crucial to me.

The wetsuits last longer than the times it takes me to want to upgrade to the latest model. Some stuff fares better than other. Surprisingly the biggest issues I had on the most expensive, delicate and warm NP smooth skin suits were UV degradation on shoulders, nail nicks and other small abrasions from sharp objects and just the wetsuits loosing elasticity VS washing machine damage. Never had any suit damaged in the machine; knock on wood!

I miss the top loaders because the suits could sit submerged in the water to soak. Though I think the front loaders do a better job getting all the sand out. I usually wash the suit with a hose if it has sand on it before I throw it in the washer. I can't stand neoprene that stinks.

The only downside is that you can not kite often with your methods, Kiting 4 times a week and put your wetsuite in the washing machine after each session, can you picture it already? none of it remains.
Just rinse after each session is more that enough and necessary.

I'm not sure why you'd think that. I've kited daily during the winter with my wetsuit plenty of times, if there's wind. Wash it in the washing machine every time. The wetsuit is washed in less than 30min and dried with the Hangair wetsuit dryer in a few hours inside my house. I'm very meticulous in taking care of my gear, to the point of OCD. It’s an hour long hassle after each session for me to clean everything up and inspect it.

Now I do live in FL, so using my wetsuit is not a year-round process. Though if you knew how anal I am about taking care of my gear, you'd understand that I would still wash it. In the end it's more about the smell and the bacteria that's in the water I kite. There's some scary stuff here and I'd rather take my chances with messing up the suit than having something funky rubbing against my skin for hours.

[beebad]

Throw my suits in the washer after a sesh. Have been doing it for years. From back in the day in the top loaders with agitators and now front loaders. Use a little of regular detergent. Do the same for all my wet clothing/booties after each sesh. Yes, I know it's not recommended.

Then I dry the wetsuits/booties and other wet gear with a fan afterwards <--- this is crucial to me.

The wetsuits last longer than the times it takes me to want to upgrade to the latest model. Some stuff fares better than other. Surprisingly the biggest issues I had on the most expensive, delicate and warm NP smooth skin suits were UV degradation on shoulders, nail nicks and other small abrasions from sharp objects and just the wetsuits loosing elasticity VS washing machine damage. Never had any suit damaged in the machine; knock on wood!

I miss the top loaders because the suits could sit submerged in the water to soak. Though I think the front loaders do a better job getting all the sand out. I usually wash the suit with a hose if it has sand on it before I throw it in the washer. I can't stand neoprene that stinks.

We have a front loader. i toss full suit, booties, gloves, impact vest about a tablespoon or two of detergent on QUICK wash and Extra High speed spin 25 minutes. Everything comes out nearly dry and ready for another sheesh!