Winter is here! And with this season the good waves come! But as the water and air get colder… dawn patrolling for perfect waves becomes harder. Thankfully we have wetsuits.

This cool suit keeps us nice and comfy while we are getting barrelled over winter. Unfortunately, they are not cheap. The average wetsuit will cost from about 200 to 400 dollars. So to avoid having to buy a new suit every winter, these simple five steps will prolong the lifetime of your wetsuit.

1. Rinse your wetsuit after every surf session.

Every time you get out of the surf be sure to rinse your wetsuit with fresh water inside and out. Salt water is one of the wetsuit worst enemies. Once the water dries, salt crystals solidify inside the neoprene destroying the fibres. This will lead to crack in your suit which will eventually let water in.

2. Dry your wetsuit inside out

After you rinse your suit be sure to dry it inside out for two main reasons. The first one is because if you are going for a second surf session and your wetsuit is not entirely dry, at least the inside will be dry, and you will still feel more comfortable while you are surfing. The second one is if the wetsuit is exposed to sunlight the inside will protect the outside of the wetsuit and it won’t affect its flexibility.

3. Avoid direct Sunlight

Your wetsuit does not like to get tanned! After salt water, Sunlight is your wetsuit worst enemy. The UV rays damage the neoprene fibres. Cracks will appear, and the flexibility of your suit will be affected. We understand the sometimes you need a quick dry. So if you are going to expose your wetsuit to the sunlight, be sure that is not longer than 15 minutes.

4. Hang your wetsuit properly.

This means not in the sun, not on your balcony and definitely not over you car doors. If you don’t hang out your suit properly, some parts of the suit will stretch out. At the surf school, we use wetsuit hangers but if you don’t have one don’t stress. Take a plastic coat hanger and hang it from the waist. Once the suit is dry, don’t leave it hanging. If you are not going to surf for a while it’s better if you fold it and keep in a drawer.

5. Be careful with your washing methods.

Let’s be honest… As a surfer, peeing inside your wetsuit is you number one guilty pleasure. The only problem is that after a while… it stinks, and you need to clean it. As you may have noticed by now, your wetsuit is not a t-shirt and since they are not made of the same material, they shouldn’t be washed the same way. Do not use common detergent; do not put it in your washing machine and whatever you do… Do not iron it! There are wetsuit shampoos available at your local surf shops. If you can’t get one, baby shampoo will do the trick.

I hope you found these tips useful. If you have further questions regarding your wetsuit or any other surf relate topics, drop us a line here or call 1800 GET WET and we will be happy to help you. Hope you are staying warm and comfy this winter. See you in the water!