Dry Suit Maintenance

What do you guys do for maintenance on your dry suit?  I rinse mine off every time with fresh water, but that does not always get the fish slime off.  I also have a VERY stiff zipper, should I buy zipper lubricant, or can I use Vaseline or something else?   

Thanks

I wash my suit in the washing machine on gentle as possible, pull out inside out let dry for a few hrs then pull pack through let dry. Its a good idea to get the AOK from the Lady, Got my ass FN chewed 3 wks ago!!!!!! or do it when she out and about lmao!!!!  zipper is hard to close for a purpose!!!! =)

wax for the zipper.  Acts as both a lubricant and to help maintain watertight seal.

Like gulf wax or surf board wax?


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Most drysuit manufacturers will claim that you should use their own brand of zipper wax/lube.

There are some generic waxes available for drysuit/wetsuits for ~$5 or so.

If I don't have any of those handy or when I'm traveling , I'll usually default to chapstick.

Surf wax would probably be OK.

Whatever you use, for drysuits, you'll want to apply it on the outside of the teeth.  I typically apply the wax to a closed zipper.  And don't use so much that it might accumulate a lot of sand or grit. 

Paraffin wax works well on zippers.  The pro is that it is dry so it doesn't collect any dirt/grit.  The con is that it is dry so it needs to be reapplied fairly often.  I throw a bunch of the little squares in a ziplock and keep it with my kit. 

Beyond keeping the suit rinsed and clean, using 303 protectant on the latex seals is the best thing you can do for your suit's longevity.  It keeps the gaskets supple making them less prone to tearing.

I use McNett Zip Tech for lubricating my drysuit zippers. 

http://www.amazon.com/Essentials-Tech-Semi-Solid-Zipper-Lubricant/dp/B000GKBEJA

This came with my kokatat drysuit.

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This came with my kokatat drysuit.

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I think you only put those at the end of the zipper and not on the whole zipper??

   read the directions..follow them ..it will work and I always put a little on the whole zipper and open an close several times ..no issues..

spray some aerospace 303 on your rubber gaskets and rub it in good.  I don't even wipe it off because the rubber absorbs most of it.  you'll thank yourself for do this later down road...

spray some aerospace 303 on your rubber gaskets and rub it in good.  I don't even wipe it off because the rubber absorbs most of it.  you'll thank yourself for do this later down road...

This +1

  read the directions..follow them ..it will work and I always put a little on the whole zipper and open an close several times ..no issues..

I believe the directions said to apply it only to the docking ends and not on the zipper like Herb mentioned.  I was actually wondering why it couldn't be used on the zipper itself as well. 

  read the directions..follow them ..it will work and I always put a little on the whole zipper and open an close several times ..no issues..

I believe the directions said to apply it only to the docking ends and not on the zipper like Herb mentioned.  I was actually wondering why it couldn't be used on the zipper itself as well.

maybe i should rephrase it..I put a SMALL dab midway between open and close points..just enough to "grease" the entire zipper....found that at times when in the "center " the zipper was a little rough on the track..I am going to assume( hate doing that ) that do it being a lubricant.. it might do something to the material ?

but also like Texasboy says ..it`s supposed to be a little stiff...

I use zip tech too.  I comes in a stick, kind of like a giant chapstick.  I was my drysuit in a front loading washing machine on the gentle cycle with an extra rinse and no spin.  I use Nik Wax Tech Wash and let the suit dry outside, inside-out first, the turn it back "right" and let it dry thoroughly.  I have been doing this for several years and my Kokatat Gortex suit is in great shape except for a few stains that won't come out.  The Tech Wash is kind of pricey but it only takes a small amount to do the job.  I think I got it from Amazon, in a quart bottle, the last time I bought it.

Martin