Pro tip! Thanks, I did not know that.

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
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I read about this a few years ago here on this forum and have been doing this every since! About a week before my first race, soak the wetsuit in the tub. I probably don't need to do it later in the season but I do it anyway before my big race of the year (like IM). A good wetsuit is somewhat expensive so I like to take care of it. (Loving my T1, btw).

I try to soak mine a few times in the late spring. Works like a charm :)

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+1

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Thanks. I missed that one last year. My first year of tri, I bought a suit and it didn't fit the next year despite only about a 5 lb weight change. I might have to soak it and see if I can fit back into it. I have the suit I bought last year soaking for this weekend's race.

It might be over kill but I put mine in a muck bucket and soak it for at least a half hour then turn it inside out for another half hour.

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Bob

I'm confused by this--neoprene is a closed-cell foamed rubber that's completely waterproof, right? So how would moisture penetrate beyond the lining, which obviously has the capacity to soak up some water? And if moisture somehow did penetrate into the neoprene, wouldn't it remain trapped inside the rubber for a long, long time?

I don't get it either.

It's far from completely waterproof. Neoprene foam is slowly soaking water - and slowly drying.

And if moisture somehow did penetrate into the neoprene, wouldn't it remain trapped inside the rubber for a long, long time?
This is correct. That's why we don't need to soak the wetsuit in water during the season - water remains, but during the winter (several months) it dries out.

Hmm. Neoprene is rubber foamed with nitrogen into a closed cell structure. If water could permeate into those closed cells, the nitrogen would also permeate out. Something doesn't add up here.

I don't know it from the chemical side - just by 18 years experience with tri-suits, "waterproof" neoprene glows for diving and cycling + neoprene cycling overshoes.

It glows? What does that mean?

Neoprene rubber is waterproof, right? For example, if used as the neck and wrist gaskets of a scuba drysuit, water doesn't go through those areas, right?

And if foamed into a closed cell structure, it should stay waterproof by definition. Sponges are open-cell, a totally different structure, and can hold water even if made of a waterproof material.

Weigh it, soak it, dry it (48 in an air con environment ?), weigh it again ?

I am I the group that thinks once it's external surface and inner lining material is dry, the suit is dry.

WD :-)

Time to re bump this....again!

A TIP FROM EMILIO: WET YOUR WETSUIT

It is the start of the season. Just before your first race you pull out your wetsuit. You have not worn it in months. You put it on and it just plain feels tighter than you remember.

Did it shrink?
Is the rubber less flexible?
Do you need a new wetsuit?

…well, the answer are: sort of, sort of, and yes, unless you already own a T1 (just kidding).

The Tip: Soak your wetsuit a few days before the race. Soak it in a tub with 3 inches of water for about 5 minutes a few days before your race.

The Reason: All Wetsuits are kind of like sponges. When they are moist they are supple and flexible. Believe it or not, your wetsuits stay moist for days, even weeks between uses, though they appear dry… just like a sponge. Over time, as it gets really dry, it gets stiff and not-so-supple, thus feeling like it shrunk…like the way a sponge shrinks up. More wetsuits rip at the start of the season, than any other time of the year. Good if you are me, bad if you are you. Your wetsuit will last longer and be more comfortable if you wet it before you wear it!

Live well,
Emilio De Soto

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Emilio De Soto II
Maker of triathlon clothing, T1 Wetsuits, & Saddle Seat Pads and AXS since 1990
emilio@desotosport.com http://www.desotosport.com

I'm guessing that was supposed to say "gloves"

I could be wrong

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
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I'm just glad the Emilio suggested soaking your wetsuit in the tub, vs the "other way" of pre-soaking [like we used to do on cold mornings down the Shore after sipping some hot Wawa coffee ... allegedly]

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

This again! Anyone want to take a cut at how closed-cell, nitrogen-blown rubber is somehow supposed to be permeable to water, yet the nitrogen doesn't leak out? There seems to be a basic confusion between an open cell and a closed-cell sponge here...and can you imagine swimming in a wetsuit made of open-cell sponge that got progressively waterlogged?

Thanks again Emilio. Soaking the wetsuits now for Oceanside on Saturday.

Water can act as a lubricant, so I dunk my wetsuit just before putting it on. I think the water helps the knit lining to move/stretch, and also the suit slide on easier, by acting as a lubricant.

Not sure why nobody else does it, particularly at races that don't allow an in-water warm-up?

As far as I know, wetsuit neoprene is a closed cell foam (I have worked with a bunch of closed cell foams, though not neoprene). For neoprene, my guess is that if pure nitrogen is used to blow the cells, eventually the pure nitrogen does permeate out, but, since the rubber foam has a semi-rigid structure, the outgassing of the pure nitrogen is replaced by the ingassing of ambient air (which, of course, is mostly nitrogen as well).

About 'pre-wetting' wetsuits, in theory at least, the water should not enter the neoprene. But what the water can affect are all of the other permeable suit materials, like the inner fabric liners, maybe the glues, and the threads holding the stitching together. For example, the fabric inner liner protects the neoprene and adds some strength to it, especially when you are stretching the wetsuit and shoving your arms and legs through it. When that liner fabric is wetted, first, it is lubricated. Second, the liner fabric fibers might absorb some water and perhaps that water absorption might affect the fibers' strength, flexibility, and/or brittleness.

Or, at least, that is my take on this ...

Greg @ dsw

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Agreed that water could lubricate the lining materials and could lubricate the interface between the lining materials and the neoprene or between the lining materials and the wearer's skin. I have the impression that's not what Emilio has in mind, i.e. I think he pictures neoprene as having aspects of being an open-cell sponge, where water actually penetrates into the neoprene itself, and somehow lubricates it. Rubber--whether blown or solid--of course does "dry out" and lose flexibility over time, just like old rubber car tires dry out and crack, but that kind of drying isn't about the absence of water (presumably no one rehydrates old, cracked car tires in a tub of water). This kind of degradation is a function of time, though it could be accelerated by UV radiation and probably also salt and other things. So it's not surprising wetsuits would be more prone to tearing after they've sat during the off-season, because a lot of time has passed, and if they don't tear the first time they're put back on, they're less likely to tear the next week. My two cents, anyway.

With all the respect that is due to you, your assumption of what I think is wrong. I am keeping things simple in the explanation so as to not confuse people who really just want what the spirit of my suggestion is for. I am intimately involved in the production of GreenGoma Rubber and have been making wetsuits for 20 years. The bun that is the rubber is closed cell. Water does not permeate it, but you are correct that degradation is a function of time. It accelerated by exposure to heat, UV light, chlorine, salt, sweat, folding of the wetsuit, improper care, as well as bacterial formation from prolonged moisture too.


My analogy has more to do with the material and the laminate used to hold that material against the rubber. We use laminates that are non petroleum-based, respond to water, and have no VOC (volatile organic compounds) which which why T1 Wetsuits are great for people who have many different types of contact dermatitis.

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Emilio De Soto II
Maker of triathlon clothing, T1 Wetsuits, & Saddle Seat Pads and AXS since 1990
emilio@desotosport.com http://www.desotosport.com

Interesting, I'm glad to hear that despite what you wrote, you don't actually think neoprene is like a sponge, which has never made much sense to me. I'm surprised that you think the liner fabrics and the liner glues (which are apparently somewhat water soluble for your suits, assuming I understand your term "respond to water" correctly) stay moist for many days, even weeks. If that's really true, it would seem to risk bacterial growth, which you note is a risk in the presence of prolonged moisture. Anyway, even if the lining materials don't stay moist for very long, wetting a suit before pulling it on could reasonably help lubricate the skin-liner and liner-glue-neoprene interfaces to some degree, reducing the risk of tearing. So that prescription seems to make sense, albeit anytime one puts on a suit, not particularly at the beginning of a season.

My tip works. I never post anything expecting to never get scrutinized, and I enjoy reading your posts. So with that said, the spirit of my original post is to help others. I wish I had as much time as you do to hammer on these little details, but I don't and I don't think people reading this really care either as much as either of us.

Thanks for your contributions.

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Emilio De Soto II
Maker of triathlon clothing, T1 Wetsuits, & Saddle Seat Pads and AXS since 1990
emilio@desotosport.com http://www.desotosport.com