chlorine and dry suits

Advice
#1

Is it damaging to a dry suit to spend a few hours in a pool? Obviously I’ll rinse it off in the shower immediately afterwards and 303 the gaskets, but can the material be damaged by the chlorine?



Thanks,

Lyn

#2

I wouldn’t do it …
Chlorine will eventually damage the fabric and especially any neoprene on the suit. I know in our practice pool the level of Chlorine can vary widely. I bought an inexpensive neo skirt for use in the pool, and use my primary pfd, but expect the life of both to be shortened. Drysuits are too expensive to risk potentially shortened life of the fabric.

~wetzool

#3

Agree
I live in my drysuit when others are in lighter weight clothing, and I have a medical thing where there is a inconvenience factor with getting seriously wet over the course of a practice session in a pool. But I’d still never take a drysuit into a chlorine pool - they are too valuable for paddling.



I have an older Snapdragon neo skirt that has seen lots and lots of wear, it has been fine including pool sessions and salt water as long as I’ve promptly rinsed it out. I do feel that that chlorine increases the wear rate on fuzzy rubber though, no matter what you do. It seems more fagile than hydroskin.

#4

Just curious by why do you need it in
a pool?

#5

Hey Lynn
Mary O , asked the Stolquist rep that one an they advised against it , how hard it will effect the suit is not really known , maybe we could get pat from consumers union to get em to donate an test em .-------M

#6

I wouldn’t do it, either
Chlorine is bad for neoprene and metal, both of which are in drysuits along with rubber and (possibly) Gore-tex. Lots of items to potentially damage.



If you need to stay warmer in a pool (I can relate), fuzzy rubber or neoprene clothes are much cheaper than drysuits.

#7

Don’t Do It
Chlorine definitely eats away most stuff including nylon. I used to swim pretty regularly. After a year, my swim trucks were pretty much falling apart.



I am not sure why you would need a drysuit in the pool. Much better off using neo if it’s chilly. Save the drysuit for lake practice in spring.



sing

#8

Thanks very much to everyone
I was going to do 2 hours rolling practice, then teach for 2 hours. Even in a warmish pool that spells chilly.



I did go ahead and wore it, and no I won’t do it again. I washed the suit and zipper with mild soap and treated the gaskets.



Lyn

#9

Hi Mark
Good idea, but the drysuit was the wrong thing for the pool anyway. With anything underneath it I would have overheated, and with nothing underneath it I got cool anyway. Back to my farmer jane, which was definitely getting wrecked from the pool sessions the last few years. Say hi to Mary O. Lyn