I was drying out my dry suit today and turned it inside out. I noticed that in the socks there appears to be a very slight amount of mildew starting to grow (guess I should dry it insideout more often…I will know to do so in the future.
What should I do about it? The suit is Goretex. Is there something I can spray on it to kill it and prevent it from growing, but without damaging the material?
thanks
Matt
Hmmm…
I’d get a bottle of Tech Wash, and wash the suit. It may not get all of the mildew stain out, but it’s inside the suit anyway.
You definitely want to kill the mildew – it ruins lots of things, and I can’t imagine that it could not ruin Gore-Tex as well.
Wayne
Eeeouw
Stinky…
I recommend washing it right side out and then washing it again inside out. BUT make sure you wash it in a front loader WITHOUT an agitator. You should wash it with a soap and not a detergent. Good luck in finding that! I use about 1 tablespoon of Trader Joe’s powdered detergent. Make sure that you rinse the inside of the suit thoroughly.
Now for drying your suit, DON’T put it in the dryer. Dry it right side out, then turn it inside out and dry the inside thoroughly and then when dry turn it right side out again.
Really important to dry your suit thoroughly after each wearing even if you don’t wash it. Probably could just pull the feet out.
Suz
Sea Kayaker Magazine August 1996
– Last Updated: Mar-24-07 7:19 AM EST –
Page 60, Preventing Mildew Damage by Edward McCormack and recommended by REI in the same article for recreational fabrics: Mix 1/2 cup of Lysol in 1 gallon of hot water. Wash the gear with a sponge. Let the fabric air dry, then mix one cup of concentrated lemon juice with one cup of salt (e.g. water softener salt) in one gallon of hot water, and wash with this solution next. Then allow to air dry.
You can reduce the amounts of the ingredients proportionately if you don;t need a whole gallon of teh stuff for your particular gear, I am just writing it verbatim from the article).
Prevention of fungus mildew: keep it in a dry and warm place after use (not damp and cool).
That accorindg to the 1996 Sea Kayaker magazine sitting right in from of me as I type this, bowler1. My photographic memory allowed me to know that I had read it and in which issue it was located.
Geez. I thought you'd have remembered that article yourself from 11 years ago. Hmmm. Early Alzheimers? ;-)
Put it on and fart.
Recipe
Thanks for the recipe above. I tried it last night. Appears that it is working. Still some discoloration, but that might not go away.
Caught it early. Lucky. Guess from now on will be sure to turn suit inside out to dry. Water tends to drip down into the socks and stay there. Perfect situation for mildew.
Strange though…this was red and not black. Little red spots developing. May be some other type of fungus.
We’ll see how it works!
thanks again
matt
You are getting worse
You remind me of an old codger who believes his age gives him the right to dispense rudeness.
Perhaps you should be confined to B&B!
Yer jes’…
…jealous that you didn’t think of it.
ps…
…besides, according to the original poster,
it sounds like it might have worked a little.
“…a slight discoloration…”