Drysuit Athlete's Foot

I get a very bad case of athlete’s foot when I wear the suit. I have an NRS drysuit with vinyl socks. Any suggestions to prevent drysuit athlete’s foot.

Wear wicking liners?
Not wool as your first layer to the skin.

wash the suit
First wash the suit, turn it inside out (yeah I know it’s a pain) but you have to have the socks clean first to get rid of existing germs. Probably better with two pairs of socks a wicking sock and then one to resist the cold.



Bill H.

Disinfect the suit first
I’m assuming here that you are getting actual “Athlete’s Foot”, which is a fungal infection, and not some other kind of discomfort.



If there is any fungus living in the fabric, you’re going to reinfect yourself every time you wear the suit. Turn it inside out, wash it carefully and completely according to the manufacturer’s instructions, dry it completely (drying it in the sun would be ideal), then spray it with an anti-fungal foot spray up to the knees. Let it dry, then I would re-apply it, just in case.



Once the anti-fungal has done it’s work, the suit should be fine. However, you need to kill the infection in your feet completely before using the dry suit again, or you will just recontaminate it. If you can’t wait that long, put plastic bags or latex socks over your feet before donning the dry suit, in order to avoid contaminating it again.



I always wear socks in my dry suit, since I need them for warmth anyway. I don’t think the material is going to make any difference in terms of whether you have Athlete’s Foot problems.

Paddlers foot
Normally Athletes’ foot is not hard to get rid of. If it was me, I would pour some hydrogen peroxide in the boots and clean them good and let it dry thoroughly. In the future I would wear socks and I would powder my feet with the anti-fungus powder. I might even powder the inside of the boots with the powder.

The powder is a good idea
It will keep your feet drier and kill any fungus present.

bare foot?
Are you bare foot inside the latex sock? If so, that is the cause of the accumulated ickyness that is causing your foot fungus. Keep the inside of the sock clean and wear clean sock inside of it. My preference is for wool socks but I do wear a gore-tex suit and the socks are not the latex socks.