I would appreciate and advice on how to clean my neoprene waders. My are getting a little rank. Thank you

I'm a scuba diver and use a 5mm neoprene wetsuit. After a week's diving the dive suit begins to smell like Jacque Cousteau's socks.

I've drafted my wife in on this reply, and she suggests a three part solution:

a) Put them in the bathtub, cover with cool water and dissolve a little laundry detergent (no bleach). Wash.

b) Drain the water, refill the tub with clean water and rinse out all the detergent.

c) Drain the water, refill the tub and soak overnight in clean water.

[For particularly hard cases, apply detergent directly to the spots that still smell and repeat (a) to (c).]

d) Drip dry out of direct sunlight.

Now that I know what she does to return the wetsuits to like-new condition, I have new- found respect for the Old Buzzard! (I think I'd just buy some new ones and send the old ones to Dave Vedder.)

PS Our wetsuits are footless, so we don't have to worry about getting water in a bootfoot wader, but I don't think you want to get the inside of the boot sections wet -- I'd prop these up.

i do mine a little different than Snagly, but gets you to the same point.

After each trip, I just take a garden hose with a nozzle, and rinse the exterior until the water runs clear as it comes off the waders. About every 4th trip or after a weeks vacation of chasing metalheads, Ill rinse like this first, then take a bucket of mild soapy water, ands use a soft bristled whisk broom to scrub them. Rinse again until the water runs clear, and then hang them bootside up in your utility room over night, and they'll be fine. A towel on the floor makes the wife a little happier.

Nice thing about this method, is you can do them while you wear your waders. Nice to wear some light cotton long johns while you do it in the winter. this way, you can check for wader leaks, and get them repaired before the next trip. Little kids "sidewalk chalk" is a nice way to mark any punctures that need to be repaired. You can just brush it off after you fix your hole. Good luck, and hope this helps.

Duck, I don't know if there is a dive shop near you but goto any dive shop (underwater sports) and they have some of the best cleaner and deodorizer for your neoprene or shells. Use the Bc cleaner for the interior it smells good and won't break down the neoprene cells.Underwater sports is located in seattle, edmonds ,olympia ,bellevue,kirkland: or any other good dive shop.