How to Dry a Wetsuit Fast With These 3 Easy Ways

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How to dry a wetsuit fast with these 3 easy ways

Sliding into a wetsuit when it’s dry is simple — toasty, even. However, sheer misery awaits those who try to pull on their wetsuit while it’s still wet. It just sounds awful, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, this predicament is fairly common among those who frequent the water. In fact, some might say it’s downright inevitable. Of course, one option is to just “tough it out” and hope you’ll feel better once you get into the water… But then again, who really wants to deal with that? We know we don’t.

Fortunately, there are ways to avoid, or at least steeply mitigate, the dilemma of struggling with a soaked wetsuit so that you aren’t cold, drenched, and exhausted even before getting into the water. While there are multiple ways to dry a wetsuit, three methods generally come as the most recommended:

The three ways to dry a wetsuit fast are:

Method 1) Hang your wetsuit up outdoors and away from the sun, squeezing out the pooled water from the arms and legs every half an hour, and letting the breeze do the rest.

Method 2) Using large, thick, vastly absorbent bath towels roll up or sandwich the wetsuit, and then using your body weight to squeeze the water out; and finally,

Method 3) Open the windows, turning on your extractor, ceiling, and/or floor fans, and incorporating a dehumidifier in the drying process.

The third option is best for those who have no choice but to dry their wetsuits indoors. Moreover, any of these methods can be combined for enhanced results.

Of course, if you haven’t grappled with the awful experience of having to wriggle into a drenched wetsuit just yet, you might be wondering how such a situation ever arises in the first place. Well, say you went into the water in the morning and plan to go out again in the late afternoon, but your wetsuit hasn’t had enough time to dry. Unless specific measures are taken, you’ll be dealing with the challenging situation of attempting to wriggle into a cold, soaked-through wetsuit that resists all your attempts to pull it back on. Moreover, maybe you just rinsed out your wetsuit because you didn’t have plans to head back to the water, but those plans have since changed. Now, you’re stuck with a soaked-through, heavy, and unmalleable piece of essential outer gear that seems impossible to get back on.

In either situation, when you attempt to squeeze back into your wetsuit, it’ll be uncomfortably cold, rigid, and resistant to your attempts to bring it up over your skin. You’ll also be running the risk of ruining its general shape and fit in the process. That’s why quick, efficient drying methods are so vital for any watersport enthusiast who uses their wetsuit frequently.

The most important things to keep in mind — and we will continue to mention these here and there throughout the article so that you don’t forget — is that 1) you always want to remember to turn your wetsuit inside-out before beginning the drying process, and 2) heat and the sun should both be avoided as much as possible while drying your wetsuit. Regarding the prior, turning your wetsuit inside-out not only provides more access to the water it is holding onto, but also avoids unnecessary wear and tear on the exterior. In terms of the latter, heat and sun can actually damage your wetsuit. That’s why these types of exposure should generally be limited only to time spent directly on the shore or in the water — never during the actual drying process itself.

While the following methods may not always dry your wetsuit entirely, they should at least help you rid it of enough water that putting it back on won’t be nearly as uncomfortable as it would be if your wetsuit was still soaked through. It should also help to minimize additional stretching, warping, or any other damage that could occur while forcing on a suit that is still sopping wet.

Method 1: Hang it Up and Squeeze it Out

Once you’ve finished rinsing out your wetsuit — as you should generally try to do each time you use it — squeeze all the excess water out, turn it inside-out, and hang it up on a plastic hanger. While it may seem beneficial to hang it out in the sun, you should aim instead for a well-shaded place, or at least one out of the heat, since excessive amounts of either can actually ruin your wetsuit over extended periods of time. If there’s a breeze, this will be to your advantage, and you should absolutely aim to make sure your wetsuit gets as much of that draft as possible.

Around half an hour after you hang your wetsuit up, you might notice that the arms and legs seem especially soaked through. This is nothing to worry about. Rather, it’s an expected and very important part of the process.

When this happens, you’ll want to squeeze out all that pooled water — one arm and one leg at a time. While squeezing, move your palms, fingers, and knuckles slowly and thoroughly through each section, being sure to squeeze out each part in its entirety. Start near the shoulder for the arm — or at the thigh for the leg — and work your way down, squeezing firmly until you reach the ankles.

Treat each area like you’re at the end of a tube of toothpaste, and want to get as much of it out as you possibly can before tossing the entire thing. You’d start at the bottom, get a firm grip, and work your way up, slowly massaging the plastic as you go. The same idea applies when squeezing out a wetsuit, except you’re going from the top to the bottom instead.

After you’ve completed your first round of squeezing, wait another thirty or so minutes. Then, repeat the process and let the wetsuit continue to hang inside-out in the breeze. While it may not be perfectly dry by the time you’re all done, it should be dry enough to slip back into with ease.

Method 2: Use Towels

For this method, you’ll want to spread some large, thick bath towels out on the floor — the fluffier the better. Then, you’ll want to turn your wetsuit inside-out and place it on top of these towels. From here, you’ll want to squeeze out the water while utilizing the towels’ absorbance capabilities.

One option for this is to tightly roll up the towels with your suit inside of them, and then kneel on top of the bundle, shifting your weight and knees back and forth to squeeze out the water. Think again of squeezing that last bit of toothpaste out of the tube.

Alternatively, you can toss another large, thick bath towel over your wetsuit, such that it is sandwiched between a top towel and a bottom one, and then walk on top of it all to help squeeze out the water. Since this method can be slightly less precise, it may take slightly longer to achieve the same results you might get with the single-towel roll-up approach.

Once you’re done squeezing the water out into the towels, you can use one or both of the other two methods listed in this article (“Method 1: Hang it Up and Squeeze it Out” or “Method 3: Ventilate and Dehumidify”) to further speed up the process, or you can just place your wetsuit on fresh, dry towels and let it sit for as long as possible. While it may still be damp when you put it on again, it should at least be far more comfortable than attempting to pull it on while it’s extremely wet.

Find out if you can wash a wetsuit in the washing machine here.

Method 3: Ventilate and Dehumidify

The most popular wetsuit-drying methods generally require outdoor space, warm weather, and dryer climates where rain won’t hinder the process. However, not every geographical or residential location comes with these perks. Therefore, people may find themselves with the dilemma of attempting to dry their wetsuits indoors without the help of a nice, daytime breeze. Luckily, there are ways to speed up the drying process indoors as well — and all of it can be done from home.

Take your wetsuit, turn it inside-out, and place it on a hanger. Then, hang it over the bathtub, in the shower, or elsewhere in your home (with a drip tray underneath). This ensures that you won’t get water all over areas of your dwelling where it might be unwelcome. From here, you’ll want to open a window (if possible), or else turn on the extractor fan. If you have any additional floor or table fans available, plugging them in and directing their power towards your wetsuit will also be highly beneficial. What you don’t want to do, however, is attack your wetsuit with a hot blast of air from your hairdryer. As we already mentioned before, heat is not your wetsuit’s friend.

For those living in cold weather or other conditions which require them to dry their gear indoors, it’s worth investing in a dehumidifier. These devices work in small spaces, such as bathrooms or closets, and further speed up the drying process. However, while using the dehumidifier, be sure to continue ventilating the space as you would otherwise by opening the windows or turning on a fan.