Diving equipment is expensive and most of it fails long before it needs to, almost always for the same reason: salt, sand and sunlight left to work on it between dives. Fifteen minutes of routine after each dive roughly doubles the service life of a regulator, a BCD or a suit, and — more to the point — removes most of the ways gear fails underwater. Here is what that routine actually consists of, item by item, plus the end-of-season storage that matters more than anything you do during it.
The One Rule That Matters Most
Rinse everything in fresh water after every dive, and do it the same day. If you remember nothing else, remember that.
Salt is the main enemy. It crystallises inside neoprene cells, in buckle mechanisms, around valve seats, in zip teeth and in fin strap slots, and once dried into place it abrades from the inside out with every subsequent flex. Chlorinated pool water is harder on rubber and neoprene than seawater is. Silt and sand from quarries and lakes work their way into every thread and moving part, and grit is what wears out mechanisms rather than use.
Soaking beats splashing. A rinse tank at a dive centre is fine for a quick pass, but twenty minutes in clean fresh water at home is what actually dissolves salt out of fabric and mechanisms. Work buckles, zips and valves while they are submerged so water reaches inside them rather than just over them.
Regulator and Octopus
The regulator is the item your life depends on, and it has one rule that outranks every other piece of maintenance advice: the dust cap goes on before the first stage gets anywhere near water, and the purge button stays untouched while the regulator is wet. Pressing purge opens the second stage and can draw water back through the hose toward the first stage, which is exactly how internals corrode. If your dust cap is the type that seals with the cylinder’s own air, blow it dry before fitting it.
After each dive, with the cap firmly on, rinse in lukewarm water — never hot, which is hard on seals. Flush the second stages by letting water run through the mouthpiece and exhaust, moving them gently, then shake them out. Hang the set to dry in shade with the first stage highest so any water drains away from it, and store hoses loosely coiled without sharp bends.
Several times a season, soak the whole set with the cap on in lukewarm water with a drop of mild detergent for around thirty minutes, then rinse thoroughly in clean water. Treat moving parts and o-rings with a silicone product intended for diving equipment — and only on the parts the manufacturer specifies.
Once a year, have it serviced by an authorised technician, regardless of how well it breathes and regardless of whether you used it at all. Rubber seats and o-rings degrade on a calendar, not a dive count. See regulators and octopus hoses.
BCD
The inside of a BCD is where salt does its damage invisibly, and rinsing only the outside is the most common maintenance mistake divers make. Fill the bladder roughly a third full with fresh water through the inflator, close the dump valves, then shake and rotate the jacket so the water reaches every fold and corner. Invert it and drain through a dump valve. Repeat two or three times.
Then inflate it and let it dry fully inflated, in shade. Drying inflated keeps the internal surfaces apart so they cannot stick together, and shade matters because UV degrades the shell fabric and the bladder faster than use does.
Regularly empty and check the pockets — small items left in them corrode and occasionally puncture. Inspect seams, webbing, buckles and the inflator hose connection for wear, and treat zips with a silicone lubricant meant for dive gear. Once a year, have the inflator and dump valves checked and the bladder pressure-tested for leaks; a slow leak is invisible until it matters. See BCDs and BCD accessories.
Wetsuits and Drysuits
Turn a wetsuit inside out and rinse the lining first, since that is where sweat and salt concentrate, then turn it and finish the outside. Give it a proper soak rather than a hose-down. Hang it over a wide-shouldered hanger or a thick bar — a thin wire hanger creates permanent creases at the shoulders where the neoprene cells collapse and the suit loses insulation exactly where you need it.
Dry in shade, never in sun and never on a radiator. UV is what ages neoprene fastest, and heat accelerates the same process. Store hanging rather than folded, because a fold held for months becomes a crack.
Drysuits add the zip, which is the most expensive component on the suit and the one most easily ruined. Rinse it, keep it free of grit, brush the teeth gently with a soft brush, and wax it with the manufacturer’s zip wax rather than any general lubricant. Close it fully but never force it. Store the suit hanging by the boots with the zip open so the seals are not compressed, and treat latex neck and wrist seals with unscented talc or a dedicated conditioner before long storage to stop them hardening.
Repair tears promptly. A small split in neoprene propagates along the seam with every donning, and contact neoprene cement fixes it in minutes — see neoprene glues. Drysuit seal replacement is best left to a professional, though it can be done at home with the right seal and adhesive. Our wetsuit versus drysuit guide covers the differences in more detail, and the suits themselves are in neoprene suits and accessories.
Mask, Fins and Snorkel
Mask
Rinse after every dive and dry in shade. Store in a rigid box — loose in a bag the skirt takes a permanent set against a tank valve and the lens gets scratched. Check the strap and buckles each season for fine cracking at the slots. See masks.
Fins
Rinse thoroughly around strap slots, buckles and spring mechanisms where sand collects. Dry in shade and store flat or hanging by the foot pocket, never standing on the blade tips, which leaves a permanent bend. See fins.
Snorkel
Run fresh water through the tube, not just over it, and flush the purge valve and any dry-top float where grit stops the mechanism seating. Check the mouthpiece for splits at the bite tabs and replace it early. See snorkels.
Boots, gloves and hood
Rinse inside out and dry fully before storage, since damp neoprene in a sealed bag grows mould within days. Soles and seams are where boots fail first. See boots and hoods.
Dive computer
Rinse in lukewarm water, paying attention to button surrounds and charging contacts. Replace the battery cover o-ring whenever the battery is changed, and the strap at the first sign of cracking. See dive computers.
Maintenance Myths That Cost You Money
“Hotter water rinses better.” It does not. Heat degrades seals, o-rings and neoprene, and repeated hot rinsing ages a regulator faster than the diving does. Lukewarm or cold water dissolves salt perfectly well given enough time.
“Sun dries it faster and kills bacteria.” UV is the single largest cause of premature failure across neoprene, silicone, rubber and technopolymer alike. Sun-drying a wetsuit a few dozen times visibly ages it. Shade and airflow, always.
“After a freshwater dive you do not need to rinse.” Quarry and lake water carries silt, minerals and organisms, and grit is harder on moving parts than salt is. Rinse after every dive regardless of where it was.
“Silicone spray is good for everything.” Some materials and some components are damaged by it, and over-spraying attracts grit. Use products intended for dive equipment, on the parts the manufacturer names, and nowhere else.
“If it works, it does not need servicing.” A regulator that breathes fine can still have degraded seats and o-rings, because they age on a calendar whether or not the set is used. Annual service exists precisely because the failure mode gives no warning.
The Fifteen-Minute Routine
- Dust cap on first: Before the regulator goes anywhere near the rinse tank, and never press purge while it is wet.
- Soak, do not splash: Twenty minutes in clean fresh water dissolves what a hose-down only rearranges.
- Work the moving parts submerged: Buckles, zips, valves and strap mechanisms need water inside them, not just over them.
- Flush the BCD internally: A third full, shake, drain, repeat. The inside is where the damage happens unseen.
- Suits inside out first: The lining holds the salt and sweat. Then turn and do the outside.
- Everything dries in shade: BCD inflated, suit on a wide hanger, fins flat, mask in its box.
- Inspect while you rinse: Straps, buckles, seams and hoses. Cracking always appears before failure if you are looking.
- Never store wet: Damp neoprene sealed in a bag grows mould in days and the smell does not come out.
End-of-Season Storage
If you dive seasonally, how you put the kit away matters more than anything you did during the season. Start with a more thorough clean than usual — a long soak for everything, with buckles and zips worked through repeatedly — and make absolutely certain every item is bone dry before it goes into storage. Damp neoprene in a closed bag is the single most common way a suit is ruined over a winter.
Send the regulator for service before storage rather than after, so it comes back with fresh seals and sits unused in good condition instead of degrading through the winter and needing work in spring when every shop is busy. Leave the BCD partially inflated so the internal surfaces stay apart, and remove batteries from torches, computers with user-replaceable cells, and transmitters — a leaking cell destroys a compartment that costs more than the device.
Hang suits rather than folding them, with drysuit zips open and seals talced. Store everything somewhere dry, cool and dark. A garage that swings between freezing and hot, or a loft with sunlight through a skylight, will do more damage in six months than a season of diving. Cylinders should be stored upright with a small amount of pressure left in them so nothing can enter through the valve.
One last point that catches people out: protect neoprene from rodents. Mice chew wetsuits, boots and gloves with enthusiasm, and a suit stored in a shed or cellar over winter is a genuine target. A sealed rigid container or a hanging position well clear of any surface solves it.
FAQ
Do I need to rinse after diving in fresh water?
Yes. Quarries, lakes and rivers carry silt, minerals and organisms, and fine grit is harder on buckles, valves and strap mechanisms than salt is. Pool water is worse again for rubber and neoprene because of the chlorine. The routine is the same regardless of where you dived — soak in clean fresh water, work the moving parts, dry in shade.
Why must the dust cap go on before rinsing a regulator?
Because water entering the first stage is what corrodes it from the inside, and the damage is invisible until the set is stripped. For the same reason, never press the purge button while the regulator is wet and not pressurised — that opens the second stage and can draw water back up the hose toward the first. Cap on, rinse gently, dry with the first stage highest.
How often does a regulator need servicing?
Annually, or every 100 to 200 dives depending on the manufacturer — and annually even if you did not dive at all. Seats and o-rings degrade over time regardless of use, and a regulator that breathes perfectly can still be close to a failure you would have no warning of. Service before winter storage rather than after, so it sits in good condition and you are not queuing in spring.
Should I dry my BCD inflated or deflated?
Inflated, in shade. Drying inflated keeps the internal bladder surfaces apart so they cannot stick together, which is a common and expensive failure. Store it partially inflated for the same reason. The step people skip is rinsing the inside first — a third full of fresh water, shaken through all the folds and drained, two or three times.
Can I put my wetsuit in a washing machine?
Not in a normal cycle. Agitation, spin speed and standard detergents all damage neoprene and glued seams. If a suit genuinely needs more than a soak, use a wetsuit-specific cleaner in a bucket of lukewarm water and rinse thoroughly. Never tumble dry, never use fabric softener, and never dry on a radiator — heat and UV are what age neoprene fastest.
How do I get the smell out of a wetsuit?
The smell is bacteria growing in the lining, so the fix is removing what feeds them and drying properly. Soak inside out in lukewarm water with a wetsuit shampoo or a mild disinfectant intended for neoprene, rinse thoroughly, and dry completely before storage. Prevention is easier: rinse the lining every time, never store damp, and never leave a suit balled up in a bag overnight.
Is silicone spray safe on all my gear?
No. Some plastics and some components are damaged by it, and over-application attracts grit that then grinds the part it was meant to protect. Use products specifically intended for diving equipment, apply them only where the manufacturer says, and use the correct product for the job — zip wax for drysuit zips is not the same thing as o-ring grease.
What is the most commonly neglected item?
The inside of the BCD bladder, followed closely by the snorkel tube and the strap slots in fins. All three are rinsed on the outside and forgotten on the inside, and all three fail in ways that seem sudden but were not. Adding thirty seconds each to your post-dive routine costs nothing and prevents the failures that end dive days.