You know the moment: you pull the wetsuit out of the bag, and it smells like something has been living inside it. No worries, you can get that out again, and with a few simple habits it never gets that bad in the first place. Here is what helps and what you are better off leaving alone.
Why the suit starts to smell at all
Neoprene is a foam full of tiny pores. Sweat, salt and everything else a day on the water brings along soak right into them. If the suit stays damp and warm, for example crumpled up in the boot of the car, bacteria multiply, and their metabolism is exactly what you smell. So the stink is not a material flaw, it is simply biology.
What really helps
The most important remedy is the cheapest: after every session, rinse it out with clean fresh water, inside and out, the sooner the better. If it already smells stronger, a special neoprene shampoo or an odour remover from the surf shop will help. Turn the suit inside out, soak it in lukewarm water, gently knead it through, done.
With home remedies a little caution is in order. A splash of vinegar in the water kills bacteria, but too much acid attacks the glued seams over time, so use it sparingly and dilute it well. And most important of all, what you never do: into the washing machine, hot water, normal detergent or fabric softener. That dissolves the seams and makes the neoprene brittle. The smell would be gone, but sadly so would the suit.
Drying, storing, preventing
Drying decides how long the suit lasts. Hang it in the shade, never in blazing sun, because UV makes the material mushy and bleaches it out. Not over the shoulders on a thin wire hanger, but folded in the middle over a wide bar, otherwise the shoulders stretch out. Dry the inside first, then turn it.
In the end, preventing is easier than cleaning. Rinse it out after every day, never leave the suit lying wet in the bag, and store it cool, dry and completely dried through. Then it lasts for years and smells of nothing at all.
A good wetsuit is an investment, and with this little routine you will ride with it for years longer. If something does smell one day, you now know what to do. And should a tear ever show up, that too can often be patched yourself, but that is another story.