How to Take Care of and Repair Your Kid’s Wetsuit

It is water play time of your kids again. Children love to play in the water and devise all sorts of water games. Whether its spring, summer or fall season, children don’t seem to stop their fascination with water.

In order to protect your children from the cold water temperature, your children need a kids wetsuit. Wetsuits are important for your children’s protection because they are the most vulnerable to illnesses such as colds, cough and fever. Childrens wetsuits are perfect to keep your children safe while they get their fun.

However, accidents can happen. Children’s play and rigorous activities can cause the wetsuit to rip off. This is possibly happening especially at the beach where the wetsuit can encounter small to medium sized rocks and other rough objects and surfaces. Good thing that there is a way to repair kids wetsuit accidents like this that you can do on your own.

The essential material that you need in repairing a wet suit is neoprene cement. The neoprene cement will be used to path the tear or hole together. Neoprene cement is available in surf shops. Just go ahead and ask for it. There are also wetsuits repair kits available. When you buy a wetsuit, it’s probably a good idea that you get a repair kit, too, for emergencies.

What you need to do first, like all patches, is to clean the torn area. Clear the torn area with any particles such as sand or dust. This is to make sure that the area will patch cleanly. After cleaning the area with soap and water, clean it with alcohol and let it dry.

Use a brush to put neoprene cement on surfaces that needs to be patched up. Leave it to dry for 5 minutes. After that, apply neoprene cement again on the torn areas and this time, leave it for 10 minutes. Afterwards, it is time to glue the torn parts together. Press the two parts together by using some kind of weight like a heavy book. Wait more or less for 6 hours. When it’s completely dry, you have successfully repaired your child’s wetsuit! You can make the wetsuit working really well again, enough to protect you from cold water temperatures.

This do-it-yourself technique, however, is only applicable for small holes and rips. If the hole is much bigger or you think that it requires more than just gluing the parts together, you can bring the wetsuit to a repair shop. It may need a new neoprene patch or some heavy duty repair. It’s best to leave it to the experts when that happens.

If the wetsuit is also damaged because of overuse, it is better not to use it anymore. If the color is already too faded or if the neoprene is already getting hard from the water and sun, it’s better to buy a new one. Most kids wetsuits are made to be very durable. Surely by the time it’s overused, your children have already outgrown the suit. It’s time for a newer, cooler one!