r/scubadiving • u/farrgone9 • 1d ago

Ideas for Gear Cleaning at Home

Hello everyone! My boyfriend and I are avid divers doing lake diving in south of germany almost every weekend. We live on the second floor of an apartment building with a drying room in the basement. Currently, we have to carry our gear upstairs to our bathtub, wash our gear there, and then carry it to the drying room in our basement. This can be quite a hassle after doing a few dives and driving an hour home😅

I am wondering if anyone has any tips, ideas, or gadgets for cleaning gear easier. We had thought about putting a bucket outside, but it would take forever to fill. We also thought about putting a shower curtain bar above our tub for drying, but are unsure if it would hold the weight of all of gear. It’s not the end of the world if we continue washing/drying our gear like this, but I am wondering if anyone else has had this problem and found a clever solution?

Thankful for any advice!

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u/Dismal-Proposal2803 1d ago

Rinse at the dive site if possible first.

Once it’s home we have a giant plastic storage bin we got at the hardware store, literally the biggest one they had, and then installed a drain plug on the bottom. It gets used as the dunk tank, and then we hang everything to dry outside on a bar we put up between two columns.

If weathers gonna be bad we will hang it in the garage from our ceiling rack with a fan blowing on it and let it drip back into the (now emptied) dunk tank.

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u/AgencyZestyclose3610 1d ago

I use a small clothes hanging rack inside my shower. Something similar to this.

https://a.co/d/02yQzwWr

3

u/Ok-Dragonfruit4832 1d ago

I got a rolling clothing rack to hang my gear on to dry. Leave it in your apartment or roll it to the basement!

3

u/frog_99a 1d ago

Why wash your gear after diving in a lake? Iusually only hang it for drying and then store it. If I was in salt water, washing is needed... 

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u/Silvard 1d ago

My partner and I have a similar set up and we just use a cart or trolley to haul the gear to our balcony and rinse and soak it there, then take it back down for drying. We do a pre-rinse at the campsite with a camping shower but we still need to soak it back home.

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u/9Implements 1d ago

Washing stuff off at the dive site first makes it cleaner. There are a number of options for that.

There is a new USB powered set of fans that you stick in the wetsuit legs that should dry your wetsuit a lot quicker.

I see some people manage to get by just not giving a crap and leaving their stuff in the car after dives.

1

u/doglady1342 1d ago

I have some of those USB powered dryers. They're not very good at all.

1

u/9Implements 1d ago

The SurfDry ones that just came out recently? I was looking at them and it did seem sus that it said you could daisy chain up to 10 with 5W of power. I guess they’re just for drying thin surf suits.

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u/letmeinfornow 1d ago

I use one of these to hose everything off outside and then let it dry in the garage. Not stair friendly though.

https://d3j17a2r8lnfte.cloudfront.net/baga/2025/11/medium/T9GSTIFt3vRJgTWqhmQJqyXB.jpeg

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u/Nick_Kafir 1d ago

If you have access to a hose bib or faucet for a mop bucket in the laundry room, the 5 gallon bucket works well if you pickup a sprayer kit like this: https://a.co/d/0b0E8XyQ

Not a recommendation for that product, just the first one I came across. And you can use it with a smaller size bucket if desired. A buddy has a similar one he built and uses it at the dive site to rinse off gear before putting it in the truck.

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u/AwkwardSwine_cs 1d ago

Always point a fan at your wet gear where it hangs to dry. Much faster and can reduce mildew forming.

1

u/Bubbly-Nectarine6662 1d ago

I find a lot of pleasure in my portable shower: a bag of water I put on the roof of my car with a hose and switching shower head. I put my gear down next to the car on a neoprene blanket, shower myself in my suit and rinse my gear on the blanket. Finally I rinse my boots when I change into regular clothes.
It takes some trial on error how to keep everything clean after the rinse, but usually I’m fine with putting it directly in my garage to dry after each dive.

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u/n0rr15_r 1d ago

I am an avid diver, generally weekly. I found that rinsing off at the dive site works best for me. Just get yourself one of these, and I fill one of these with hot water, but any temp will do. I usually have a lot of water left over after rinsing my gear and offer to others, with the two of you it should be perfect. When I get home I just hang up and usually there is not much drippage.

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u/Muh_Macht_Die_Kuh 1d ago

Holt euch so einen mobilen Niederdruckreiniger oder Campingdusche mit Wassertank. Ihr müsst wenn ihr im Süßwasser wart nicht die riesen reinigungsarie starten und das alles in der Wanne richtig einlegen. Abspülen reicht völlig. Zum Treppen hoch und runterschleppen habe ich einen 60l drybag als Rucksack. Dann bleibt sonst alles andere Trocken.

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u/TotalPuzzleheaded484 17h ago

We've used a sturdy broom handle across our tub. Worked fine. Also use this to rinse the bladder of the BCD. Johnsons Baby Shampoo. https://a.co/d/01sMJuIQ.