Where Can I Get My Wetsuit Repaired?
Surf shop, brand service, DIY kit or a dedicated workshop. An honest comparison of every option, and the five questions to ask before handing a suit over.
The Wetsuit Repair Shack·
The bench · Ocean Grove
Four options exist in Australia, and they are not equivalent.
Most of the country has no wetsuit repairer within driving distance, which is why this question gets asked the way it does. The honest answer is that where you take it matters less than whether the person doing it opens the seam, cleans it properly and lets the glue cure. Plenty of places will glue over the top of a problem and hand it back.
Here is what each option actually gives you.
Option 1: Your local surf shop
What they do: small tears and patch jobs, sometimes zip sliders. Some shops have someone out the back, most send the work on to a repairer like us and add a margin.
Works well for: a quick patch when you already trust the shop and the job is small.
Where it falls down: most shops will not do seams, zips or panel work. Turnaround is unpredictable because your suit is sitting in a pile waiting for a courier. And if the shop is sending it on anyway, you are paying a markup for the postage you could have paid directly.
Worth asking: do you repair here, or send it out? Either answer is fine, but it changes the price.
Option 2: The brand's own repair service
Some brands run repair centres in Australia. O'Neill is the best known.
What they do: repairs on their own suits. Tears, seams, zips.
Works well for: a suit still within or near warranty, where a manufacturing fault might be covered.
Where it falls down: they will only touch their own brand. If you own a Rip Curl and an Xcel and a Patagonia, you are dealing with three different services and three lots of postage. Some also decline panel replacement on flatlock construction.
Worth doing first: if your suit is under two years old and the failure looks like a fault rather than wear, contact the brand before paying anyone. Seams that open on a nearly new suit are often a warranty claim.
Option 3: A repair kit and your own kitchen table
What it costs: $20 to $40 for neoprene cement and patch material.
Works well for: a genuine emergency, and for holding a tear together until you can get it repaired properly. Tape on the inside face of a fresh fin cut is a good move.
Where it falls down: the two things that make a repair last are cleaning both faces back to bare rubber and clamping the join while it cures. Neither is possible on a seam you have not opened, and most people do not wait the full 24 hours.
The other cost is invisible. Dried surface glue has to be scraped off before a proper repair, and scraping it sometimes takes the liner with it. A DIY attempt can make the professional repair more expensive than it would have been.
Use a kit to stop damage spreading. Do not use one as the repair.
Option 4: A dedicated wetsuit repair workshop
What they do: everything. Tears of any size, seams, zips, seals, panels, booties, alterations, on any brand.
Works well for: anything past a small patch, and any suit you actually care about.
Where it falls down: there are not many of them, so unless you live near one you are posting the suit. That is a real cost, though a smaller one than most people expect.
What to look for:
- Do they quote in writing before starting?
- Do they photograph what they find?
- Do they warrant the work?
- Will they tell you when a suit is not worth repairing?
That last one is the tell. A repairer who never says no is not assessing anything.
Side by side
| Surf shop | Brand service | DIY kit | Dedicated workshop | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brands accepted | varies | own brand only | any | any |
| Tears | usually | yes | small only | any size |
| Seams | rarely | yes | no | yes |
| Zips | rarely | yes | no | yes |
| Panels and seals | no | limited | no | yes |
| Written quote first | sometimes | usually | n/a | expect it |
| Warranty | varies | yes | none | expect it |
Pricing
See current repair prices
Every job listed individually with a fixed starting price. Inspection and quoting are free, and there is discounted pricing when several repairs are done at the same time.
View repairs and pricingIf you are in Victoria
We are in Ocean Grove, at 9 to 11 Sinclair Street, open Thursday and Friday from 11am to 5pm and Saturday from 9am to 1pm. Drop-off is available when we are closed.
That is about 35 minutes from Geelong, 25 minutes from Torquay, and on the way to the beach for a lot of people. Drop off and collect, or leave it with us and we post it back. If Ocean Grove is your home beach, repairs at the Ocean Grove shack are covered on their own page.
We cover the region in more detail on the Geelong and Torquay pages, along with what Bellarine suits come in with on the ocean side and the bay side.
If you are anywhere else in Australia
Post it. This is how a large share of our work arrives.
Wash the suit, dry it completely, put a note inside with your name and number, and send it in a tracked satchel. A 3kg satchel takes one steamer. We inspect it, photograph every issue, send you a fixed quote, and do nothing until you approve it. Return post is $15 anywhere in the country.
A typical interstate repair, postage included, still comes to a small fraction of the $520 you would spend on a new suit. Our postal repairs page has the full process and a packing checklist.
What to ask before you hand a suit over
Five questions. Any decent repairer will answer all of them without hesitating.
- Do you repair my brand?
- Will I get a written quote before you start, and does it cost anything if I say no?
- Do you open and reglue seams, or glue over the top?
- What warranty comes with the work?
- Will you tell me if the suit is not worth repairing?
Our answers, for the record: every brand, yes and no it does not, we open and reglue, 3 month workmanship warranty, and yes we will. Our guide to what is repairable covers how we make that last call.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I get my wetsuit repaired in Australia?
Four options exist: a surf shop, the brand's own repair service, a DIY kit, or a dedicated wetsuit repair workshop. Only a dedicated workshop handles every brand and every repair type. Most of Australia has no local repairer, which is why postal repair is the normal route for anyone outside a surf town.
Do surf shops repair wetsuits?
Some do small patch jobs in house. Most take the suit in and send it to a repair workshop, adding a margin. Ask whether the shop repairs on site or sends it out, because it changes the price.
Can I get a wetsuit repaired if I do not live near a repairer?
Yes. Post it in a tracked satchel. Wash and dry the suit first and include your contact details. Return postage within Australia is $15.
Is it cheaper to repair a wetsuit at a surf shop or a workshop?
It depends on whether the shop repairs in house. If they send the work on, you are paying a markup on a workshop repair. A dedicated workshop lists every job separately with a fixed starting price, so you can check ours on the repairs page before you decide.
Should I try to repair my wetsuit myself?
Use a kit to stop damage spreading, not as the repair. A lasting repair needs both faces cleaned back to bare neoprene and clamped while the glue cures for 24 hours, which is not achievable on a seam you have not opened. Dried surface glue also has to be removed before a professional repair.
Will the brand repair my wetsuit for free?
Sometimes, if the suit is under two years old and the failure looks like a manufacturing fault rather than wear. Seams that open on a nearly new suit are often a warranty claim, so contact the brand before paying anyone.
How do I know a repairer is any good?
Ask whether they quote in writing before starting, whether they photograph what they find, what warranty they offer, and whether they will tell you when a suit is not worth repairing. A repairer who never turns work away is not assessing anything.
Send it to the shack
Any brand, any repair, quoted in writing before we touch it.
The Wetsuit Repair Shack, 9 to 11 Sinclair Street, Ocean Grove VIC 3226. Thursday and Friday 11am to 5pm, Saturday 9am to 1pm. Drop-off available when closed. Postal repairs Australia wide.
