Editing Wetsuit (section)

===Improvements in suit assembly===
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2009}}
The first suits used traditional sewing methods to simply overlap two strips of rubber and sew them together. In a rubber wetsuit, this does not work well for a number of reasons, the main one being that punching holes straight through both layers of foam for the thread opens up passages for water to flow in and out of the suit. The second problem is that the stretching of the foam tended to enlarge the needle holes when the suit was worn. This meant that a wetsuit could be very cold all along the seams of the suit. And although the sewn edge did hold the two pieces together, it could also act as a [[perforation|perforated]] tear edge, making the suit easier to tear along the seams when putting it on and taking it off.

When nylon-backed neoprene appeared, the problem of the needle weakening the foam was solved, but still the needle holes leaked water along the seams.

====Seam taping====
To deal with all these early sewing problems, taping of seams was developed. The tape is a strong nylon cloth with a very thin but solid waterproof rubber backing. The tape is applied across the seam and bonded either with a [[chemical solvent]] or with a hot rolling heat-sealer to melt the tape into the neoprene.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wetsuit stitching and seams explained in detail |url=https://surfing-waves.com/equipment/wetsuit-stitching.htm |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=surfing-waves.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Serong |first=Jock |date=April 28, 2018 |title=The Short History of Wetsuits |url=https://surfingworld.com.au/the-short-history-of-wetsuits/ |access-date=August 2, 2024 |website=Surfing World}}</ref>

With this technology, the suit could be sewn and then taped, and the tape would cover the sewing holes as well as providing some extra strength to prevent tearing along the needle holes.

When colorful double-backed designer suits started appearing, taping moved primarily to the inside of the suit because the tape was usually very wide, jagged, black, and ugly, and was hidden within the suit and out of sight.

Many 1960s and 1970s wetsuits were black with visible yellow seam taping. The yellow made the divers more easily seen in dark low-visibility water. To prevent needle holes from leaking, O'Neill fabricators developed a seam-tape which combined a thin nylon layer with a polyester hemming tape. Applied over the interior of the glued & sewn seam, then [[Annealing (materials science)|anneal bonded]] with a hand held teflon heating iron produced a seam that was both securely sealed and much stronger.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kumar Jain |first1=P. Ajith |last2=Sattar |first2=S. |last3=Mulqueen |first3=D. |last4=Pedrazzoli |first4=D. |last5=Kravchenko |first5=S. G. |last6=Kravchenko |first6=O. G. |date=2022-03-01 |title=Role of annealing and isostatic compaction on mechanical properties of 3D printed short glass fiber nylon composites |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214860422000070 |journal=Additive Manufacturing |volume=51 |pages=102599 |doi=10.1016/j.addma.2022.102599 |issn=2214-8604}}</ref>

====Seam gluing====
Another alternative to sewing was to glue the edges of the suit together. This created a smooth, flat surface that did not necessarily need taping, but, raw foam glued to foam is not a strong bond and still prone to tearing.

Most early wetsuits were fabricated completely by hand, which could lead to sizing errors in the cutting of the foam sheeting. If the cut edges did not align correctly or the gluing was not done well, there might still be water leakage along the seam.

Initially, suits could be found as being sewn only, glued only, taped only, then also sewn and taped, or glued and taped, or perhaps all three.

====Blindstitching====
Sometime after nylon-backed neoprene appeared, the [[Overlock|blind stitch]] method was developed. A blindstitch sewing machine uses a curved needle, which does not go all the way through the neoprene but just shallowly dips in behind the fabric backing, crosses the glue line, and emerges from the surface on the same side of the neoprene.<ref>{{cite web |title=How Wetsuits Work |url=https://www.lomo.co.uk/how-wetsuits-work-2/ |website=Lomo Watersport |date=March 7, 2022 |publisher=Lomo Industries Ltd}}</ref> This is similar to the [[overlock]] stitching used for teeshirts and other garments made from knitted fabrics.

The curved needle allows the fabric backing to be sewn together without punching a hole completely through the neoprene, and thereby eliminating the water-leakage holes along the seam. Blindstitch seams also lay flat, butting up the edge of one sheet against another, allowing the material to lay flatter and closer to the skin. For these reasons blindstitching rapidly became the primary method of sewing wetsuits together, with other stitching methods now used mainly for [[decorative]] or [[Fashion|stylistic]] purposes.