: but my jacket and wetsuit are
: really starting to smell pretty ripe. I've hosed them off and left them to
: hang on the line till dry, but they still seem to have that unique nose to
: them. I've put laundry detergent into a bucket and washed them by hand,
: but still seem to detect that sour smell.

: What is the common wisdom on keeping these things smelling nice?

I know its not very ecofriendly - uses lots more energy than you US folks
like to see wasted, but I use an "automatic washing machine" ;-) Seriously,
though, after caving, canoeing and other wet-sport trips, all our wetsuits
and fibrepile under-stuff just goes in a washing machine, usually on a coolish
cycle, with a bio powder, but no fabric conditioner if there's wicking stuff
(like thermal underwear) in the wash. The wetsuits get hung in our boilerroom,
whilst the other stuff goes in the tumble dryer in the same room. If you have a
hot, dry climate, no doubt it would be more ecofriendly to hang it up
outside, but British summers are not really like that ...

Leaving wetsuits wet in a bag until next time you need them (typical student
caver approach) is really quite bad for them. Luckily, caving is a lot
harder on wetsuits than canoeing, so they hit the bin eventually and once
you've got a job and discover the joys of owning your own automatic washing
machine, you never need smell like a great unwashed student again. Your
culture may vary. Actually, it was getting married fifteen years after
graduating before I discovered that one could machine wash a wetsuit -
flat learning curve...

Andy