Waders...yeah, you all know exactly where this is heading.

I have an EXTREMELY annoying leak in each foot of my waders. I have tried filling with water to find it, and looking for light through it, and so on and so on...and have patched them with urethane glue, until I am red in the face...

What I wanna know is if anyone has ever taken the step that I am about to take...

What I wanna do is dip/paint the entire foot of my waders with the stuff...thick and hearty. I have the room in my wading boots to still fit in, I think. This way, I use the shotgun approach and get them all at the same time.

The leaks were there when I bought them at a greatly reduced price ( I thought I could fix them )

Any ideas would help

maodiver

The feet are neoprene, I presume?

yeah

I've never "painted" the whole foot; but, I've had a lot of success
with Aquaseal. I"ve seen several reports that its being discontinued.
Sure hope not.
Another product you might consider is neoprene cement. Comes in
a small can with a brush. The stuff I used dried "non-sticky". I
think the intent is to glue two sections together; which I didn't do.
Yet another approach is to forget about the leaks and buy a pair
of "sealskinz" for your feet. Thye do keep you dry.
Good luck,
Larry S

believe you me, I don't wanna have to paint the whole thing, but the waders are almost new, I don't fish enuf to justify buying new ones, and I just cant seem to get the Fricken leak to stop. I have coated the seams, filled the toe, and am not going to take it any more, especially when it is coming on winter, and I want to take advantage of the winter fishing opps this year.

I will let you know how it turns out.

You can find a leak in your waders in about 1 hour.

Get a 5 gallon bucket.

Add 1 quart white, WATER-BASED, latex house paint.

Add 3 1/2 gallons water.

Wrap two large plastic cups (i.e. convienence store drink cups, 1-16 oz., 1-32 oz.) with paper towels. Place 12 oz. in the toe and the 32 oz. in the ankle. The neoprene should be stretched AT LEAST as tight as when they are being worn.

Submerge the feet one at a time with the waders hanging from something that holds the foot just at the bottom of the bucket. Leave the foot submerged for up to 1 hour. *** If your feet are getting wet in 5 minutes then you would obviously want to shorten the time submerged to correspond with the amount of time it takes for you to feel moisture on your feet, otherwise you will just have a white interior to your waders.***

Remove the foot and IMMEDIATELY rinse the exterior completely. You will need a nylon cleaning brush to remove the ring of paint that may be nearly dry at the top level of the paint.

Turn the waders inside out and voila, your leak has been detected. Be careful not to smear the paint on the inside when removing the cups.

This will leave a definite tint to your waders but is otherwise harmless to the neoprene. When you put your boots and gravel guards on only you, me and God will know they are stained.

You will obviously need an outside area to perform this method of detection, it's drastic but works beautifully.

_________________
If you believe "I fish, therefore I am", then practice catch and release. We'll all live a lot longer.

Here's an easy way to detect leaks in neoprene waders or stocking feet. In an area where dripping soapy water won't matter (bathtub?) mix a solution of dishwashing liquid detergent with water, (heavy on the detergent). With a paint brush, coat the suspected area thoroughly. Insert a hair dryer in to the leg & squeeze the leg around the dryer so as to enable the air to flow and inflate the leg/boot. The soapy mixture will bubble where the leak is & bam, mark the spot & patch! FTIR