Cleaning your webbing is highly recommendable and even more : it’s necessary. We recommend to clean your webbing once a year. Winter time is a great period since we slack less than in summer time. Cleaning your webbing helps to last longer the life of your webbing and to avoid dirt and dust that damage the webbing. So to keep your webbing in a good shape during a long time, then clean it !
How to proceed and what soap is appropriate ?
There are two different ways to do it : manual or mechanical. Manual means that you will use your hands with a cleaning brush and mechanical means washing machine.
– The manual way :
You will need to be patient because it requires time, but it’s the best technic. You’ll be able to dig deep.
Fill a washing-up bowl or your bath – it depends on the length of your webbing. The water needs to be hot but no more than 30°C. Do not go higher than 30°C otherwise this damage your webbing.
Drop the soap. Make sure you use the appropriate soap. It’s a little paradoxal since you should not use soap but a mixture without soap. Beal is selling a perfect mixture for ropes and webbings, but you can also use baby cleaning moisture which are really soft like Klorane: no soap, no paraben and no preservative.
Dive the webbing and manage to make bubbles by mixing everything together. Leave it inside the water for 20 mins and start the hardest part : rub.
With a washing brush (not to soft, not hard) rub the webbing. Too hard will damage the webbing, to soft will not clean enough. If you have a long and dirty webbing, then you’ll need to be patient. Don’t forget to rub both side. Cleaning 100m takes about 2 hours.
Leave the webbing inside the water after you rubbed it to make sure it won’t dry with the bubbles. Once you have rub the entire length, rinse everything with clear water. Better to do it twice.
To dry the webbing, leave it on a line in a dry place. Avoid the sun because it’s the worse enemy of your webbing (UV).
The result is usually satisfying. On the picture below you can see on the left the webbing after the cleaning and on the right the webbing before cleaning.
– The washing machine :
Do not use regular washing powder , but use one of the products that we recommend above : Beal cleaning mixture or Klorane. The quantity should be equal to what you’ll use for an equal volume of clothes.
Three things are important to preserve your webbing in a good shape. First use a net like shown in the picture below.
Use a program such as hand wash or wool. This is soft and safe.
Do not go higher than 30°C. If you use cold water, then this will probably not clean enough. Best is 30°C .
To dry, do not use a dryer. Hang it in a dry place and avoid the sun.
Don’t leave it wet on the floor in a mess.
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All these technics work for ropes, only the rub will be different. You’ll find them in good climbing shops
Let’s go cleaning !
If you have questions, just leave a comment below.
You can use a pillow cover as a bag for the webbing on the washing machine.