BC in the Washer?

[robpauley]

OK so maybe someone has tried this. I was on a week long trip with a buddy. We were talking about the pain it is to clean gear. He pops up with why not through the stuff int he washer? To me this sounds like a bad idea but I can't figure out why. I mean if you took the inflator hose and stuff like that what could it hurt? Well thats the question. And no I wouldn't put it int he dryer.
Any ideas? Rob

 

[evilbacon]

I think it would, because the bladder is sort of sensative and the washing detergent is a really strong soap. Plus all the D rings and objects that could possibly be torn off by the spinning motion and there is a chance that the washer could get damaged aswell. But I really don't know for sure...


Evil:bgmad:

 

[Land Locked]

BC??? Do you really trust a machine to handle your life support?

Rinse it out like your supposed to. I will occasionaly put my wet suits in
my washing machine with a little downey, I'm spring fresh, but it is a front
loader machine and it is only for a few minutes!
A top load machine using an agitator is going to beat the heck out of your gear!

 

[Damselfish]

I agree a washer would beat the crap out of a BC, even without detergent, even if you take the hose off, there's other parts to get caught and mangled. Even if you take the hose off I doubt the inside would get rinsed much in the washer, a minute with a hose will do much better. (And if you take the hose off alot now you've got more chance of messing that up somehow too.) Hose it off, or soak it in a container, it's just not that hard.

 

[pickens_46929]

Rinse, rinse, rinse... then condition the bladder every once in a while.

For things like wetsuits, and booties... an occassional washer ride on gentle with a ride in the dryer is ok... booties more so that suits... you do not want to crush the neoprene cells.

Did this coming back from Hawaii because it was humid and we didn't want really stinky dive bags after the 8 to 10 hour ride.

For booties, sink the stink or something like OdoBan (sam's club)... then dry using newspaper stuff inside them... the newspaper needs to be changed a couple times... the newspaper trick really works...

Also been known to stick a bar of Irish Spring in each boot (still in the box)... after the booties were dry...

 

[k8brandt]

On the last rinse of the trip, we put about a quart of SimpleGreen into the rinse tank and rinse everything. It helps cut down on the stink on the way home. Once home the BD's get rinsed out dried and hung. Then the neoprene stuff gets a run through the washer on gentle cycle and hung to dry.

 

[tangfish]

I agree with the others here about the potential for damaging your BC in the washer. Furthermore, it is unnecessary when rinsing does the trick. I have a hanger outside and I just hang up my equipment and hose it down, flushing the inside of the BC every 3rd dive or so (or if I hear water in there). I soak the regs, cpu, lights and any other smaller stuff in a bucket. I've streamlined the process so much that it only takes about 10 minutes or so, 15 if I'm very thorough.

 

[sasscuba]

:no :no

 

[dandrian]

I have a hand wash setting on my washer that I will use with my wetsuits every once in a while. I think like most others have said that a good rinsing and conditioning will do the job.

 

[cowboyneal]

How about if you put your wetsuit and BC on, and mask, tank etc. and just go for the whole ride in the washer! Maybe you can even log the dive!

CN