How to Wash a Climbing Rope

You will know if a climbing rope is dirty, because it will begin to turn brown and black. For your own protection, it is important to have all of your climbing gear clean and in working order: A dirty climbing rope can become slippery, and one slip can quickly become dangerous. A clean rope will give you the traction you need to get a good grip and hold on. It's a good idea to wash your climbing rope every couple of climbs.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bucket Rope wash

1. Fill a large bucket with warm water.

2. Add rope wash. (You can purchase it at a BlueWater retailer; follow the link in Resources for a list of locations. If you don't want to travel to the nearest store, you can request that they ship you some.) The instructions on the rope wash package will tell you how much to add, based on how many gallons of water you have in your bucket.

3. Add your rope to the wash.

4. Start working the dirt off the rope with your hands. Swish the rope around and flip it over a few times. Spend about 15 minutes doing this.

5. Allow your rope to sit in the wash for 2 hours.

6. Squeeze the water out of your rope as you slowly take it out of the bucket.

7. Lay out your rope in the sunshine to dry.

Tips & Warnings

• You can use your bathtub instead of a bucket.
• Don't put your rope in the washing machine, or it will be ruined.

Resources

• BlueWater Ropes

Who Can Help Sponsored

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[hawicz]

on 4/5/2009 Also, extended exposure to sunlight degrades most nylon. If you have the time to spare, it's probably better to dry your rope in the shade.

[hawicz]

on 4/5/2009 Your rope will "...turn brown and black..." ?!? Are you kidding? Most ropes are already colored, so unless it's been laying in a mud puddle it certainly won't look brown. However, your _hands_ will certainly be black if you end up using a dirty rope. As for it being slippery when dirty, and not giving you the "traction" you need to "hold on", Well it sure sounds like you don't have a lot of experience with climbing (or you're crazy enough to depend on hand strength rather than knots to hold you :) )