pitch buildup on gear

Hi

I’m sure someone will add some new way of cleaning rope. More likely all of the ones that have been shared routinely will be shared

The archives are full of the answers that come up about twice a year
 
I use rubbing alcohol on hard gear, wash with Dawn and let air dry. I heard you can use one drop of Hoppe’s gun oil on the action of biners and snaps but have not done so.

For ropes and stuff I scrub olive oil in with a old tooth brush, then Dawn, then rinse the heck out of it. Have not done rope this way. Most likely i’ll buy Scrubba and daisy chain my rope and put it in the wash. Not at home though. Laundry mat.
 
Hi Merle. I agree about leaving rope in a tree. Not good juju. I should have been clearer. I only use the olive oil/Dawn/rinse with my lanyard and hitch cords. I have never washed a rope but will do the scrubba treatment I think if I do go that route.

I got the olive oil hint on here I think. On an archived thread. Not trying to be a jerk; is there a better way to unpitch cordage in your opinion? My way takes time and I am always open to new ideas or saying i’m wrong if I am. Thanks!
 
I'm not aware of any better. I'm not too much in need of pitch cleaning though. Butter or olive oil to get off my skin and out of my hair. Used to drag the ropes through some dust and just run it that way when I used hitches. Mechanicals I avoid it as much as possible by employing friction savers even on a take down (if it's pitchy) to keep my rope off of it.

I have heard of guys having good success with some hand cleaner - Goop I believe. Bought a big tub of that just to be ready - it sits unopened a year or two later.

Sorry for you it you work a lot of pitchy trees.
 
Thanks! I think I am going to do the friction saver think on my next pine job. Pine pitch just makes life . . . interesting. I’ll keep the Goop idea in my back pocket for the next time stuff is all gunked up. Thanks!
 
Goop removes a LOT of stuff...never used it on rope but will keep it in mind. I know it takes green epoxy off your hands and tools...I think it's the jojoba oil in it that cuts so much crud.

I also use mineral spirits to take sap off biners and hands, not sure whether it's safe for rope.
 
Technu poison ivy soap is the best pitch remover I've used. Pricey but amazing. I'll use it for spot treatment on ropes occasionally. SRT really minimizes pitch on rope imo.
 
Merle Nelson said:
I've never left good ropes in the trees for fear of rodent chewing. Might be especially important if you sent them with olive oil.
Click to expand...

Good point about the smell.

On remote jobs, I leave ropes in trees sometimes, DdRTing out, allowing me access to the whole rope to inspect before canopy-choking for re-ascent, or will keep my canopy-choked anchor in place, and use spurs and flipline for life-support on the way back up to continue the removal the next day. I'm working two large cedar removals at the moment that way. The important thing is inspection. If the rope is chewed or severed, it doesn't explode or anything...just don't trust it for life-support.

Personally, in my very limited sample-size, I've had no problem.


I've never washed pitch off a rope, just worn it off, or cut it off (canopy anchor on grand-fir with massive pitch blisters).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Back
Top Bottom