rope contamination

[drewguelzow]

I had a question about the contamination of ropes by gas, grease, and oil from chainsaws. I assume that these things can degrade the quality of climbing and rigging ropes. Is there anything that can be done to safeguard ropes when working aloft with chainsaws. A certain level of exposure seems inevitable. thanks
drew

 

[Colin]

Wash them with woolite in a machine, or blast them at the car wash. Let them air dry. NO dryer.

 

[JesseHuffman]

Be sure to put the rope in a washable ...permeable bag so your rope doesnt tangle up the machine.

MB...your website is a hoot

 

[Colin]

Thanks Jesse. The rope bag idea is good, just make sure to use two at a time or there's a good chance the load will off balance the machine.
Myself, I just coil it into the machine and untangle it when it's finished. Suprisingly, it's not that hard to untangle.

 

[rentachimp]

Run a hosepipe over them, then air dry. That's what it says on the instructions.

 

[Colin]

Right, the instructions.

That won't do squat but make the rope wet.

 

[TMW]

I have found that it is best to use a front loading washing machine at the laundromat. This way you do not have to worry about damaging the rope. I would caution against using any soaps/cleaners that were not meant to be used on ropes. Many rope manufacturers either sell a rope cleaner or recommend certain types of soaps.

Wash with cold water and air dry. Don’t forget to wash your split-tails and slings as well.

 

[rentachimp]

There may be residual chemicals in the machine from the last wash. I'll stick with keeping my ropes away from saw gas and oils and any other chemicals, and that includes cleaners. Same reason as I don't leave them in the sun, don't put them straight in the mud or leave them anywhere that blades might share their space.

It's a case of care and confidence in your climbing kit. Treat them well, and they will probably never need cleaning.

 

[Stumper]

Nylon and Polyester are extremely chemical resistent polymers. Gasoline oil and common solvents have little effect on them. Alkilinity has limited effect. Strong acids are bad news but few people wash their clothing in acid-duh. Our ropes are properly classified as textiles. Their common costituents(Polyester and Nylon) are used to make clothing. It is a strange paranoia that we are constantly cautioned to "only use special soaps for cleaning ropes". Certainly avoid bleaches and caustic chemicals as a matter of course but it is difficult to imagine any common laundry detergent being significantly deleterious to common fibers( If it made people's clothing fall apart noone would continue to purchase the stuff). Butch's Woolite has been recommended for all fabrics-especially delicate ones for a couple of generations. It should be fine. I use a different scent and dye free laundry soap personally, i also prefer to use a liquid version rather than powder since that helps avoid possible mildly abrasive fillers that are sometimes used in powdered detergents. No worries.

 

[rentachimp]

Stumper: would you say not washing ropes is more damaging than washing them, say, bi-monthly?

 

[Stumper]

No. Whether or not washing is needed depends a great deal on the conditions of use. Personally I wash my most used ropes a couple of times per year.

 

[RogerBerry]

from the instruction manual for my climbing line: "Wash your rope occasionally in cold water with small amounts of mild soap. Do not use any cleaners with bleach or bleach substitutes. Rinse the rope in several baths of clean water to remove all traces of soap residue. The rope must be loosely coiled and air-dried in the shade away from direct sunlight. Do not dry rope in a clothes dryer."

I wash the ropes that I climb on pretty regularly, but I don't wash rigging lines very often.

 

[Tree_Frog]

If you don't like the washing machine you can always use something like this.

http://store.karstsports.com/44920.html