How to clean your rope

When the summer climbing season winds down, autumn is a good time for some gear maintenance. Here’s two approaches to clean your dirty rope

1) Put 6-8 inches of lukewarm water in your bathtub along with a glug or two of Woolite, then flake your rope into the soapy water. Let it soak for an hour or so, then agitate the water by hand.  (Look at that water, yuck!)  Rinse twice, then flake your rope to drip dry in a garage or basement. Drying can take several days, depending on temp. and humidity.

Gentle Woolite is the soap to use, never any harsh detergent based soap. That’s why it’s best to wash your rope at home rather at a laundromat - you never know what soap residues are in the machine from the previous user.

2) Pick up a soft-bristle dish brush with an integrated soap reservoir ($2 at the grocery store). Fill the brush reservoir with Woolite.  Rinse and brush the entire rope under cold tap water, and squeeze the soap reservoir when you hit stubborn dirty spots. Rinse your rope well, then flake it out to dry in the shade.  This is a good project to do outside on a clean wood deck.