How to Wash a Climbing Rope
The last several weeks at Tuesday Night Climbing, I’ve gotten an earful about how “dirty” my climbing ropes are. Of course, the earfuls were well-deserved as my ropes were, to put it mildly, dirty. The key word there, though, is were, as earlier this week I decided to solve the problem. I washed the ropes. In case you’ve never done it, here’s how to wash a climbing rope in 7 easy steps.
Step 1: Flake the rope (or in my case, ropes) into the bathtub.
Step 2: Turn on the water and fill the tub until the ropes are covered. Warmish water works best.
Step 3: Mix in a rope wash like Sterling Rope’s Wicked Good Rope Wash and let the rope soak for a few minutes. Then swish the rope around in the water for a few more minutes. At this point, the bathwater should be pretty disgusting.
Step 4: Drain the tub. Refill the tub with clean, warmish water. If the water gets dirty again, repeat steps 3 and 4. If the water is relatively clean, proceed to step 5.
Step 5: Flake the rope from the tub into a large plastic bin or onto a towel. As you flake, run the rope through your hand or, better, an old t-shirt. This will help dry the rope and remove any excess dirt.
Step 6: Find an out-of-the-sun spot for your rope to dry. I prefer flaking the rope over a door in a dark room with the shades drawn. Let the rope hang until it is dry. Usually, that’s about 24 to 48 hours.
Step 7: Clean the bathtub! It’s probably going to be pretty dirty, so if you don’t, you’re likely to get busted.
