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USnavy
Jan 12, 2008, 4:30 AM
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king_rat
Jan 16, 2008, 10:56 AM
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USnavy wrote: I am wondering if there are any negatives to washing your rope other then that everytime you wash your rope it looses some of its dry coating. I generally wash my rope after about 15 climbing trips, which is about every 6 weeks or a total of about 70 single pitch routes. Is that too often to wash my rope? When I wash it its not all that dirty. It has some discoloration from dirt on some areas and it has some grass stains but its not muddy or filthy. I guess I just try to keep a “the cleaner the better” attitude towards my rope. However is washing my rope this often a bad thing?
I don't know the answer to your first question but the second about how often you should wash your rope depends on where you climb, if you climb somewhere where there is a lot of dust and dirt that will get in your rope then its better to wash it more frequently, if your climbing somewhere where there is little dust and dirt then you probably want to wash your rope fairly infrequently. Also keeping it in a rope bag and off the ground should reduce the need to wash it.
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subantz
Aug 20, 2010, 4:04 PM
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USnavy wrote: I am wondering if there are any negatives to washing your rope other then that everytime you wash your rope it looses some of its dry coating. I generally wash my rope after about 15 climbing trips, which is about every 6 weeks or a total of about 70 single pitch routes. Is that too often to wash my rope? When I wash it its not all that dirty. It has some discoloration from dirt on some areas and it has some grass stains but its not muddy or filthy. I guess I just try to keep a “the cleaner the better” attitude towards my rope. However is washing my rope this often a bad thing?
If you wash it more than once your just playing with it. Do you wash your johnson vigorously in the shower also?
The cleaner the better.
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kovacs69
Aug 20, 2010, 5:11 PM
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I was mine quite often but that is because I climb where there is a lot of poison ivy and poison oak.
JB
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marc801
Aug 20, 2010, 5:52 PM
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USnavy wrote: I am wondering if there are any negatives to washing your rope other then that everytime you wash your rope it looses some of its dry coating. I generally wash my rope after about 15 climbing trips, which is about every 6 weeks or a total of about 70 single pitch routes. Is that too often to wash my rope? When I wash it its not all that dirty. It has some discoloration from dirt on some areas and it has some grass stains but its not muddy or filthy. I guess I just try to keep a “the cleaner the better” attitude towards my rope. However is washing my rope this often a bad thing?
Like everyone in that other thread said - wash it only when it's really dirty. Depending on where and how frequently you climb, that can be anywhere from 3 or 4 times a season to once or twice over its lifetime.
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jt512
Aug 20, 2010, 5:59 PM
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marc801 wrote: USnavy wrote: I am wondering if there are any negatives to washing your rope other then that everytime you wash your rope it looses some of its dry coating. I generally wash my rope after about 15 climbing trips, which is about every 6 weeks or a total of about 70 single pitch routes. Is that too often to wash my rope? When I wash it its not all that dirty. It has some discoloration from dirt on some areas and it has some grass stains but its not muddy or filthy. I guess I just try to keep a “the cleaner the better” attitude towards my rope. However is washing my rope this often a bad thing? There's no point and some negatives in washing it when "... its not all that dirty." Like everyone in that other thread said - wash it only when it's really dirty. Depending on where and how frequently you climb, that can be anywhere from 3 or 4 times a season to once or twice over its lifetime.
Or zero times in its lifetime.
Jay
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vegastradguy
Aug 20, 2010, 6:30 PM
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if your rope has a dry core, you'll be washing that out over time, which will reduce the lifespan of the rope- the dry core coating in most ropes acts like a lubricant for core fibers, allowing them to stretch more smoothly.
i generally wash my ropes once a year, give or take- and i wash mine WAY more often than anyone I know. My ropes usually see two to three wash cycles before i retire them.
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marc801
Aug 20, 2010, 7:01 PM
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jt512 wrote: marc801 wrote: Depending on where and how frequently you climb, that can be anywhere from 3 or 4 times a season to once or twice over its lifetime. Or zero times in its lifetime.
But that means that your rope will eventually have tens of thousands of micro-cuts (they're just like microfractures in biners).
Yer gonna die!!!
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roy_hinkley_jr
Aug 20, 2010, 7:25 PM
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vegastradguy wrote: if your rope has a dry core, you'll be washing that out over time, which will reduce the lifespan of the rope- the dry core coating in most ropes acts like a lubricant for core fibers, allowing them to stretch more smoothly.
All ropes have a "dry core" treatment. It's part of the manufacturing process since they have to lubricate the fibers running through the twisting machines at high speeds. Then the marketing people take over and give it a fancy name to sound special.
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billcoe_
Aug 20, 2010, 8:05 PM
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I like washing mine when the black aluminum oxide accumulates enough to start getting on my hands. That depends on what I'm climbing and using. Toproping with aluminum biners gets washed quick, steel biners less so. Lead climbing, less.
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gosharks
Aug 20, 2010, 8:27 PM
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billcoe_ wrote: I like washing mine when the black aluminum oxide accumulates enough to start getting on my hands. That depends on what I'm climbing and using. Toproping with aluminum biners gets washed quick, steel biners less so. Lead climbing, less.
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gblauer
Moderator
Aug 20, 2010, 8:39 PM
Post #13 of 18
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USnavy wrote: I generally wash my rope after about 15 climbing trips, which is about every 6 weeks or a total of about 70 single pitch routes.
USNAVY, are you in the Navy? Do you ever work? Seems like you do a lot of climbing...is there that much climbing in HI?
I want your job...
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tripperjm
Aug 20, 2010, 10:04 PM
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Last fall, at the end of a weekend, I stashed this rope wrapped up in a Ikea bag at the crag. I was planing on returning in a few days, to climb some more. Before I was able to return, the winter storms moved in and flooded the area. Turned out it was the wetest winter we have had in several years. The boulder I stashed it under was in a drainage and the rope was wet/ underwater for several months. When I returned, I had to dig it out, of the still wet mud and it was kinda dirty. I rinsed in out in the stream and started using it again. The rope, seemed to clean up but it's a little stiffer than I remember and now I'm kinda wondering, is it still safe to use it?
The rope is a brightly colored teal and pink rope, though it's hard to tell in the pic.
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tripperjm
Aug 20, 2010, 11:11 PM
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scottek67 wrote: tripperjm wrote: The rope, seemed to clean up but it's a little stiffer than I remember and now I'm kinda wondering, is it still safe to use it? why worry about the rope when you are using bent biners!?  
Not quite sure what you are getting at. Even though I got flamed by some, about the bent biners. I also recieved some usefull infomation and decide, not to try to fix them and instead retired that draw.
Now I'm hoping to get some usefull information on the safety of this dirty rope.
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billcoe_
Aug 21, 2010, 12:50 AM
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I hope it's fine to use, I've been doing similar stuff for the last 4 or 5 years, and I'll just wash it with Woolite, toss in some fabric softener and still use the line. They do get almost as stiff as wire cable though, don't they? Great for jugging on. Make sure that the rodents, the voles, the weat and the birds haven't worked on it.
Then
and
You go out solo TRing your fixed line and see this! Woot! You're all like, WTF? Hey - I survived. Whack, now you have 2 or 3 short ropes for backing up toprope anchors. Woot! Sweetness!
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subantz
Aug 21, 2010, 1:17 AM
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that shit is funny as hell Pee your diaper kind of shit
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