Cleaning velcro question

[mudhead]

I dug out the big jacket. The velcro closure on the hood has a bunch of lint/closet detritus on it. Any pointers on cleaning the hook/loop portion?

[atraildreamer]

Take a sewing needle, or the pointy end of a safety pin and use it to pull out the crud in the velcro. This is a good activity to do while watching tv. :rolleyes:

[mudhead]

Thanks. Figured it would be some fun fussy thing. Tape sure didn't work for me.

[boarstone]

Pick up tweezers, insert, pull out stuff....repeat...

[rhjanes]

often times, the lint is sort of all caught together. Once you lift out a bit, pull it slowly and it might pull out about twice as much as it looked like it would. Conversly, it might only take half as long as you think it will.

[fehchet]

I'm thinking maybe a dense metal dog or cat bush. I have only picked the stuff out with my finger nails, though.

[mudhead]

That is what I wondered. Comb, etc.

Eyebrow tweezers don't work. Fine point tweezers, like you use tying flies gets the big stuff, until you want to burn the jacket cuz it is fussy.

I cut a 1" piece of scrap sew in velcro, loosened the fuzz with the part that mates to the strip on the jacket, then "swept" the fuzz to the side with the part that matches the strip on the jacket. I hope I have explained that.
I would skip all tweezering next time, unless there was a long thread involved.

Jacket is old, needs new hardware and velcro, but it will get me to next week.

[SloHiker]

Depending on what it is - duct tape will often grab what's in there and pull it out.

[adventurousmtnlvr]

other odd options: Use a dry toothbrush. Brush between the rows. Go in one direction and go parallel to the rows of hooks. This works best after you've gotten the large stuff out with other methods. You don't have to get every speck, just enough big stuff to get the Velcro working again and looking okay.

OR: Use soapy water. As long as the item is colorfast and water-worthy, dunk the whole thing in soapy water. Scrub the hook side with an old toothbrush to get down in between the rows. Soapy water helps more with such matter as skin flakes and oil than it does with lint and fuzz. Then, rinse thoroughly and let the item air dry.

OR: Use the short metal or plastic teeth on the front of a clear tape roll to brush out the Velcro. The tooth length and rigidity are second to none.

granted I nabbed these from the Internet, lol

[mudhead]

I will try them on the next cleaning project. The method I used was not great.

Thanks!