Cleaning Dry Bags

[Veetack]

I have a sea to summit sil dry bag that I keep my food in, and long story short, I accidentally put my pack in storage without removing the food. There was a ziploc bag with leftover rice in it and it got pretty nasty. The smell transferred to the bag. I washed teh bag with soap and warm water, but the smell is still lingering. any way to get that smell out? I'm hiking from Davenport to Hot Springs on Wednesday and I need the bag.

[Whack-a-mole]

Good old fashioned sunshine may help you out. I know the sun's rays are harmful to plastic, but if your bag is bad off, what have you got to loose?

[Josh Calhoun]

agree with wackamole. i have all of my dry bags and my pack hanging out in the sun right now. after rain all weekend they smell a lil. after a couple hrs of sun there back to normal. make sure you turn them inside out to.

[grayfox]

It is often hard to know what is the best way to clean waterproof material. You want to clean without damaging the coating or treatment on the fabric. Smells are hard to deal with--when coatings start to break down they have an odor as well. If you use this bag for food you might consider replacing it--better than smelly food. If you have decided that you have done all you can to clean it in a gentle way and it is still smelly, then I would wash it with stronger soap or even bleach. Water repellency can sometimes be restored if necessary using various products, Nikwax is one brand. Usually when this kind of thing happens to me it happens to the newest nicest thing in my pack--but remember it's just stuff in the end.

[Firefighter503]

For smells, I have found that lemon juice does the best job.

[Wise Old Owl]

baking soda

[leaftye]

For smells, I have found that lemon juice does the best job.

What about a few strips of bacon while washing the bag with something that smells like food? :)

[jeffmeh]

I use hot water and Oxiclean soaks with great results.

[Mrs Baggins]

I've always tossed all of ours into the washer and dryer after trips. They're all 5 years old now and they're all still completely waterproof.