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  1. #1

    Default Time to Wash the Pack

    Let's wash our packs for summer!!

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    Warm water with Dawn soap---

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    The all important rinse.

  2. #2

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    Is that a smaller than typical tub, or is your pack really -that- wide? I mean, I know you carry a lot of gear. But that seems totally out of proportion to a standard tub.

  3. #3
    Registered User
    Join Date
    04-15-2011
    Location
    Lowell, MA
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    1,319

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    I go with the hot OxiClean Free soak followed by multiple cold water rinses.

  4. #4
    Registered User
    Join Date
    12-19-2008
    Location
    Thurmont, MD
    Posts
    216

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    I definitely wash my pack, tent, stuff sacs, etc. Take good care of that expensive gear, will last longer.

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by rustmd View Post
    I definitely wash my pack, tent, stuff sacs, etc. Take good care of that expensive gear, will last longer.
    It sure brightens the fabric and cleans the zippers of dirt and removes all the salt from hipbelt/shoulder straps and back panel etc.

  6. #6

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    I alternate to save water. One year I wash myself, the the next year my pack.

  7. #7
    Registered User
    Join Date
    08-08-2012
    Location
    Taghkanic, New York, United States
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    3,198
    Journal Entries
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    After my thru hike I went down to the nearby stream. My pack had a bottom zipper to the main compartment, so I opened that so that the water could flow through, weighted it down with rocks and propped it open. I think I got it the next day, then to the tub.

  8. #8

    Default

    You're supposed to wash those things?

  9. #9

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    Normally use the hot water pressure washer,then a couple days in the sun. Seems to work.

  10. #10
    Registered User
    Join Date
    07-03-2015
    Location
    Center Conway, NH
    Age
    71
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    109

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    Thats Tipi, I've been overthinking washing my old stinky smelly pack for years. Right soap etc. I washed it yesterday and it is almost all dry today. I can't believe how much better it looks and it doesn't smell anymore. Thanks again for the suggestion.

  11. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by Decibel View Post
    Thats Tipi, I've been overthinking washing my old stinky smelly pack for years. Right soap etc. I washed it yesterday and it is almost all dry today. I can't believe how much better it looks and it doesn't smell anymore. Thanks again for the suggestion.
    It's amazing how much dirt comes off a pack and how great it looks afterwards. The bigger the pack the more hassle it is to wash but it's worth getting the funk out.

  12. #12
    Registered User
    Join Date
    03-31-2016
    Location
    Mount Dora, FL
    Age
    52
    Posts
    911

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    Vinegar.
    I've read that washing doesn't get the funky smell out of some extra funky things. Like when clothes are left in the washer and they "sour"... after rewashing them they smell ok until the first sign of sweat, then the stink is back in full force. My polyester hiking and cycling clothes, if I toss them in the hamper without letting them air dry first, will develop that familiar "stank".
    I use vinegar in place of bleach in the wash for those smells. I assume vinegar in the tub to wash a pack would work well, too.

  13. #13
    Registered User 4eyedbuzzard's Avatar
    Join Date
    01-02-2007
    Location
    DFW, TX / Northern NH
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    67
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    8,143
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    Quote Originally Posted by MtDoraDave View Post
    Vinegar.
    I've read that washing doesn't get the funky smell out of some extra funky things . . .
    or even some hikers.
    "That's the thing about possum innards - they's just as good the second day." - Jed Clampett

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