Cleaning gear at home

[bigsnowdog]

In the summer it is fairly easy to clean gear outside in the driveway. In the winter, not so much, as you have to figure out a place and methods to not make a mess.

How are you cleaning gear in the house. One thing I considered is a plastic 55 gallon drum as a soak tank, and then draining the tank through a hose and valve attached for that purpose.

How are you doing it?

 

[decompression]

Big Rubbermaid tubs work well, I usually haul the gear in the tub to the bathtub and let it soak and then hang up in te shower. In the summer just fill the Rubbermaid with water and let it soak in the driveway.

 

[Pudsky]

Laundry tub in the basement.

 

[TMHeimer]

I wrinse it all in the shower (have one of those removable shower sprayers, making it reasonably easy). I hang the wetsuit up to dry in the shower. I dry off fins, reg, knife, watch/computer & mask and put them in the "scuba" room pretty much dry. The rest goes into the rubbermaid to dry (I dump residual water from the bin a few times). BCD (rinsed inside & out) stays with wetsuit in bathtub (we have 3 bathrooms, so nobody needs to use this one). In 7+ years with the same used stuff I've never soaked anything, summer or winter and have had no problems.

 

[jeasy]

I always clean gear in the bathtub.

 

[ColoDale]

Winter means using the bathtub. Larger items like BCDs drain a bit in the tub then moved to hang in basement immediately. Smaller items I put on towels laid out the floor then to storage in basement or more towels on shelves in basement. I use the handheld shower head for rinsing and for rinsing inside BCD.
If you don't have a bathtub then use the shower.

I do this for multiple sets of gear and after long trips. Single dives in freshwater are just rinses.

I do not use something as large as 55 gal drums (trash cans). I use a couple of 35 gal as they are darn heavy if 55 gal and hard to move and smaller tubs for soaking regs or camera or other smaller things.

 

[spectrum]

I have gotten away from winter diving but when I did (of if I do again) I have a big sump (~20' dia.) in a corner of the basement. I can hose down a drysuit there as well as dump my big rinse barrel. Even though it's not that warm the winter low humidity drys gear very well. I have a regular garden hose down there too. If I were to do it much again I'd add a special line with a tempering valve so I could work with slightly warmed water for better cleaning and personal comfort. I might even keep my eye out for an old tub stall or something like that to make a full containment. Other than that this same area is the winter gear storage so everything has a place.

Pete

 

[Scubadam]

Use your bathtub to clean your equipment. If it contains fresh water, you can clean your equipment in it.

 

[bigsnowdog]

No one has trouble with D-rings or other metal scratching or marking their bath tub?

 

[LowDrag]

No one has trouble with D-rings or other metal scratching or marking their bath tub?

Only if it is one of those epoxy type resurfacing paints jobs. We had our tub done with that stuff. It lasted about a year then started to peel so I don't worry about my tub. I just rinse my gear hang it up and then move it to the garage to drip dry (summer time) then into the closet inside for storage. This winter I will be moving it to the basement to hang over the floor drain to drip dry.