Cleaning/sanitizing/disinfecting your gear

[BoltSnap]

Dettol is used as a general purpose household cleaner and not just an antiseptic, wouldn't work well for cleaning and disinfecting scuba equipment?

 

[stuartv]

Sanitizing does not kill bacteria or other yummies, it inhibits the growth and probability of something contaminating an item.

According to the link I included in my OP, a sanitizer absolutely does kill bacteria and other yummies. It has to kill 99.999% of them within 30 seconds or it doesn't meet the food industry standards for a "sanitizer".

Or am I missing something?

Dettol is used as a general purpose household cleaner and not just an antiseptic, wouldn't work well for cleaning and disinfecting scuba equipment?

Part of the point of my OP was to note that "antiseptic", "disinfectant", and "sanitizer" are 3 different things. And here you've just started talking about one and then referred to it as another.

@Lorenzoid said earlier that Dettol is labelled as an antiseptic. But, I'm looking at this:

Disinfectant Liquids | Kill Bacteria and Viruses | Dettol®

It says it's a disinfectant. So, I would think Dettol would be okay for cleaning and disinfecting scuba equipment.

BUT, Dettol is not good to ingest. It won't kill you, it appears, but it's not good to swallow.

Dettol Liquid - Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC) - (eMC)

OTOH, Steramine is benign. If you soak your regs in Steramine and fail to get it all out before you stick it in your mouth and inhale, it won't hurt you. That seems enough reason to use Steramine instead of Dettol.

 

[uncfnp]

Stuartv you are overthinking it!

Don't read too much into the antiseptic vs disinfectant label. The are two factors to consider. Is it safe to use on the product and does it kill the target organisms?

For regulators the primary concern will be bacteria and viruses. For wing bladders a product that is active against fungus and spores may be more important.

 

[kelemvor]

When I was volunteering at an aquarium we were required to sterilize all gear with Amine. I used it on all my gear around 150x. I did have to replace the bladder in my wing after only 3 years of use (maybe 250 dives including the aquarium). LDS thought the bladder bubbles were more likely from sand though.

Pretty sure it's this stuff: Zep F.S. Amine-Z NO RINSE Quat Sanitizer & Deodorizer Gallon 4/Case CASE | PHOENIX MEDICAL SERVICES INC. Although the labeling on the bottle was different.

The bottle is expensive, but we generally mixed 1 cup to a rinse bin of water.. I'm not sure how much water the bins held.. maybe 20 gallons? They could fit all my gear at once including al80 tank but were smaller than garbage bins that lots of dive operations use for rinse buckets.

 

[Resqdivemedic]

According to the link I included in my OP, a sanitizer absolutely does kill bacteria and other yummies. It has to kill 99.999% of them within 30 seconds or it doesn't meet the food industry standards for a "sanitizer".

Or am I missing something?

Here are the definitions from the Centers For Disease Control website:

Disinfectant: usually a chemical agent (but sometimes a physical agent) that destroys disease-causing pathogens or other harmful microorganisms but might not kill bacterial spores. It refers to substances applied to inanimate objects. EPA groups disinfectants by product label claims of "limited," "general," or "hospital" disinfection.

Sanitizer: agent that reduces the number of bacterial contaminants to safe levels as judged by public health requirements. Commonly used with substances applied to inanimate objects. According to the protocol for the official sanitizer test, a sanitizer is a chemical that kills 99.999% of the specific test bacteria in 30 seconds under the conditions of the test.

In the medical field we disinfect or decontaminate. We are looking to eliminate not reduce the microorganisms. I think the same applies to SCUBA equipment. However you look at it its the process of cleaning the gear so it is safe to use. Whether you disinfect or sanitize it still will clean the gear.

 

[BoltSnap]

Does anyone here know the proper Dettol to water % for use with dive equipment please (rinsing rental equipment such as westsuits, BC's, regulators, boots, gloves, etc.)?

Dettol is readily available here in Libya no problem but the other tablets mentioned above will be extremely expensive to bring and use on daily basis after scuba training sessions.

 

[lv2dive]

The most important thing to do is rinse your gear thoroughly with fresh water after diving, especially after diving in salt water. Disinfecting/sanitizing on a daily basis is not necessary, unless you are diving in known nasty waters.

There are even some rebreather divers who primarily rinse vs disinfect/sanitize, and once or twice a year will disinfect/sanitize (as needed or for the heck of it). As far as I can tell, the rinse-only crowd does not appear to get more sick than the religious disinfect/sanitize folks.

Just something to consider!

Does anyone here know the proper Dettol to water % for use with dive equipment please (rinsing rental equipment such as westsuits, BC's, regulators, boots, gloves, etc.)?

Dettol is readily available here in Libya no problem but the other tablets mentioned above will be extremely expensive to bring and use on daily basis after scuba training sessions.

 

[stuartv]

The most important thing to do is rinse your gear thoroughly with fresh water after diving, especially after diving in salt water. Disinfecting/sanitizing on a daily basis is not necessary, unless you are diving in known nasty waters.

I think Burhan is running a dive school. He probably does need to sanitize every day...

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I have never sanitized my gear. I try to dump all the water from the BC and add fresh and rinse after every dive trip and I soak the regs in a bucket (that is probably dirtier than it should be) and have had no issues. A little mold on some clear masks, but I soak in pool water for a day and that would be the max.

When the suit gets bad, I may hand dip and gently brush on some Tide detergent and then rinse, but the whole idea of disinfecting your own gear seems overkill to me.

 

[TMHeimer]

For years I just rinsed everything--but some baby shampoo inside BC with fresh water (after dumping as much salt water out as possible--sometimes there is very little in there). Lately I've been using the shampoo on the wetsuit pants--for obvious reasons.....My first wetsuit lasted 10 years (bought used back then from rental stock). The old BC --also bought used then is still going (barely though). I never thought of any more stringent disinfecting. Of course, I have never rented gear though.