Gear cleaning tips please?

[Brianna]

Newbie here, repeating my SCUBA course- I had ear problems the first time around. I took the course the first time with my dad and step-mom so they took all the gear home to clean and dry it after the pool classes. Now that it's just me I need to clean my own gear and I hope you can help me find something better than what I did last night. I lugged all my gear up my steep stairs and put everything in my bathtub, let it soak for a while, drained the tub and rinsed it. Then I did my best to spread everything out in the tub to help it dry but my BC and boots were still pretty wet this morning and going forward I'll need the bathtub emptied out sooner.

I just can't think of a good place in my house to hang everything or lay it out to dry... any suggestions? This doesn't need to be a permanent set-up, for the most part I'll be doing all diving with my parents and they'll take the gear to their house.

 

[offroadr1]

thats pretty much what it do. except i do not have steep steps. i soak it in the tubs, drain tub and rinse everything with retractable shower head. usually booties take the longest time to dry.to combat this, i take a metal clothes hanger and fold the two wings of it together. i slip the wings into the booties so just the hook is sticking out and the wings hold the booty open. then i hang them from and ac register. the flow of air drys them faster and keeps them from stinking. i let my wetsuit, wing, and whatever else dry in tub as long as possible, then usually move to kitchen near the windows. they are usually still damp, but will dry shortly there. i toss my wing over a stool and hang the suit in a doorway.

 

[nimoh]

if you have a garage:
After rinsing in the bathtub, you could place all the wet items in a plastic bin so as not to get water all over the place, and transport it to your garage to hang up and dry.

You could also just fill the plastic bin with water in your garage and rinse the stuff without transporting it into your house.

if no garage:
You could speed up the drying process by running a de-humidifier in the bathroom, everything should get pretty dry overnight, at least to the point where it is not dripping, and you can move it out of the bathtub.

 

[lowviz]

It is all about moving air. Buy a big cheap fan.

 

[jcper]

Your correct in what you should do, I however soak the equipment in very warm water (not hot) and let it cool down, once again and repeat (Higher temps seem to help transfer salt from the kit into the water).
A little bit of white viniger in the warm water can help with slightly leaky regulator second stages when soaking aswell - I have used it and it helped.

I know people who use milton inside the BCD bladder every so often to help ensure you dont get any nasty infections when orally inflating it.

I have seen one dive senter modify a hair dryer on a low/cool setting to dry out a flooded dry suit to repair a boot in it for the following day.

 

[TMHeimer]

Probably a lot of ways. A couple of things could be to immediately dry all that can be dried and removed from tub and stored--ei. fins, reg., mask, snorkel, watch, knife, etc. Periodically squeeze wetsuit, hood, boots, gloves, etc.--especially sleeves, legs, to wring out some of the water. Hang above bathtub if that is possible. Any place to hang or even put wetsuit outside (that is not in the sun & safe from animals) for air flow?

 

[FuzzyNutz]

I clean my gear the same way. I got a tension rod (shower curtain rod) and put it above the shower - right above the shower head to the back of the shower. Voila, instant scuba gear drying rack! I've had the whole thing come down once, so now I just keep the bc (bp/w) propped up in the corner of the tub and I have't had a problem since. I hang up everything on these hangers (<click), and other stuff I just drape over the top. The hanger for boots, gloves, fins, etc (X5) really helps the boots dry quicker.

 

[JesperS]

Second vote for the hangers, I happened to get these instead due to the positive reviews, and I'm happy with the purpose. Regular hangers are too wimpy for scuba stuff. Second also on biggish rubber tubs to throw all your gear in, even if you don't have a garage, it's an easy way to get everything lugged up the stairs. Keep them in the back of the car, throw wet gear in them when back at the car (keeping car dry and salt free) and then bring the tubs up.

I have the luxury of a fenced in yard, so I lug everything out back for a rinse, and half day dry in the sun.

Drying is finished and gear is stored in the laundry room on a little portable clothes rack I found at Target, and sitting on a DRIS dive mat. A rack like this or a retractable rod thing could maybe work in your area?

 

[Brianna]

I promise I'm not trying to be difficult! No garage, I live in an area where expensive looking items left unattended outside are stolen. I'm getting home from class around 8 pm so all the outside heat is gone for the day anyways.

My shower has a U shaped curtain rod that I can't hang anything off of because it's not well reinforced. There's really no good place to put a tension rod either. The heat isn't turned on yet so there's no air blowing out of vents.

My house is very old, early 1900s, so most of what would work in a newer house won't work for me. We have a dehumidifier but it has to stay in the basement and I can't carry it from the basement to the 2nd floor and back weekly

 

[Akimbo]

Can you put 2 hooks over the tub/shower and suspend a temporary rod?