Gear cleaning tips please?

[Rhodesaz]

Third vote for the hangers. I own my house and have a breezeway. Hang everything in the breezeway. In this Arizona heat it's dry in one day. Then I carry into the house.

Offroad, since you're in an older house, could you attach a rod via the ceiling? (hitting the studs above) Just a thought.

Besure and clean the inflator hose. No one told me this and after several years it failed. Had to replace the valve. Also, besure and add air to the bcd before you store them. You do not want the bladder touching itself while drying. If they stick to each other, they may rip when you inflate the next time.

 

[The Chairman]

I put up a wooden closet rod outside and under my eaves to hang my gear on. I'll take a pic in the AM to show it.

 

[tracydr]

You can buy a cheap little rack at Walmart to hang clothes on. Its sort of a moving closet. Get a couple of thick hangers or reinforce some by duct taping two or three together.
two box fans running will really make a difference.
For the booties, you can stuff with newspaper and change out for dry paper every few hours. That's what I do for my drysuit booties if they get wet.
We've been know to hang everything all around condo living room with the AC or fan running full blast. You can also use a bit of clothesline and string it across a room if you have a place to do something like this.

 

[offroadr1]

You can buy a cheap little rack at Walmart to hang clothes on. Its sort of a moving closet. Get a couple of thick hangers or reinforce some by duct taping two or three together.
two box fans running will really make a difference.
For the booties, you can stuff with newspaper and change out for dry paper every few hours. That's what I do for my drysuit booties if they get wet.
We've been know to hang everything all around condo living room with the AC or fan running full blast. You can also use a bit of clothesline and string it across a room if you have a place to do something like this.

yeah my "office" looks more like a dive shop everyday

 

[Brianna]

Thanks all! I really do wish I could dry outside but I'm just not home to be sure it won't be stolen and when I am home the sun is down for the day and nothing will dry in the cool air. I think a clothes drying rack may be my best idea. I'm trying to keep the gear out of common areas because I have a long haired cat and her fur gets on anything and everything.

What's the best way to clean the inflator hose? I'm passing on some of these tips to my dad as well because I'm not sure how he's been cleaning gear. They have a heated garage so it's much easier for them to dry gear at their house!

 

[FuzzyNutz]

Trust me, the tension rod over the shower works wonders (unless you have one of those squarish stand-up only showers - but then you could probably just set a pole over top of the whole thing)! You can get a straight tension rod for less than $20 at Walmart/Target. It's a 'secondary' rod that you run through the center of the tub over your head, no curtain would ever go on it - I got the idea from a lady friend who did this to hang dry certain clothes and 'delicates' in her apartment so they could drip into the tub... and now I'm doing it to hang-dry scuba gear in an apartment. Other than the standard bathroom fan, I use no other sort of device to move air around, and it all dries pretty quick (within a day). The tension in the rod should be enough to support your gear and keep it up there (minus the bc, in my experience), and it's in the shower, so it's out of the way and unseen (if you need to use the shower while it's still drying, just lay a few towels down on the floor and put the gear on top of them until you can put the gear back to finish). This idea is pretty much the same as having a portable clothing rack, except it hangs over the tub so water can drip down and into the drain.

If you really can't find a way to hang stuff to dry, it will still dry by just sitting in the tub - this is my standard practice of drying in hotels. Usually everything is bone dry by the next morning... it's just the boots that can be tricky, but you can stuff them with a shampoo and conditioner bottle to prop them upright.

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For the inflator hose, just hold the deflate button down and run water through it from the faucet. I let the bc fill up quite a bit, shake it around, then dump it back out through the inflator and/or dump valves (I usually do this a few times, emptying through a different valve each time to make sure they're ALL clean).

 

[tdtaylor]

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.

Would definitely not recommend wetsuit or other neoprene in the sun. I have a cheap box fan I run in the room I am drying and it does a wonderful job of drying items quickly (bootie dry overnight instead of two to three days).

Also, I believe someone mentioned one of the folding racks that one can find at Walmart/Target in lieu of the tension rod. The one my buddy uses is plastic and sits in the middle of the tub. Not ideal, but combined with a box fan to move the air does wonders.

 

[Brianna]

Thanks all! One last question- do you air dry your mask or dry it with a towel of some sort? Mine has water spots all over it from letting it air dry.

 

[Orlando Eric]

Watsr spots is no big deal as you use some sort of defog before using. I like the walmart clothes stand. Any center rod I have ever used comes crashing down in the middle of the night causing me a late night adreline rush.

 

[JamesK]

You could easily make a snap together rack out of PVC from Home Depot for around $10. You can assemble it when needed and store it in a closet in pieces when not needed. Plus it gives you the option of setting it up anywhere in the house that you might need it and placing a plastic bin under it to catch water. Simple.