Gear cleaning

[GADJIT]

Can someone help me.....

I have been cleaning my gear in a 65 gallon container with about a pint of Lavender Pine Sol and water for years now. Every time I mention it, my instructor cringes and tells me how bad I am for subjecting my equipment , and my wifes to such abuse.

Here is the process.....I come in from a long vacation with my gear still damp from the trip, and fill the bin with 60+ gallons of water, add about a pint of Lavender Pine Sol, and dump my gear into it.....ALL OF IT. The firm stuff, (fins, knife, mask, etc) all sinks and is retrieved later. My BCD is plunged up and down, in and out of the water for about 5 mins producing a nice sudsing. Then I unscrew a relief valve and fill my BCD with this solution and agitate for about 5 mins by hand. The BCD, now full of Pine Water sits for a couple of hours in the bin to soak. I then repeat the whole process and rinse completely with fresh water at least 3-5 times inside and out of the BCD. Then I hang all my gear up for a couple of days in my garage to dry completely, then it goes in the closet til next time.

Wet suits, skins, gloves, regs, EVERYTHING goes in and soaks and / or is agitated well and rinsed with fresh water.

I know this sounds a bit anal, but I really take care of my gear so it will last.

So, my question is this....who is right? Am I doing anything that will harm my gear? Is My instructor correct in that I am killing my gear and risking mine and my wifes safety by cleaning this way?

Thank you for any information you can help me with.

Gadjit

 

[FishOutUvH2O]

To be honest. . . I think you're just wasting a pint of Pine Sol. At a 480:1 ratio I think the Pine Sol is probably so diluted it's not doing much of anything.

 

[widget]

I am just wondering what your instructor thinks is wrong with your cleaning system.?

It sounds perfectly fine to me.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

Sounds reasonable to me.

Tell your instructor that you have this uncontrollable urge to support the dive industry, thus you intend to dive the piss out of your gear and clean it in pine sol until it dissolves, whereupon you can go out and buy more gear.

See what he says then...

Best,

Doc

 

[GADJIT]

I was just curious. I dont want to do anything to risk my wife or my life due to improper cleaning. The gear can be replaced, but not my wife or me! I just got tired of spending the money on chemicals at the store when Lavender Pine Sol seemed to be a perfect idea.....and it makes your gear smell nice and fresh!

Any "Chemical Wizards" out there have an opinion?

Thank you!
David

 

[widget]

I am not a chemical wizard, but I cant see Pine Sol doing any damage at all at that low concentration.

 

[Wayward Son]

I use Sport Wash

 

[BDSC]

I won't call myself a chemical wizard but I did work in a chemistry lab for 22 years. Nothing wrong at all with what you are doing. Like FishOutUvH2O said, you've got it pretty dilute so nothing really to worry about.

When I get my gear home I pretty much do the same thing but I fill my big garden tub with warm water and use a little baby shampoo. Soak everything for a couple of hours and then do a couple of rinses and I'm good to go. The process has worked great for me for years.

 

[RonFrank]

I don't see anything wrong with what you are doing.

One comment. Submersing your first stage can be a bad idea. The plug used to prevent water from getting into the first stage generally is water tight, but over time the rubber tends to dry out, and if the seal is not tight, you may end up getting water in the first stage. That will turn to mold, and then it will corrode the seals and parts.

I just rinse my first stage by spraying water on it rather than submersing it. If there is build up, you can wipe it clean with a soapy cloth, and then rinse it with fresh water.

 

[Rick Inman]

I don't know nothin', but Wiki says about Pine Sol, "As of 2008, the currently available original formulation lists 8-10% pine oil, alkyl alcohol ethoxylates, sodium petroleum sulfonate and isopropanol as reportable ingredients on the MSDS."

I know some of that stuff isn't good for the gear (alcohol, petroleum products), but as everyone has said, diluted down and then a rinse, I would guess, wouldn't do too much harm.

Mostly I rinse by doing a dive in our local lakes where I would guess there is as much petroleum as in the Pine Sol. Otherwise I use Simple Green.

I guess if you really wanted to support your LDS you could buy SinkTheStink, which costs about a zillion dollars a gallon.