What detergent to use for cleaning Regs

[Vicko]

I use saltwater and uv radiation to kill the germs.

 

[Belzelbub]

What about desalting detergents after diving in salt water? Any potential issues with these?

That’s what I use. soak while pressurized in a water and salt away solution. Follow that with a rinse with freshwater. Been doing that for years. When I get them serviced, my LDS usually comments how clean they are.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I soak my regs pressurized on a tank. When I get home I’m usually tired, so I get out my big rinse tub and soak everything overnight.
The tank w/regs are the first thing in and they lay on it’s side. Then everything else goes in. Fill it with water and leave it overnight. Next day slosh everything around good, wetsuit inside out, wing inside and outside too.
Stand up the tank and run water through the regulator ambient holes with a hose to blast out any left over brine.
Leave reg hooked up and pressurized until dry.
All done.

 

[Fred A.]

I soak my regs pressurized on a tank. When I get home I’m usually tired, so I get out my big rinse tub and soak everything overnight.
The tank w/regs are the first thing in and they lay on it’s side. Then everything else goes in. Fill it with water and leave it overnight. Next day slosh everything around good, wetsuit inside out, wing inside and outside too.
Stand up the tank and run water through the regulator ambient holes with a hose to blast out any left over brine.
Leave reg hooked up and pressurized until dry.
All done.

I soak all my gear in a bathtub with fresh water and Natures Miracle Stain and Odor Remover that I buy at the pet store. It contains enzymes that eat/kills anything nasty from my ocean dives. A little goes a long way, you don't need to rinse it off and it leaves your gear clean and smelling great.

 

[BoltSnap]

Natures Miracle Stain and Odor Remover

This one?

Nature's Miracle Dog Stain and Odor Remover Pour, With Odor Control, 170 fl. oz.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I soak my regs in a big tub of fresh water after diving in saltwater. As for bacteria, as the saying goes, "the solution to pollution is dilution." So again, my thinking is clean water alone should do the job. Maybe if I were a dive op renting out regs and soaking several together at a time in less than pristine water I would add a sanitizing agent such as Steramine.

 

[SlugLife]

If you're soaking your personal regulators in any kind of detergent (simple-green, dawn, etc), which is designed to break down oils, it will probably break down the silicone grease and may even deteriorate the o-rings. Depending on what fails, you might suddenly find yourself suddenly covered in bubbles unable to see, a regulator that's difficult to breathe, more frequent-free-flow, wet-breathing, or any number of other issues. In short, it may be a safety hazard, and you're probably negatively impacting your service schedule.

If you want to sterilize a mouth-piece, fine, remove it, soak, and reinstall with a new zip-tie that's nice and secure.

Perhaps fine so soak rental regulators, just don't go too crazy with concentrations.

Maybe there's also something out there that will break down salts, but not oils. But I'd probably suggest doing an "A-B test" with a control of water-only in one, solution in the other, and place an item with silicone grease on it in both for about a week, and see if there's any difference when pulling them out. Perhaps also throw in an couple o-rings as well.

 

[halocline]

I'm not sure where the fear of microbes comes from. I guess if you were rinsing/soaking your regs in very questionable water, you'd want to make sure you didn't drink any. But the main culprit is salt (and to a lesser extent other minerals) that dries on exposed threads, i.e. threads not protected by an external o-ring. The hose connection at the 2nd stage is an example, but there are many others. The only way to get that salt out other than taking everything apart is to soak for a good long time in clean fresh water and let osmosis do the job. It makes a big difference over the long haul.

 

[admikar]

If diving in salty water, I put my gear in a tub overnight. Let hose slowly changing water, so any disolved salt will be carried away. If diving in nasty water, after soak regs get a good rinse and left to air dry. Wing will be rinsed both out and in, and if left for long term storage a weak mix of water and anti-bacterial dish soap before final rinse.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

I also simply rinse in fresh water and allow to dry. I don't dive salt water much, but when I do, I sometimes soak the regulator in fresh water for a while, rather than simply rinse it out.

SeaRat