cleaning hydration bladder

[SDHNTR]

How do I clean my hydration bladder? I've been drinking out if it for a while and just noticed it's got some funky ju-ju growing in it. Not cool. Can I put this thing in the dish washer with the hole propped open? Any solution like bleach or something I can slosh around in it to kill the critters? Or should I just trash it and buy a new one?

[Coues]

Run a liter of Jimmy Beam through it. Might not clean it, but you won't care.

[YoungBlood]

What kind is it? If it's a CamelBack, they have a cleaning system for it. I don't know if it would survive a dishwasher or bleach. After I use mine, I hang it upside down and make sure there's not any water still in it so it doesn't grow the funk. I have thrown one away in the past that I just couldn't get clean and it tasted like plastic anyway. The newer ones don't have that taste though. Good luck. -YB

[CAhntr]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Coues @ Dec 4 2006, 10:21 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=787111)</div>
Run a liter of Jimmy Beam through it. Might not clean it, but you won&#39;t care.[/b]


http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley_rotflmao.gif

[sagebrush]

I have cleaned mine several times using a weak bleach solution. Fill your bladder about half full then add about 1/4 cup of bleach. I shake the bejeebers out of it and then drain through the hose and bite valve. I also wipe down the exterior of the bite valve while it&#39;s draining. Run another liter of fresh water through it to flush out the bleach. Hang it open side down for a couple of days to let it dry out and pack it away &#39;til next trip. I do this after every hunt unless I&#39;m doing several day trips locally. Haven&#39;t had a problem in five years. You will notice an improvement in the taste of the water that comes out of that thing.

[SDHNTR]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>
Run a liter of Jimmy Beam through it. Might not clean it, but you won&#39;t care.[/b]

I like the way you think my friend!

[Monsterbull]

Very simple. Fill your sink with water, add a capful or two of bleach. Submerge the bladder and fill it up. Get some of the bleach water in the tube (run some into the tube by holding up the bladder and squeezing the bite valve) and leave everything sitting there submerged for 30 minutes. Rinse everything out several times with fresh water and it is disinfected.

[hntnnut]

This is the reason I finaly broke down and bought a camelback as I can fit my hand through the lid to clean really well. I also use bleach to clean with just make sure you use the non perfumed type. Also if you like to leave your hydration blader full, fill it with a bottled water and add 3-4 drops (from a eyedroper)of bleach. I&#39;ve kept one full for 6 months with no mold and no bad taste.


Richard

[dw33]

Run a liter of Jimmy Beam through it. Might not clean it, but you won&#39;t care.


Coues, you really had me laughing with that one. Good stuff.

[Arrowslinger]

I&#39;ve had the same 100oz bladder for years and have never cleaned it....don&#39;t need to. When i&#39;m done with it, i place it in the refridgerator. It&#39;s always cold and ready for the next hunt.
Moisture and heat causes mold....the fridge prevents it.

[gottahunt]

I bought a Camelback brush set. It has a large brush to clean the bladder and a small brush to clean the tube. Seems to work. I might just try filling it with Jim Beam for AFTER the hunt.

[Zbearclaw]

buy the camelback tabs to clean it, then dry well, make sure you squeeze some of the solution thru the hose.

I made a tube cleaner when over in the "land of sand" while in the military since the tabs weren&#39;t readily available, took some 550 cord and knotted it ten or so times every inch or so, ran that thru and then used the MRE drink mix from about fifty MRE&#39;s to make a casustic solution, other guys were getting gunk in there&#39;s but I never did.

[Coues]

I store mine in the freezer, 3/4 full. That way I have cold water all day when I&#39;m out and it does not get the funk.

[Huntin Fool]

I have used lemon juice and water and let it sit for 10 min or so, guess the acid takes care of the funk. Then i drain it and out a paper towel on the inside and move it around with my hand won&#39;t fit either so i just move it around until i think its alright.

[Monsterbull]

Great googly moogly! You guys don&#39;t clean the container for your drinking water? I suppose you don&#39;t wash your hands after droppin&#39; a deuce either? http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-face-pukin-blue.gif Last thing needed is another possible source for the trots.

[attachment=36375:attachment]

[snoopdogg]

monsterbull--That&#39;s pretty fricken funny!!!

Oh, yeah, I&#39;m more of the bleach water guy on this subject.

[paid2raid]

Mint Listerine; I&#39;ve used this for all my military water hydration
systems.

[7mm RM]

http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-wnk-yellow.gif I go for the Jim Beam myself

[Gyopo]

I took the small brush from a baby bottle cleaning chinga and attached it to some 60lb mono.
I run it through the hose and it seems to celan it out well.

[boarcrz]

Keep it dry after use and leave the cap open for storage http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-laugh-point-up-yellow.gif

[ChupaCabraHunter]

I use denture cleaner. It makes the water taste like kisses from Grandma though.

[Monsterbull]

[attachment=36818:attachment]

[Ferd Berfull]

Camelbak also sells a hanger for their bladders. I empty mine out well then hang it up using the hanger after each use. In winter it&#39;s near the wood stove and in the summer it&#39;s in the sun to completely dry. Haven&#39;t had a thing grow in it for a year now. The hanger keeps the sides from touching and allows air all the way down to the bottom so it drys completely. Too easy.

[Freedivr2]

If you just cleaned it 1/10th as often (or as well as) you clean El Toro, you&#39;d never have had that problem in the first place! Knucklehead...

Diluted bleach, scrub corners with a toothbrush, rinse, do it again.

I always try to wipe as much moisture out of my hydration pack as I can before I hang it up. Leave the cap off, also. Let the air get in there....

P.S. But I also like Coues method (freeze it 3/4 full).......