Part of your general care for your rope should be a regular washing to get all the grime out. Dirt, sap, oil from your hands, aluminum from running over gear and just general over all grime can shorten the life of your rope. If you check the manufacture website for almost any rope company they recommend washing your rope as it gets dirty. This is also a good time to inspect your rope and make sure it doesn’t have any excessive wear that could be fatal.
Now the question comes, “How do I wash my rope?” I recently did a bit of research to see if there were any new discoveries and it looks like the same jumbled mess of unclear answers. One website recommends hang drying while another has in big bold lettering “DO NOT EVER HANG DRY A ROPE”. Some websites say to wash your rope in any regular washing machine even top loaders with an agitator and others recommend only using a front loader or machine without an agitator. I would not consider myself an expert on the topic but I have laid out here a step by step on how I’ve washed my personal rope for the last 11 years. If you go to the manufacture’s website for your rope they almost all have recommended ways to wash your rope, you should follow their recommendations.
If you have a front loading washing machine or a machine without an agitator
1. Flake your rope and find the center.
2. From the center daisy chain your rope leaving 24”-36” tails at the end. This keeps your rope from turning into a tangled mess
3. Run your washing machine with no rope or soap in it to rinse out any detergent or bleach residue
4. Wash your rope using a non-detergent soap or special rope wash made by many of the rope manufacturers (I through my rope bag in with the rope)
5. Run the rope through one more full wash and rinse cycle without soap to really make sure and get the soap rinsed out of the rope
6. Flake your rope onto a clean surface laying it as flat as possible, do not do this outside or in direct sunlight. I usually use my bath tub as long as no one needs to take a shower for the next 12 hours or so. Do not put your rope in the drier, let it air dry
7. When the rope is dry flake it back into your rope bag, let it sit for at least 12 hours.
If you do not have a machine without an agitator
1. Flake your rope and find the center.
2. From the center daisy chain your rope leaving 24”-36” tails at the end. This keeps your rope from turning into a tangled mess
3. In your bathtub or any large tub that your rope will fit into, wash your rope by hand using non-detergent soap or special rope wash made by many of the rope manufacturers (I’d wash my rope bag separate with the laundry)
4. Make sure to thoroughly rinse all soap residue out of the rope as it will attract grime more quickly
5. Flake your rope onto a clean surface laying it as flat as possible, do not do this outside or in direct sunlight. I usually use my bath tub as long as no one needs to take a shower for the next 12 hours or so. Do not put your rope in the drier, let it air dry
6. When the rope is dry flake it back into your rope bag.
Summit Canyon Mountaineering downtown caries Sterling Rope “Wicked Good Rope Wash” for about $3 a pack and each pack is good for one wash.
They also carry Nikwax “Rope Proof” dry-treatment for just under $30. As you use and wash your dry rope the dry-treatment wears off allowing water to soak in. As this starts to occur you can retreat your rope with this and help it stay “dry”.
gjclimbing 
Posted on August 23, 2012
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