OK, I would love for everyone to chime in on how you clean/disenfect your hydration pack/bladder (that is, if you actually do ).
I have heard so many things:
1. Fill it halfway with water and microwave it until the water gets hot (but not too hot to boil).
2. Using Camelpack hydration cleaning tablets
3. Baking Soda - Bicarbonate of Soda (Mix baking soda with water and allow it to soak in the bladder - anywhere from an hour to overnight. If you are getting ready to use it the next day, it's best to allow it to dry overnight. How much baking soda? I've seen recommendations from 2 tablespoons to half a cup, mixed with hot water to help it dissolve. After it soaks, rinse thoroughly with warm water.)
4. Baking Soda and Lemon or Lime Juice (This combination is also recommended, but be warned that it produces a foaming action. Mix a couple of tablespoons of baking soda in a couple of cups of water, put it into the hydration bladder. Now add a similar amount of lemon juice or lime juice and be prepared for the bubbling. Allow that to sit for 30 minutes to overnight and rinse thoroughly with warm water.)
5. Denture Cleaning Tablets (Drop them into water in the pack and allow it to work for 15 minutes as they recommend for dentures. Rinse thoroughly. Some recommend not getting the ones with mint flavor unless you want your water to always taste minty fresh.)
6. Baking Soda and Vinegar (Fill the bladder, add 1 tablespoon of vinegar and shake it, then add 1 tablespoon baking powder then shake it. Now drain and rinse thoroughly. This is reported to be good to remove the chlorine taste after bleaching the bladder.)
7. Bleach Solution (Add a capful or teaspoon of bleach to enough water to fill the reservoir. Allow to bleach for an hour to overnight. Rinse very thoroughly with 4 or more changes of water. I would recommend then following that with the baking soda and lemon juice or vinegar to help remove the bleach flavor. But this is the best way to kill fungus and bacteria, especially if you see visible growth.)
8. Water and a brush only
9. Leave out in the sun
The ideas go on and on. I wonder which you think is best because (1) it has the least problems with taste lingering in the bladder and (2) killing any bacteria in the reservoir, tube and mouthpiece. I have one of my bladders that actually has this slimy film building up, so it's probably time
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Most of the time I use hot water and a little dishwashing detergent. I cases where the bladder got slimy and disgusting, I've used both the denture tablets and bleach solution approaches. Both require some care to avoid lingering flavors. Too much bleach will leave a taste that a thousand rinses won't erase. Baking soda and vinegar do help, as you've noted.
I've used the Denture Tablets with good results.
Try the wintergreen flavor!
Make sure to get the solution down into the hose also.
I then air dry in the warm sun.
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Bleach solution, rinse well, and don't forget to also run clear water through the hose after you ran bleach water through it!! I'm a swimmer and am ok with chlorine!
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I usually use soap or bleach and multiple rinses of hot water. Air dry and then I store my bladder and hose in the freezer between uses,keeps anything from growing in it.
A 10-15% bleach solution is sufficient to keep by bags April-fresh (even when I forgot about one once and black stuff started growing in the tube... had to actually scrub it that time )
What are folks putting in their containers? If water is all you use them for you shouldn't have to worry too much about microbial growth. A good hot water flushing after use and air drying ought to be sufficient. It's your own native flora, so you won't get ill from them. Hand hygiene to prevent microbes from others sources is the best bet to keep nasty microbes out of the unit. You shouldn't have spore forming bacteria to need bleach, but that isn't a bad thing if it won't break down the material. Avoid Clostridium difficile!
Jim_H wrote:If water is all you use them for you shouldn't have to worry too much about microbial growth.
The nastiest growth I ever got was from a drinking water tap at an NSFS campground. Within two days, the containers I filled from it were occupied by filmy brown slime.
Sounds like the tap itself, but not the water was contaminated, if the tap was the source of the contamination. Still, brown slime molds while nasty probably won't make you sick. I'm also assuming people fill up and wash them at home. If that tap is bad, then forget about cleaning the things.
Every couple uses I fill mine with water and a hefty dose of lemon juice, give it a good shake, let it sit for an hour or so, and then drain it completely through the mouth piece. That seems to do the trick and keeps me from using chemicals.
When I feel it's necessary I use dishwasher detergent, shake it up, rinse it out several times, including the hose. Keeping it open to the dry AZ air with a special bag hanger after each trip has resulted in never having any problems. People in moister climates probably have other issues.
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I soak mine in hot water with citrus dish detergent for about an hour and run a bladder pipe cleaner through the hose & mouth piece. Then hang dry and throw into the freezer. I once filled mine with gatorade and forgot to empty it, a few weeks later I opened it and it was full of thick fuzzy gatorade. Had to throw that one away !
I am so frugal that I would not have thrown that one away. After getting a brush down it with hot water and detergent, I then would have soaked it for awhile in a bleach solution.
There is a point of no return unremarked at the time in most lives. Graham Greene The Comedians
A clean house is a sign of a misspent life.
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