Hydration Pack (Reservoir) Cleaning Questions

Guyon

Guyon

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So I bought a Camelbak today to hydrate during mountain biking excursions.

When I go to the Camelbak website, the instructions for cleaning include the use of special brushes and cleaning tablets.

Necessary? Do the tablets work better than just warm, soapy water with a little antibacterial detergent?

If so, are there aftermarket brushes/tablets that are cheaper than the mainstream Camelbak brand? At REI, the brush cleaning kit is $20, and 8 tablets run $12.
 
ive always just flushed mine with fresh water, then hang to dry. i use tap water because of the chlorine content.

unless you are putting liquids other than water, i dont imagine anything else is necessary.

i use mine pretty frequently, and have never seen mold or gotten sick.
 
Well, I did a little reading. First thing I found is that I committed the first sin of water reservoirs, which was to use soap. I only used a drop, but apparently, that flavor can linger a long time. However, I also found fixes for eliminating the soap taste. I flushed mine with a little mouthwash and hot water and then did two more flushes with baking soda and water. I can't detect any soapy smell or flavor now.

As for regularly cleaning, the most common tactic I've found is to occasionally flush/rinse with mild bleach mix, something like 1 part bleach to 10 parts water. I imagine you have to rinse with something else (mouthwash?) to get rid of any possible bleach taste. One poster on one board mentioned using a drop of vanilla extract in hot water to leave a pleasant aftertaste.

A site that consolidates a number of ideas... http://walking.about.com/od/hydration/tp/camelbackclean.htm

All news to me...
 
Same deal here. As long as you're emptying it out after you use it and letting it air dry, you should be fine. The occasional cleaning with a drop of dish detergent doesn't hurt, though.

The plastic Camelbak uses is pretty dense. I've left water in mine for close to a week without anything funny happening.

If it does get to the point that you feel like you need a cleaning kit, an entire new reservoir can be found for about the $20.00 the cleaning kit costs, IIRC.
 
After looking more closely at the site I linked, I'm thinking 10:1 on the water:bleach ratio might be a little high on the bleach side:

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.
Click to expand...
 
+3 on just washing it out. The tube brush is nice but the big one is pretty useless. I've used vinegar to clean the tube and I never noticed any aftertaste.

The Camelbak dryer is a worthwhile accessory IMO. I find it's hard to get the reservoir to dry well unless it's propped open. Before I bought one I tried making my own out of a plastic hanger but I didn't have great results.
 
How you clean it out really depends on how often you use it. While I was in Iraq we used ours constantly so the water never had a chance to get stagnant and they were never empty long enough fo mold to grow. If you only break yours out on the weekends for a long ride then I would suggest using about a half teaspoon full of bleach with a full bladder, be sure to apply some pressure so the bleach gets into the tube. I would recommend buying the brushes to clean the tube out, they tend to get kinda gross after a little while, the water takes longer to evaporate from there. When you hang it up to dry be sure that it is in a place with good air circulation, not in the closet.
 
I will rinse mine out, hand dry it, then store it in the freezer. It seems to work well, as any moisture left in the bladder or tube freezes.

You might want to try this rather than buying the drying rack.

Just a thought.

Billyp
 
MikeyGrnt said:
How you clean it out really depends on how often you use it. While I was in Iraq we used ours constantly so the water never had a chance to get stagnant and they were never empty long enough fo mold to grow. If you only break yours out on the weekends for a long ride then I would suggest using about a half teaspoon full of bleach with a full bladder, be sure to apply some pressure so the bleach gets into the tube. I would recommend buying the brushes to clean the tube out, they tend to get kinda gross after a little while, the water takes longer to evaporate from there. When you hang it up to dry be sure that it is in a place with good air circulation, not in the closet.
Click to expand...

Thanks MikeyGrnt. Welcome to Bladeforums, man.
 
If it gets really funky or you have Gatorade or something similar in it, the denture tabs can be used to give it a good scrubbing. The tabs sold with with reservoirs are very similar.

Bleach and water will kill the stuff that grows in your reservoir assuming you only fill from a chlorinated public or bottled source. A little soap is fine too as long as you don't use one of those heavily scented varieties. Pure soap without fragrance won't leave that much (or possibly no) after taste.
 
easiest, most efficient way to clean any type of water container is with efferdent, no joke, those uber expensive Camelbak cleaning tabs, what do you think they are? I fill mine with hot water drop in a couple to a multiple tabs depending on size and funk level, let sit 15-45 minutes, rinse thouroughly , hang dry and store in freezer.
 
gruntinhusaybah said:
easiest, most efficient way to clean any type of water container is with efferdent, no joke, those uber expensive Camelbak cleaning tabs, what do you think they are? I fill mine with hot water drop in a couple to a multiple tabs depending on size and funk level, let sit 15-45 minutes, rinse thouroughly , hang dry and store in freezer.
Click to expand...

Efferdent? Are those denture cleaning tabs or something? I like the idea of storing an empty camel back in the freezer. Or just dry it out with a blow dryer:D
 
My camelback dryer is just a plastic covered metal coat hanger. I held the curved part that holds the hanger up and put my finger in the middle of the horizontal piece. I then pulled down and bent it so the hanger is now in a diamond shape. Stick it in the fill hole and twist the hanger so it pushes the side of the bladder out. I then took a short piece of nylon sting and put it under the screw heads on an over head fan. I then just hang the bladder under the fan.

A bottle brush is all that is needed to clean the bladder. However, the small brush for the tube can come in handy when you come back from a ride and are bonked and throw everything on the floor forgetting about it.

I also use the mouthwash trick to help with any soap/ bleach taste.
 
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