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How to/how often to clean vests?


petrie141

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Anyone know how how to clean a neoprene vest and how often? We've been negligent with ours and not letting them air out, we just toss it in the storage compartment on the boat when we're done riding and leave it there until the next week.

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I'll just caution you about the washing machine. I have a really good set of front loaders, & I made the mistake of throwing in one vest on the regular cycle. Big mistake. The combination of low water usage & uber-crazy-fast spin cycle wore right through the neoprene on that vest, & ruined it. So ever since, I've use the lowest speed, gentlest cycle available on the washer (with just a small amount of laundry soap) & it works well. If the vests are pretty funky, you can add a little vinegar to the cycle to kill the bacteria.

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I'll just caution you about the washing machine. I have a really good set of front loaders, & I made the mistake of throwing in one vest on the regular cycle. Big mistake. The combination of low water usage & uber-crazy-fast spin cycle wore right through the neoprene on that vest, & ruined it. So ever since, I've use the lowest speed, gentlest cycle available on the washer (with just a small amount of laundry soap) & it works well. If the vests are pretty funky, you can add a little vinegar to the cycle to kill the bacteria.

Agreed. I have friends that just bought new vests all around for this very reason. I guess the husband is the one who put the vests in the washer and the wife was not pleased.

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Yeah, I pretty much wash them in the lake and air dry like every other poster so far. As a matter of fact I pull any cushions or anything else that got wet and air dry that too, and if I have to stuff the boat back in the garage before it is dry enought the box fan comes out. I can't imaging tossing wet stuff into a pile until the next week. :vomit:

But those are some good tips on cleaning if I ever find myself in that situation, especially the vinegar trick.

Edited by MalibuTime
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I hose everything down after every use, then hang dry. Used to ride in salt a lot back in the day and would take bindings off boards, hose down, hose down vests, ropes, everything, then hang dry. Now that it's habit I still do it, even though its all fresh water now. If it got dirt or something on it, I take warm water with some oxi clean, scrub, rinse, then hang dry.

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As far as keeping them fresh, I've seen a lot of people on our lake clip their vest to the tower when they are done. That way it air dries a bit while you head back to the dock. If you know you are done for the day, clip it to your tower and let it get dry as much as possible.

We have a storage unit. I've strung a thin rope across the back and we use big plastic hangers to drip dry out jackets after every use. It's made a huge difference in keeping them clean and smelling fresh.

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I just thrown mine in washer and hang dry.

yeah this. At the end of the season we just wash them all in a gentle cycle, and hang them in a dry place over the winter.

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That said, we are lucky to ride in the PNW where the water is relatively clean, so any funk is usually from mold that tries to accumulate near the end of the season when the rain returns in earnest...during the drier months I don't have to do crap except air them out on the tower after each use.

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