Washing your hammock

[StumpJumper]

Just got back from a trip with tons of poison oak and received my fair share of the rash.

Unfortunately, I wore my contaminated hiking pants to bed. Do I need to wash my hammock and top quilt now? Any recommendations on gently cleaning the inside of a WB Blackbird dbl?

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks,

Itchy

[beep]

Just got back from a trip with tons of poison oak and received my fair share of the rash.

Unfortunately, I wore my contaminated hiking pants to bed. Do I need to wash my hammock and top quilt now? Any recommendations on gently cleaning the inside of a WB Blackbird dbl?

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks,

Itchy

I'd defer to Brandon's input here, but I'd be inclined to "hand wash" (wear rubber gloves!!!) in the special soap/detergent/lotion designed for neutralizing urushiol (sp?) from the poison oak. Same for the pants, though machine washing is probably ok.

One website had this advice for laundering..."To remove urushiol and decontaminate clothing, wash with ordinary laundry detergent at the highest recommended water temperature. Do not overload the machine and allow clothes to agitate freely. The urushiol will be suspended in the water and will not transfer to unexposed clothing in the load.

If you're lucky enough to have someone else help with laundry be sure to tell them that you may have encountered poison ivy. It is best to handle the clothes while wearing rubber gloves or pick them up with a clean cloth to avoid direct contact."

In general, it seems that urushiol is an oil so almost any detergent is good at removing it.

[Jiblets]

Just got back from a trip with tons of poison oak and received my fair share of the rash.

Unfortunately, I wore my contaminated hiking pants to bed. Do I need to wash my hammock and top quilt now? Any recommendations on gently cleaning the inside of a WB Blackbird dbl?

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks,

Itchy

Your hammock is toast and needs to be incinerated. Send it to me for safe disposal.

[kayak karl]

baking soda works the best to get rid of funk it should work with the poison. i tried bleach and hot water, now my HH is camouflaged green and gold.

[jonesy]

i always hand wash my hammocks with bug nets .as to make sure that the washer doesnt damage the bug net .easy if you have a big kitchen sink or even the bathtub.. throw in dryer on air dry..

[beep]

baking soda works the best to get rid of funk it should work with the poison. i tried bleach and hot water, now my HH is camouflaged green and gold.

I'd be concerned that the baking soda might not be effective at removing the oils that are the problem. That's what detergent does (remove the oils). Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of baking soda for many uses but I've never been aware that it has detergent's surfactant qualities.

[Trooper]

The irritant in poison oak and ivy is an oil called urushiol. Because it is oil-based, I have used Simple Green to remove it from clothing with great success. Simple Green is is an enigma because it is very gentle to most plastics, but an effective grease cleaner. I've even used it on my very expensive dress shirts for removing stains and have never harmed the shirt. While I haven't tried it on a hammock, I'm sure Simple Green would show damage to a Brooks Brothers shirt long before it affects a hammock...

[rainyseason]

Last time out I got into some poison ivy or poison oak and figure my hammock is contaminated too. How did you end up cleaning your hammock? I won't be back to my hammock until mid-June (I'm on a container ship running from LA to China at the moment) but am thinking of using Simple Green and a power washer when I get off my ship. Any comments on this method of cleaning my blackbird? Thanks in advance.

[MedicineMan]

bleach....bad stuff for a lot of synthetics....dr. bonners/water is my choice...and someone posted about grit inside the 'mock...didn't notice until that was mentioned and last weeks paddle camping trip on the coast just added to....the min. is a fresh water rinse out i'd think. Overall cleaning them is a good point, they are not just a financial investment they are artforms we sleep in .

[JerryW]

Just got back from a trip with tons of poison oak and received my fair share of the rash.

Unfortunately, I wore my contaminated hiking pants to bed. Do I need to wash my hammock and top quilt now? Any recommendations on gently cleaning the inside of a WB Blackbird dbl?

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks,

Itchy

I'm dealing with poison ivy all over my legs right now from a trip two weekends ago. Yuck! I washed my hammock, by hand, in the bathtub. I turned it inside out and filled the tub about half way and used dish washing soap. It's supposed to cut grease, so it should surely dissolve the plant oils. I rinsed it thoroughly and hung it on the deck to dry. Hopefully I got it all out.

I also washed my top quilt. Just used the machine and regular detergent for that.


Jerry