Wet and Moldy Guy Lines

[silentorpheus]

So my last trip it was raining when we broke camp. When I got home I strung up a CRL in my garage and spent a day or two hanging everything I took along and drying it, including both tarps I brought (I lent one), and the guy lines that are attached, etc.

Turns out that I forgot to take care of the small ziplock baggy that I keep my main tarp ridgelines (zing-it with dutch stingerz) and all the spare guy lines. As soon as I picked up the baggy, I could smell the mildew.

Right now I've got them all soaking in a jar with more water and a touch of bleach. Has anyone dealt with moldy/mildewy lines before? Is there a way to mitigate it without having to just remake them all? I made all of those, and I have more zing-it and can just cut the stingerz off and start fresh, but that's 6 tarp lines that I'd rather not have to re-do if I can help it.

Any suggestions?

[Passinthru]

Well, I have had no experience with this - but now that I think about it, any of us who have ever put our lines away wet have probably had mildew to some degree.
I think your approach is good. The bleach will effectively kill the mildew in a very short time. I don't think your lines will have suffered any damage as long as you don't soak them too long. I don't think they need more than an hour in the bleach solution. Then get them thouroughly dry again and they should be OK.

[Cranky Bear]

I had this happen to me twice now, once on the dog tie out (7/64th amsteel + 1/8" amsteel) and on a set of tarp lines like you.

The other time was on my cuben pack cover.

I found that scrubbing them with warm water and Dawn dish soap helped, although it took a few washings for it to work, I also did one soak with soapy water (overnight) and one with bleach water (warm water with a small bit of bleach) before I did the overnight soap water wash.

I managed to get the smell off the lines, but for some reason I cannot get it off the pack cover, although I did not use the bleach water on the cuben pack cover.

[silentorpheus]

I had this happen to me twice now, once on the dog tie out (7/64th amsteel + 1/8" amsteel) and on a set of tarp lines like you.

The other time was on my cuben pack cover.

I found that scrubbing them with warm water and Dawn dish soap helped, although it took a few washings for it to work, I also did one soak with soapy water (overnight) and one with bleach water (warm water with a small bit of bleach) before I did the overnight soap water wash.

I managed to get the smell off the lines, but for some reason I cannot get it off the pack cover, although I did not use the bleach water on the cuben pack cover.

Good to know it can eventually work.

I tried vinegar first, as I didn't really want to bleach them. Let it soak for a few hours. That quite decidedly didn't work. So then I put them all in a tupperware container with water and bleach, and I let it soak overnight. By this morning, the water in there looked like lemon-lime gatorade (guess the color on zing-it will bleed off). Still smells slightly of mold/dirt/mildew. So now I'm soaking them in dish soap, and I'll give them a scrub a little later, and hang them out to dry.

I'm smacking myself, because I was so thorough with everything else. Every stuff sack, pot cozy - even the carbon felt windscreen that got damp because my cook kit was on the outside of my pack hiking in the rain - all got laid out and dried. Tarps, pack, clothes, and quilts too. I just overlooked that one little bag …

[Cranky Bear]

Good to know it can eventually work.

I tried vinegar first, as I didn't really want to bleach them. Let it soak for a few hours. That quite decidedly didn't work. So then I put them all in a tupperware container with water and bleach, and I let it soak overnight. By this morning, the water in there looked like lemon-lime gatorade (guess the color on zing-it will bleed off). Still smells slightly of mold/dirt/mildew. So now I'm soaking them in dish soap, and I'll give them a scrub a little later, and hang them out to dry.

I'm smacking myself, because I was so thorough with everything else. Every stuff sack, pot cozy - even the carbon felt windscreen that got damp because my cook kit was on the outside of my pack hiking in the rain - all got laid out and dried. Tarps, pack, clothes, and quilts too. I just overlooked that one little bag …

Yea I was able to get the smell off the line but it took a bit of elbow grease (scrubbing's) for it to work. Although my pack cover is a different story. Oh well...lesson learned for me, and sounds like you too

[SilvrSurfr]

You guys are real trendsetters. Now everybody is gonna bleach their Zing-It.

[silentorpheus]

You guys are real trendsetters. Now everybody is gonna bleach their Zing-It.

It's still yellow, so I'm not sure what kind of trend I'd be setting. Though each time I wash it or rinse it more and more yellow dye comes out. So eventually I bet I could change the color.

I rinsed them clean of the bleach, scrubbed each one from one end to the other with dish soap, and rinsed each again.

They are now back in plastic baggies, with warm water and Dr. Bronner's Lavender soap. I'm determined to not have to re-splice anything a week before the Winter Hang.

[SnrMoment]

Borax will kill mold. Also not toxic like bleach (unless you're an ant). Also doesn't smell.

[silentorpheus]

After:

Vingar soak for a few hours
Rinse well (vinegar and bleach do not play nice)
Bleach soak overnight
Rinse
Dish soap scrub
Rinse
Dr. Bronner's Lavender soak overnight
Rinse
Hanging out to dry

They still smell slightly of funk, but also of bleach and lavender. Acceptable enough that I'm not afraid to put them in a pack for fear of making everything around them smell bad. Perhaps another rinse and air dry might help - but it's cold out, so it's tough to coordinate that one. Perhaps after the hang this weekend, I'll try borax. Or if I need to, I'll just splice some new lines, when I don't have a trip of the horizon.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[CamoDeafie82]

old army trick I learned from my dad.....

borax and baking soda in water; borax kills the mold, baking soda removes the odors.....

I used this on my woodland ALICE pack, and it works excellently.....

I use this all the time without borax for the surplus gear that had been peed on by previous owners' cats.... or were stored outside where animals could put their droppings and piss on....