February 24, 2001


What's the best way to clean my climbing rope?

What's the best way to clean my 60m dry rope? I tried just water and lots of squeezing through my hands, which works for some of the filth but not much. I think it is from indoor climbing gyms, where the rope runs over their overhangs.

— Jeremy Calgary, Alberta

Keeping ropes clean is a good idea. Dirt and grit can work their want into the rope sheath, damaging it and perhaps even weakening the rope. And you can actually be pretty rough with a rope -— after all, it's made to withstand the force generated by a plummeting human body. Bill "Blazer" Blazewicz, one of the rope gurus at Sterling Rope, says you can just put it in a washing machine with a nylon-safe (bleach-free) detergent. Set it on warm or cold, regular agitation. If you have some sort of a mesh laundry bag, put the rope inside it to reduce tangling. After you've washed it, just loosely hang the rope somewhere and let it air dry. Make sure it's thoroughly dry before storing it in a stuff sack.

You now can buy several products that can be washed into a rope to give them more water-repellency. An example: Nikwax's RopeProof ($23), which restores a dry rope's water-repellency or enhances the repellency of a new dry rope. Should you use it? If you're climbing mostly in a gym, I'd say not. The stuff is essentially a liquid wax. And while that works to repel water, it will attract dirt. It could even be that the original dry finish on your rope is what's causing so much dirt to stick.