Cleaning your BC

[Chris]

How often do you clean the INSIDE of your BC and what do you use?

[DanL]

I clean it after every trip or weekend of diving.  Unscrew vent, fill about 1/3  w/warm water, slosh around, then drain.  Fill again, this time with about a 1/4 teaspoon or less of TIDE HE LIQUID laundry detergent added to the water.  Cap the vent, slosh around, leave for few minutes.   Drain, then repeat water rinses a couple of times.<br>The TIDE HE LIQUID doesn't suds up, has enzyme cleaners and surfactants that don't seem to harm the BC, but really wipe out any smell, etc.  Get the HE liquid - doesn't suds up and really stops odor.  Hard to find, and seems expensive, but not compared to the "BC cleaners" sold at shops.<br>I use the same detergent on wetsuits, boots, etc.  No smell at all - even in boots and booties!<br>Use very small amount of detegent and rinse well.<br><br>

[Starfish]

I have a front load washer in which you can use the HE Tide.  I wouldn't have thought to use it to clean my BC.<br><br>My DH and I thoroughly rinse out our BC's after ever fresh water dive day which means taking apart.  When we are away from home, we fill with warm water and rinse several times.  When we get home, it gets a break down.<br><br>Just remember to put air in your BC using a manual inflate method when your done so the interior doesn't stick together.

[LKunze]

Just bought a jug of Tide HE liquid detergent today.  Thanks for the tip DanL!  I'm so anxious to dive I'm going to dig my BC out of the closet tonight just to clean it.

[Chris]

I'll probably go buy some of that just to compare it to my actual bc cleaner.