How to clean your Hydration Bladder pack
Since i'm moving to a new house, I decided to prioritize a little maintenance on my bike and my bike gear before i took it to the new house. One primary pieces of gear is my Folker Hydration Pack which provides me with water and snacks during my ride. What is hydration pack ? . Basically hydration packs provide mountainbikers with hands-free availability in addition to giving convenient day pack storage.
The most common problem with the hydration pack is the maintenance.. sometimes after a tiring mountainbiking ride, you always tend to forget to do a cleanup on your gear especially your hydration pack thus leaving for days and days.. without cleaning it.
The bladder which holds the water in a hydration pack, can be a breeding ground for microorganisms and other bacterias if not cleaned and maintained properly. Riders using sugary energy drinks in their packs such as Gatorade, 100plus need to be especially carefull.
It is important to do a cleanup since you don't want a fungus ,mold, bacterial slime inside your hydration pack.Do you really want to drink that stuff..? I don't think so.
Follow the steps below that i had created to keep your hydration pack clean for your next ride.
So what do you need :
Step 1
Remove the bladder pack from the bag. Empty all liquid from the hydration bladder and the hydration tube squeezing the mouthpiece to extract every last drop.
Rinse it thoroughly with a water. Clean and scrub inside of the bladder if you see any stuborn stain. You can use a baby-bottle brush. Don't use soap unless you want to taste the soap for the next month. Just use plain water for your routine cleanings.
Step 2
Polident Dentures cleaning tablet
To make sure i get rid all the bacteria and any other microorganisms and smell in the bladder. You need to use any kind of anti-bacterial cleaning system.
So what you do is fill the bladder with warm water(not boiling water) and drop 1 tablet in the bladder and allow it to work for 3 minutes. as they recommended for dentures. But if you feel that 3 minutes is not enough, then proceed with 15-30min. But ussually 15 mins should be good. After that rinse with water several times
What Other cheap alternative that you can use to sterilize your bladder ?
Baking Soda - Bicarbonate of soda
Mix baking soda with water and allow it to soak in the bladder for 1 hour or overnight. If you are getting ready to use it the next day, its better to allow it to dry overnight. How much baking soda you need ?. Ussually recommended 2 tablespoon to half a cup. After it soaks, rinse thoroughly with warm water.
Bleach/Chlorine
Add a few cap full or teaspoon of bleach then fill the bladder with water. It is important to drain some of the mixture out of the drinking tube to make sure it gets into that part of the system. Then let it sits for several hours. The problem of using this method is that you will have the chlorine taste. So make sure you rinse many times until you do not taste the chlorine/bleach flavour. I would recommend that you use the baking soda and lemon juice or vinegar to help remove the bleach flavour.
So to me.. the Denture cleaning tablets would be the most easiest way to clean up.
Step 3
Now the fun part haha.. pull the hose off the bladder. We will need to clean the hose tube. As you can see the hose tube have developed some mole and stain
For this we're gonna use the wire hanger
and turn into this
Then take a short piece of cloth or tissue, get it slightly wet then wrap it around the wire hanger
Then push the wire hanger thru the tube back and forth to clean the tube. If the stains still there, squish the tube so that it rubs again the cloth/tissue. Repeat the process until clean. You may use an old derailleur cable to perfom this. After that rinse again with water to flush out the stain.
Step 4
Its time to drain the remaining water. How do we drain it?. We still have a use for the wire hanger. So we bent the wire hanger bent into the shape of a coil spring in order to keep the bladder expanded while it hangs
This way the bladder will eventually dry quicker.
Step 5
Reassemble your hydration pack. Store the plastic bladder in the refrigerator to prevent mold from forming. When you’re done with your trip, rinse the bag with plain warm water, drain it and put it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it again.
Till we meet again.. ride on!!!!
Since i'm moving to a new house, I decided to prioritize a little maintenance on my bike and my bike gear before i took it to the new house. One primary pieces of gear is my Folker Hydration Pack which provides me with water and snacks during my ride. What is hydration pack ? . Basically hydration packs provide mountainbikers with hands-free availability in addition to giving convenient day pack storage.
The most common problem with the hydration pack is the maintenance.. sometimes after a tiring mountainbiking ride, you always tend to forget to do a cleanup on your gear especially your hydration pack thus leaving for days and days.. without cleaning it.
The bladder which holds the water in a hydration pack, can be a breeding ground for microorganisms and other bacterias if not cleaned and maintained properly. Riders using sugary energy drinks in their packs such as Gatorade, 100plus need to be especially carefull.
It is important to do a cleanup since you don't want a fungus ,mold, bacterial slime inside your hydration pack.Do you really want to drink that stuff..? I don't think so.
Follow the steps below that i had created to keep your hydration pack clean for your next ride.
So what do you need :
- Wire hanger
- Polident Dental Cleanser Tablet or Baking soda
- Tissue/clean cloth
- Bladder bag of course!!!!
Step 1
Rinse it thoroughly with a water. Clean and scrub inside of the bladder if you see any stuborn stain. You can use a baby-bottle brush. Don't use soap unless you want to taste the soap for the next month. Just use plain water for your routine cleanings.
Step 2
Polident Dentures cleaning tablet
To make sure i get rid all the bacteria and any other microorganisms and smell in the bladder. You need to use any kind of anti-bacterial cleaning system.
In this guide, i used a Polident Denture cleaning tablet which is easy to use.Cost me around RM7.90 for 16 tablets. You can find it at any local pharmacy. It is also have minty flavour. So your water will always taste minty fresh.
So what you do is fill the bladder with warm water(not boiling water) and drop 1 tablet in the bladder and allow it to work for 3 minutes. as they recommended for dentures. But if you feel that 3 minutes is not enough, then proceed with 15-30min. But ussually 15 mins should be good. After that rinse with water several times
What Other cheap alternative that you can use to sterilize your bladder ?
- Baking soda
- Bleach/Chlorine
Baking Soda - Bicarbonate of soda
Mix baking soda with water and allow it to soak in the bladder for 1 hour or overnight. If you are getting ready to use it the next day, its better to allow it to dry overnight. How much baking soda you need ?. Ussually recommended 2 tablespoon to half a cup. After it soaks, rinse thoroughly with warm water.
Bleach/Chlorine
Add a few cap full or teaspoon of bleach then fill the bladder with water. It is important to drain some of the mixture out of the drinking tube to make sure it gets into that part of the system. Then let it sits for several hours. The problem of using this method is that you will have the chlorine taste. So make sure you rinse many times until you do not taste the chlorine/bleach flavour. I would recommend that you use the baking soda and lemon juice or vinegar to help remove the bleach flavour.
So to me.. the Denture cleaning tablets would be the most easiest way to clean up.
Step 3
Now the fun part haha.. pull the hose off the bladder. We will need to clean the hose tube. As you can see the hose tube have developed some mole and stain
For this we're gonna use the wire hanger
Then take a short piece of cloth or tissue, get it slightly wet then wrap it around the wire hanger
Then push the wire hanger thru the tube back and forth to clean the tube. If the stains still there, squish the tube so that it rubs again the cloth/tissue. Repeat the process until clean. You may use an old derailleur cable to perfom this. After that rinse again with water to flush out the stain.
Step 4
Its time to drain the remaining water. How do we drain it?. We still have a use for the wire hanger. So we bent the wire hanger bent into the shape of a coil spring in order to keep the bladder expanded while it hangs
This way the bladder will eventually dry quicker.
Reassemble your hydration pack. Store the plastic bladder in the refrigerator to prevent mold from forming. When you’re done with your trip, rinse the bag with plain warm water, drain it and put it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it again.
Till we meet again.. ride on!!!!
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