Clean Those Dirty Seatbelts!
 

After 520 hours of use in my 6A, my Hooker Harness seatbelts were looking pretty nasty and dirty. After much thought (and several less than satisfactory cleaning attempts) I finally hit on a successful method of gettin them suckers clean............. I took my Hookers out of the plane, applied spot remover on the really dirty spots and ran them through the dishwasher! Presto, clean as new!!!!!!!

Some people clean their ball cap hats that way too. They even make a plastic holder for that purpose to hold the shape.

Timely post
 

I was looking at some pictures today (bored at work) and realized how bad my shoulder pads look. I'll give your method a shot this weekend.

whoa
 

You might want to re-think your method here. Seat belts should be considered just like any climbing harness or equipment. Nylon is very susceptible to caustic and acidic substances. They can significantly weaken the nylon with no visible signs that damage has occurred. If you check with Hooker, I'm sure they will be alarmed by this method. Machine Dishwashing soap is highly caustic and there is surely some residual soap in the dishwasher. What we use to clean our climbing ropes is warm water,woolite, and a bristle brush, followed by air drying. I believe that's the only approved method of cleaning without compromising the strength of the belt. Again, you might want to check with Hooker before you go any further. .....Just trying to look out for you.

Well, I personally wouldn't worry too much about any measurable degradation of the nylon due to a few dishwasher cycles. In the Cascade in my kitchen, there are three ingredients:

sodium carbonate
sodium silicate
enzymes

Every source I found listed nylon as grade "A" resistant to the first two chemicals, meaning they could survive a constant exposure. As to the protein (i.e., food) eating enzymes added, these guys were able to get some nylon digestion due to enzymatic reactions, but it wasn't easy.

With all that being said about nylon, it appears many (most?) automotive seat belt webs are made from polyester nowadays. I was not able to find out what Hooker webbing is actually made from. I assumed that mine were nylon, but I don't have any evidence of that.

You forgot a few ingredients...
 

The MSDS is a better source than the bottle label...:)

Ingredients/Chemical Name:
Water softeneing agents (complex sodium phosphates and sodium carbonate),
cleaning and water spot prevention agents (nonionic surfactants and chlorine bleach), sodium silicate, sodium sulfate, suds control agent, colorant and perfume.

The chlorine bleach bit doesn't sound good, and I'm not sure about sodium phosphates...:(

Guys, I think "the long and short of it" is this; No matter what cleaning solution you choose, they all have chemicals of some kind in them. I'm sure there are people on this list that can't wait to find a problem with any cleaner and/or chemical mentioned.

So...........If your worried about any chance of harming your seatbelts then please don't use any cleaners on them, just be happy with dirty nasty seat belts!

If, on the other hand, you don't believe a run through the dishwasher every 500 hours or so will cause your seatbelts to self destruct and fall apart, then by all means wash em! I for one am enjoying my factory clean looking seatbelts (no, they haven't been destroyed or fallen apart yet).

No, not good at all. If I'd discovered I'd washed a climbing rope in something with bleach in it, I'd probably retire it immediately.

I'm with GregM on this; I'd use nothing stronger than Woolite.

This is starting to sound like fodder for another Break-O-Tron test series...

Thanks, Bob K.

From the Horses' Mouth
 

I contacted Hooker and asked their opinion. Here is the reply:

Quote: "Dishwasher = NO (too much heat and too much chemical).

Spot cleaner, dabbed onto webbing, do not scrub, air dry only, do not use heat or sunlight

Other than for minor spotting most cleaners that will remove the spot will also decrease the strength of the material. This is not a visible change but a big change.

Dishwasher is probably the second worse thing next to a washer machine and dryer.

Scott McPhillips

Hooker Custom Harness, Inc.
324 East Stephenson Street
Freeport Illinois 61032

Tel: 815-233-5478
Fax: 815-233-5479
Email: scott@hookerharness.com" End quote.

Getting a ball cap too hot while washing it makes it shrink way too much in my experience.

I've had the best luck washing my favorite one (a Van's AF cap of course!) by simply hand-washing it in a 2-gallon bucket of cold water with an extra helping of liquid Gain laundry detergent with a bit of Oxy-Clean mixed in then let the cap soak overnight completely submerged under the soapy water, then rinsing completely many times with cold water to get all the soap out and letting it air-dry at room temperature.

I wore mine while working on the plane, and got it so nasty and greasy I thought it was a goner, but washing it like that brought it back to like-new condition without any shrinkage at all.