Cleaning of Harnesses

[bkc3921]

I have read a previous thread on cleaning harnesses (I have Hooker)...but it danced around the issues: Is it permissible to use warm water and a mile soap and get the belts wet?...Or is this a step away from goodness?

Mine are not excessively dirty, but after years I would like to remove some minor surface grime. I was planning on soaking them in warm water and Woolite, followed by a very mild scrub, and air drying. Does this sound reasonable, or is it bad to even get them unnecessarily wet?

Any experts on this..?

[Flying EMT]

FWIW. The manufacturers recommended way is the route you should follow. To clean my firefighting safety gear there are a few rules: never use bleach or chlorine products, it weakens any Kevlar that might be woven into it. Check the PH of your cleaners, they should be as neutral as possible. Don?t use high temps water, temps over 100 degrees will degrade the fabrics. Air dry for same reason. I?m not an expert, but I use these rules to clean my harness and they seem to be holding up. YMMV. Ben

[Malndi]

This recent safety notice addresses your question and supports Ben?s advice:

https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33...ice2019003.pdf

[lr172]

In the sailing world, we use woolite for cleaning nylon and poly lines. It is a very mild detergent and will do the least amount of harm to the material. Use cold water and not warm or hot.

Larry

[rmarshall234]

That same type 7 and type 8 webbing is used for parachute harnesses and the approved method of cleaning is to use woolite and cool water. A mild scrub is fine, the two important steps are to make sure you _triple rinse_ to get all the woolite out and to make sure they air dry sufficiently. It's ok to hang in front of a fan for a few days if necessary.