Kit is NOT cheap! Even if you just have one set of the basics, boots, base, mid, upper layers, trousers, socks, waterproofs, gloves, hat, scarf and rucksack, it can run into several hundred of pounds. It’s therefore imperative that you take care of your gear.
Believe it or not, washing it too much is actually not great as it removes the waterproof layer. Of course, you need to wash the bits next to your skin, but if you are wearing 100% wool items, just air them, ideally they need air to freshen not chemicals.
Boots: Boots, as I wrote about before in this blog post, are so important to your walking, that there is never really a short cut with boots. My main tips for boots are:
- Dry them naturally with newspaper inside to wick away the wet, ensuring you change the newspaper at least once. DO NOT dry them next to a fire or on a radiator, this sudden change can cause leather to split.
- When they are naturally dry, use a steel wire type brush to take off the dried mud.
- Remove the laces and wash them.
- Dubbin! This is my best friend and keeps all my boots (city ones too) looking good. It’s a bit like feeding something, and it keeps them supple too. Make sure you work it into the seams and after half an hour or so (I often forget entirely!) wipe off any excess.
- Spray any suede areas with a waterproof spray for suede.
Waterproof coats and outer layers: I never wash mine, I wipe off any mud or gubbins, but I really avoid chucking them in the washing machine for the reasons I mentioned above. About once every six months if they’ve been worn a lot, I hang them outside and spray them with a re-waterproofing nikwax or similar, paying a lot of attention to seams as these are the areas that are less waterproof, after two minutes wipe off any excess so you aren’t left with marks.
Down coats and sleeping bags: I have NEVER had any luck with washing a down jacket in the machine. I have used specific stuff for washing them, balls that are supposed to stop them clumping and I always end up losing a jacket to ‘wandering stuffing syndrome‘ where somehow, despite all the seams keeping it separate, the down inner manages to trace down all the other bits of down and clump up in one place leaving me with a jacket that is totally thin and just the outer material in one place and like an overstuffed Michelin man in the other. So my rule is really just don’t unless you are happy to lose it. However I have had much more luck with sleeping bags (thank goodness really as I was returned several rather dubious smelling ones from places my kids have travelled over the years). I do wash them on a low spin and on a sunny day so I can open them up and hang them outside. I’ve never tumbled one, but please let me know if you have success.
Rucksacks: This is a tricky one. Some people say that if they really need it, chuck it in the machine, but I think it really depends on what it’s made of and I suspect the straps could cause some damage to the drum. Again, hanging on a washing line (after making sure you have removed the contents!) should be sufficient to really freshen it up, or make up a spray of water and an essential oil with a natural antiseptic in it such as lavender or tea tree. Of course, if you discover what I once discovered when my son came back from backpacking in Vietnam and that a month old cheese sandwich had melted and then petrified, you may need to do more than this, but generally I would avoid washing.
Poles and Gaiters: Don’t need much care but DO wipe them down, especially the poles. They shouldn’t rust, but any dried mud in the mechanisms might make them harder to open and close.
Bladder: If you use a bladder over a water bottle, empty it straight away. It may only be water, but it can react with sunlight or heat when you’re out and eventually if you leave it in there, the inside of the bladder gets slimy. The tube I normally run hot water down it, then leave it to hang indoors over our rack. The bladder gets emptied and IF I have used it a lot or have possibly filled up from a stream and feel it might need a little bit of a bigger clean I use ‘Sterident’ to sterilise it. Half a tablet in a jug of hot water, I stir it to dilute it then allow it to cool a bit before pouring it into the bladder, closing the lid and shaking hard. This will kill any possible bugs. My husband likes to put squash in his as the taste of the bladder water isn’t to his liking, so I would always recommend he used hot soapy water to clean his as the sticky residue will eventually eat away at the bladder.
First Aid Kit: Obviously this doesn’t need cleaning, but I like to replenish it whilst I’m doing all this stuff as it’s highly likely I’ll go out for my next hike and have no plasters! In my first aid kit for walking I keep:
- Blister plasters
- Regular plasters
- Antiseptic wipes
- Piriton (or similar)
- Paracetamol (or ibruprofen)
- A triangular bandage
- Safety pins
- Gaffer tape (fixes any hole, this is always in my overseas kit too, mends broken mosquito nets, patches tents, shoes…)
- small scissors
- gloves
Tent: Our first act when we get back, regardless of whether it was hot when we packed down, is to set it back up in the garden so we can get it aired, leave it out there for an hour or so with the door open. If it has rained when we’ve struck camp, we tend to either put it over the washing line back home or, if it’s still raining, open it up as best as we can in the garage until such a day as we can hang outside. Obviously you may need to re-waterproof it over time if you’ve had it a long while, but with modern tents, if you look after it, it shouldn’t require much. We also like to wipe down the poles. Again these don’t generally rust, but the issues are that the wet mud can touch other parts of the tent and cause nasty smells or patches where you could later leak. In being transparent, however, we rarely camp in a tent these days as we now have our campervan…old bones 😉
Cooking and utensils: Usually they all go straight in the dishwasher, but we currently don’t have a dishwasher, so they just get a good, hot, soapy wash and don’t go away until they are thoroughly dry.
If you have any great tips, just let me know and happy walking!
