Cleaning Filter Socks

[gabew]

So I got 3 200 micron felt filter socks for my 55 gallon. I am using one at a time and changing them when they overflow (normally 5-7 days). My question is what is the best way to clean them? What is the simplest way? Is it at all effective to just wash them with a hose? I would prefer not to have to use an entire wash cycle just for two socks so some of those options are not possible (however if it is ok to clean them along with other clothes that would be fine). I have heard a soak in bleach works good. How long should I put them in the bleach? How do you get all the bleach out, do you just let it dry of should you wash it out again? What is the risk of poisoning your tank? Are there other options?

Thanks

 

[bshumake]

i've sprayed mine out with the hose and wind up getting about as wet as the socks. Since then I have been washing them in the washing machine. I tried the dish washer and it was a bust. I set the washing machine on the lowest water volume necessary and let it run. it gets the socks really clean. after that I just put them back to work in the sump. as for bleach, i've never used it. do not wash them with your clothes or anything. not that your clothes will contaminate them, but they do shed all kinds of lint into the socks thats a PITA to get out.

 

[yellowbellied]

Just buy one of those nozzles from home depot and turn the sock inside out. The pressure will blast all dirt away.

 

[chathomas]

I just wash mine with the hose and rotate like you. No issues

 

[d0ughb0y]

for felt, the only way to really clean them is to run it in washing machine with some bleach. if you just hose it, you will never get it even close to as clean as that using the washer.

 

[Faye]

I soak mine in RO water and bleach. Ring it out well, let it soak in RO water, ring it out really well again, shake hard to get most the water off, than stick in the dryer. Once completely dry after being soaked in RO water, bleach is no longer harmful.

 

[LaOtIn]

(washing machine + bleach) rinse cycle x2 = clean

 

[yellowbellied]

Are there harmful effects if, say, there's some bleach left over in the sock?

 

[jason2459]

How about if its a front loader. Seems like there is always detergent residue left over.

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[Gtt1988]

if you use bleach let it sit in the sun for a couple days to let the sock evaporate and youll be fine. personally that way is way too much of a hassle for me i simply throw mine in wash machine

 

[yellowbellied]

For a bucket with 3 gallons of water, how much bleach to mix in? Like Jason says, my front loader seems to have detergent residue.

 

[gabew]

So it looks like some people said just washing them with a hose works? That would be really easy and really great if that works. I don't really need them to be perfectly 100% clean. Just clean enough.

 

[sbeason]

Washing machine, fastest cycle on smallest load with bleach. Air dry, then ready to go.

Thanks, Steve

 

[lcs]

I have a frontloader too and have noticed the soap residue from previous loads of laundry. What I do is run a rinse cycle before I do my socks. I run the socks on a regular wash cycle - NO DETERGENT - with bleach with an extra rinse and then air dry. I have about eight socks, so I do a load when I have five or six that are dirty.

HTH!

 

[mtaswt]

I take them out and throw them in a empty salt bucket....then wait until I get 4 or 5 dirty ones. Spray them with a water hose to clean and then soak them in bleach/water for a day. Take them out rinse them with water and air dry. They come out as clean as the day I bought them!

 

[Inexplicable]

I soak mine in a bucket containing a solution of 5% bleach for 12 hours followed by a rinse in the sink under tap water. They then go in another bucket of RO water with dechlorinator for 15 minutes or so and end up hanging dry waiting for use. Gets it just as clean as the washing machine without freaking out the wife with fish waste in her laundry.

 

[slief]

Mine get tossed into a bucket to dry out. Once a month or so, I shake them out and toss them into the washing machine with some bleach on a double rinse cycle. I wash them twice with bleach and once without. Then they got tossed into a box in the garage to dry out and wait to go back into the tank.

My socks always come out looking clean. I've been doing it this way for over a year without a single issue.