What's your filter sock cleaning method?

[Fr0zEn4244]

4" Filter sock Change daily then wash extra filters inside out with a small amount of bleach with extra rinse.

7" Filter sock change once every 3-4 days, same method as above.

My 7" filter socks I have been lacking on changing some times and man they are a foam fest if I neglect them.

 

[TipSeaReefer]

pretty much same method as everyone else

 

[Get Hooked]

I change my 25 micron socks out every other day. When it's wash time, I use a cup or two of vinegar in the washing machine, Hot Water, Heavy Cycle, 2 rinse cycles. Then dry them in dryer. Once in a while I add some bleach.

 

[ravi197699]

I just install my pressure nozzle in front of hose and wash it with high pressure, no soap, vinegar or bleach. Never had any issues.....

 

[edmondspl]

I was reading a detailed post a few years ago about this. This guy took a filter sock and looked at it under a microscope. First he washed it with bleach and checked it, and then used hydrogen peroxide. He concluded that hydrogen peroxide worked better. And that bleach really left a lot of stuff in the sock it was well just bleached. Ever since that post I've been soaking in peroxide over night and then in washing machine. Every now and then I use a little bleach just to keep it white.

 

[Ssteve]

How much do you dilute the peroxide?

 

[hogfanreefer]

There was a good thread on this not too long ago. I tried the peroxide method but it didn't work too well for me. I still use a cup of bleach and an extra rinse. As long as the socks are dry you're golden. According to that thread bleach is not stable out of solution so as long as it's dry it's no problem. I've had zero issues doing this.

 

[StevieD]

Personally I tried the filter socks and didn't really like them (too much work for the money) so I went to using the blue and white filter floss/pad...If you cut a 6" wide strip and separate the blue from the white (not all the way down) and slip it over the overflow pipe in the sump, its pretty much serves the same purpose, its cheaper, and no cleaning it (seems to last longer as well)...Just my 2 cents...

 

[addictedreefer]

I rinse thoroughly inside and out with a high-powered garden hose once per week. I typically replace mine every 2-3 months.

 

[Napoleon I]

I let them collect a week at a time. I change daily, or close to daily anyways. I turn them inside out and use the garden hose with a high jet nozzle. It blows everything off of them. They actually look almost new except for the red cyclopseeze dye staining them red sometimes. It may not be an added dye. But it does turn them red if a pile of them sit in a spot for several days.
I use a 2 foot stick of pvc inside the sock and hold the rim of the sock with my thumb. After I spray the inside I turn it around the right way and do a quick once over. Shake out the water and then hang from a camera tripod with a bucket underneath of them to catch drips while they dry.
Works great. Way better than the washing machine. I never use bleach either.

Jeff

 

[DCReefer1964]

I use my pressure washer to clean the socks. Turn them inside out and blast away. Soak in hydrogen peroxide and water hang to dry

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

I soak mine in a 20 oz solo cup with water and a couple of tablespoons of bleach for 24 hours, rinse, soak in water for another couple of hours, then shake dry. I let it air dry before using again. This will remove all bleach.

 

[yanagisawa]

I just rinse it by tap water and then turn it over to rinse again. Then put it back to sump. No worry.

 

[skidoctor]

turn inside out and rinse
place in bucket with bleach
rinse and hang dry when I'm on my last sock

I have a rotation of 5 7" felt socks. they're changed every 2-4 days depending on how clogged they get.

 

[tubbs2323]

I use the sand method as campos, if u still don't feel safe after all that soak it in a bucket of ro water with some chlorine remover

 

[reefgeezer]

1. Turn inside out
2. Washing machine, bleach in dispenser, heavy duty cycle with extra rinse
3. Air dry until smell of bleach is gone (1 to 2 days)

+1

 

[McPuff]

I have a hose with sprayer attachment that I use in my utility tub. Spray it inside and out until it's as white as possible. Works very well.

 

[edmondspl]

I found the thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1943735

 

[torero500]

There was some microbial studies done a few years back showing that if you wash clothes or anything with fecal bacteria in them, the washing machine DOES NOT wash away the bacteria and it is transferred to whatever clothes you put in the next load. So I wouldn't ever be washing these filthy socks in the washing machine, personal choice...but if I did, I'd be sure to run a cycle of just bleach and water in an empty washing machine after I washed a filter sock in there. There's a reason your girlfriend would kill you in your sleep for washing a filter sock in the washing machine.

When I used them, I just used a garden hose with pressure nozzle and blasted them clean. A day in the sun, they were good as new. Now don't even bother with them unless I do a major cleaning stir up job to trap stirred up debris and just wash them out with the hose.

 

[dkeller_nc]

There was a good thread on this not too long ago. I tried the peroxide method but it didn't work too well for me. I still use a cup of bleach and an extra rinse. As long as the socks are dry you're golden. According to that thread bleach is not stable out of solution so as long as it's dry it's no problem. I've had zero issues doing this.

This is a bit off-topic, but it isn't quite correct that drying something soaked in bleach will ensure that all of the bleach is gone. "Bleach" is a solution of sodium hypochlorite and sodium hydroxide. Depending on the circumstances, some of the sodium hypochlorite will remain as a solid when bleach is dried. Some will also decompose to sodium chloride and chlorine gas, and eventually, all of the dry sodium hypochlorite will decompose.

It's unlikely that the residual sodium hypochlorite in a filter sock that remains after a residential washing machine cycle would cause a problem, but I mention it as general knowledge - something that wasn't rinsed could have a substantial amount of sodium hypochlorite remaining.