washing filter socks.....

[zemuron114]

hello all,

I was wondering if anyone washes their filter socks in the washer and dryer. I ask because it would be so much easier for me to do this but i didn't know if the soap (detergent) would be bad... I wouldn't use the fabric softner in the dryer but would like to use the detergent to get it clean.

Thanks for the help!

[bradleyj]

I wash mine all the time, BUT!!! WITH NO SOAP!!!! Use only a small amount of bleach and once you wash them, wash them again with water only. Never use soap, and I would just let them air dry, don't use the dryer. Any leftover bleach will evaporate out, soap wont.

[Kahuna Tuna]

What Bradley said, I have used the washer for over a year now and the only problem is the plastic rings at the top of the socks do take a beating in the washer. Dont use anything in the washer except a little bleach. I wait till I have 5 or 6 dirty filters and run them through one cycle with bleach and two more with fresh water only and let them air dry in the sun, this gets them really clean.

[Goodwood]

Same for me, washer with a cup or so of bleach.

I take them right out of the washer still wet and put them in the tank, never had a single issue.

Been doing it this way for years.

[gasman059]

oNE RINSE CYCLE -INSIDE OUT NO BLEACH AND VIOLA!

[adambaron]

I go inside out with hot water and no bleach or anything. Works fine. I tried bleach and it was fine too but I am paranoid about that so I stopped.

[Jim_S]

Yeah, I run mine w/out soap or bleach in hot water. I also run them through an extra rinse cycle just incase there is any left over residue from the load before.

Jim

[adambaron]

Actually I do the same with the extra rinse only I do it before I put them in the wash.

[FateX8]

good ideas i never thought about using a washer for my filter socks
i just flip inside out and just hand wash

[triggerfish1976]

I would highly recommend taking a hose to them prior to putting them in the washing machine. Repeated washes will rust out your machine over time.
I turn mine inside out and pull them over a 4'x4' that is planted in the ground and blast them with fresh water to get as much salt out as possible.
It's a pain but it will save you money on a new washer.

[Fcataudo]

use the washer, picked that tip up on here a few months ago. Get a 3 socks and rotate. Works like a champ.

[ddboy]

I wash mine with 2 rinse. and just to be on the safe side. sometimes I rinse it with the water I take out from water change.

[zemuron114]

thanks for the replies everyone! So if i use bleach do you all recommend 2 washes, first with bleach, 2nd just hot water?

I always rinse them out really well with fresh water after i pull them out of the system. They are usually covered in crap (real crap :)) Lots of fish coming and going so they build up fast!

Thanks again!

[Kahuna Tuna]

So if i use bleach do you all recommend 2 washes, first with bleach, 2nd just hot water?

I do one cycle with bleach and two cycles with just water, one might be enough but the filters come out very clean and then I let the air dry in the sun.

[sjm817]

I wash them in cold water with a little bleach, extra rinse cycle. I let them dry before I reuse them.

[happyface888]

Interesting never thought of machine washing but it does seem like alot of water is being used just to clean them. I just hand wash.

[zemuron114]

i hand wash to and hose them out, but it always leaves residue and it is never the same :( need to get them sparkling!

Thanks everyone for the insight!

[andrewsmart]

i am telling al gore on all of you.

hand wash 5 minutes nice hot soap free water and some elbow grease.:D

[Goodwood]

I only wash one cycle, anymore and you might as well pay the dry cleaner

[Kahuna Tuna]

i am telling al gore on all of you.

Al is unavailable, he's too busy flying around the world telling the rest of use to stop using so much energy. :p

[sjm817]

Al is only concerned about others energy use, not his own.

LOOK OVER THE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE FOLLOWING TWO HOUSES AND SEE IF YOU CAN TELL WHICH BELONGS TO AN ENVIRONMENTALIST.

HOUSE # 1: A 20-room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas. Add on a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house all heated by gas. In ONE MONTH ALONE this mansion consumes more energy than the average American household in an ENTIRE YEAR. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2,400.00 per month. In natural gas alone (which last time we checked was a fossil fuel), this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not in a northern or Midwestern "snow belt," either. It's in the South.

HOUSE # 2: Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university, this house incorporates every "green" feature current home construction can provide. The house contains only 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and is nestled on arid high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats the house in winter and cools it in summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas, and it consumes 25% of the electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Flowers and shrubs native to the area blend the property into the surrounding rural landscape.

HOUSE # 1 (20 room energy guzzling mansion) is outside of Nashville, Tennessee. It is the abode of that renowned environmentalist (and filmmaker) Al Gore.

HOUSE # 2 (model eco-friendly house) is on a ranch near Crawford, Texas. Also known as "the Texas White House," it is the private residence of the President of the United States, George W. Bush. So whose house is gentler on the environment?

[Kahuna Tuna]

Now, now, do as Al says, not as he does. :D

IBTL.