How to clean old filter socks?
 

I got a bunch of old filter socks off of a friend. What's the best way to clean them? I thought washer and some bleach?

That's how I do it. No soap

Felt or mesh?

Either way I start with a bleach soak in a bucket. Felt goes through the washer. Mesh is good with a rinse.

HTH

Felt or mesh- soak them in a bucket with a capful of bleach. When I have enough, Wash them in the washing machine with a cap full of bleach and a double rinse.

This is exactly my process. Works great.

Just stick them in a corner of your basement and after they gather dust pick them up and shake.

That's what I do with mine now that I have been a convert awy from the use of filter socks.

Let me know if you want some more - cheap + shipping.

i soak mine in a bucket of bleach water for a couple days. then rinse thoroughly with tap water, soak in some RODI with some safe or other water treatment product, and then give a quick rinse with RODI prior to returning to service.

When I use to work at the wholesaler near me, I would wash the filter socks with bleach and water only then water only and let them dry.

If you don't want to use bleach, vinegar also works decently enough. I turn my socks inside out, fill the detergent cup up with vinegar and use the hottest water setting. They come out very clean this way.

Bleach doesn't clean, it only makes them whiter. When I used filter socks I did use bleach because it seems they are cleaner when whiter, but they aren't.

When I was using filtersocks I pre-cleaned them with a garden hose and then washed them in the washing machine with bleach and biodegradable soap (extra rinse is mandatory).
Though I stopped using socks as they catch too much of the good stuff and cleaning them is too much of a hassle.

I don't like bleach. I've been using hydrogen peroxide, in the washing machine.

If you are using the washer, run an empty cycle first to take care of any traces of soap or washing chemicals.

When choosing the bleach option to clean the socks, make certain to only use unscented bleach. Adding an extra rinse cycle to the end of the wash cycle will help remove any bleach remnants left in the socks. In a hurry, you can dry the socks in the dryer with cool air or simply just leave them out to air dry.

I have used the same fine mesh XL-sock for 2+ years on my 100g.

Roughly every 7 days it will clog up with super-fine particles to the point where it makes the water exit over the water line and make noise. I then just turn it inside out and wash it under the sink while "rubbing" it a little to get most of the gunk out.

My cell ncern with just washing with water in the sink, is that some trace of pest algae will still be there, or something else.

Yeah, the sock never gets 100% clean, but no problems so far.

I wait till i get 7 or more my socks are 7x16in 200 micron felt turn inside out trough in the washer add 1/2 cup of reg bleach after the frist wash rewash with plain water and 2 capfulls of amquil rinse one more time done takes all but 90mins

Why the Amquel after using bleach?

I wash in wash machine on the Bulky/Bedding cycle with extra rinse.

Sorry, but I disagree. Using a dilute bleach solution for ten to sixty minutes will kill bacteria, viruses, fungi, and algae. The physical act of agitation, either by hand in a bucket or in a washing machine, will remove dirt.

this is exactly what i do. Let them stackup in the bucket till i need to wash all of them.

I rinse them with the hose inside and out then when I get a bunch of them I wash them in the washing machine with bleach, then air dry. Then I soak them in a bucket of rodi water and prime then air dry again.

from what i understand, bleach is also an oxidizer, so that should help break things down and aid their removal through physical agitation, right?

a big part of why i go the bleach route is to get the stank out, so my house isn't smelling like crusty old reef tank when i change my filter socks. but they do appear cleaner, not just color wise, after bleach and manual agitation in a bucket/vigorous rinse, than when i just rinse without the bleach soak.

So are filter socks a thing of the past?

I use them when I blast my rocks/clean the tank. And for some extra water polishing if the water looks a little cloudy.