Camelbak bladder cleaning

mattc2002

I don't clean my Camelbak bladder but empty most of any liquid left and then throw it in the freezer. This should stop any bacteria and do no harm to myself or the bladder?

The Northern Monkey

few different views on this around BR..
this months MBUK recommended using Milton fluid to clean camelbacks.

page23

mattc2002 wrote:

I don't clean my Camelbak bladder but empty most of any liquid left and then throw it in the freezer. This should stop any bacteria and do no harm to myself or the bladder?

alot of the newer bladders have microban so does help with hygiene. the freezing should work but i use some milton every now again to give it a good wash out and clean. the important thing is to get it dry and this also means before putting it in the freezer as older water thjat remains in the bladder will simply melt and you'll end up drinking it.

i just put a couple of small glasses inside it to let it 'air' and dry following a standard rinse.

The Northern Monkey

This Stuff

cee

I mostly just empty mine and fling it in the freezer (i never put anything except water in it though....)

a couple of times a year, I also pop in a couple of steradent tablets (for false teeth) fill it and let it sit for a while

mattc2002

Page23 wrote:

mattc2002 wrote:

I don't clean my Camelbak bladder but empty most of any liquid left and then throw it in the freezer. This should stop any bacteria and do no harm to myself or the bladder?

alot of the newer bladders have microban so does help with hygiene. the freezing should work but i use some milton every now again to give it a good wash out and clean. the important thing is to get it dry and this also means before putting it in the freezer as older water thjat remains in the bladder will simply melt and you'll end up drinking it.

i just put a couple of small glasses inside it to let it 'air' and dry following a standard rinse.

But surely if you get in the freezer as soon as you get in it wouldn't matter if you drank it again as its been frozen?

If was stood outside of the freezer overnight then thats another matter.

page23

mattc2002 wrote:

Page23 wrote:

mattc2002 wrote:

I don't clean my Camelbak bladder but empty most of any liquid left and then throw it in the freezer. This should stop any bacteria and do no harm to myself or the bladder?

alot of the newer bladders have microban so does help with hygiene. the freezing should work but i use some milton every now again to give it a good wash out and clean. the important thing is to get it dry and this also means before putting it in the freezer as older water thjat remains in the bladder will simply melt and you'll end up drinking it.

i just put a couple of small glasses inside it to let it 'air' and dry following a standard rinse.

But surely if you get in the freezer as soon as you get in it wouldn't matter if you drank it again as its been frozen?

If was stood outside of the freezer overnight then thats another matter.

no, i'm sure that'll be fine. i just like to know that all the water i'm drinking is fresh and offered advice based on what i do.

Daz555

Quick rinse and straight in the freezer is the way I do it. I never leave it lying around after a ride.

I only ever have water in it which probably helps.

Stephen-Hawking

Yup, quick rinse and in the freezer, then another quick rinse when I get it out again. Also only ever have water in.

The Northern Monkey

How do you guys only drink water?!! I hate water without a flavour!

cee

bigbenj_08 wrote:

How do you guys only drink water?!! I hate water without a flavour!

Depends on your local water......

I feel that in general, the further south you go, the worse the water gets.

The water in my area is delicious!

littleandy0410

I only ever put water in mine too. I have a bottle of energy drink in the bottle cage on the bike, then water in the camelbak. I just rinse mine out then leave open to dry for a bit.

Just bought myself some golf practice air balls from tescos, to aid drying. £1 for a dozen.

topsey_turvey

Another here just using water, then empty and freeze. Been doing that for years, and have never cleaned it, or had it go mouldy.

The Northern Monkey

cee wrote:

bigbenj_08 wrote:

How do you guys only drink water?!! I hate water without a flavour!

Depends on your local water......

I feel that in general, the further south you go, the worse the water gets.

The water in my area is delicious!

got to agree with you there.
Water in London tastes like ass compared to that in the North West.

If my rents come down to Uni (London) they fill as many bottles of water as possible so they don't have to drink it

dav1

i rince with water stick a coathanger in there and put it on a radiator to dry.

About once a month ill leavie it in warm water and milton overnight.

dh131286

only ever put water in mine, after a ride i just empty it and hang it up to dry, cant say i have got ill from it. and there is nothing wrong with london water!

stev68

Been doing the freezer thing too for the last three years,haven`t had the galloping gourmets yet!

lm_trek

I just rinse and freeze, then rinse when it comes out. Again like others i have only ever used water in the camelbak if i want an energy drink i use a bottle and cage on the bike. Ive been doing this for 4 years now and never had any issues.

Mrs Toast

I generally give mine a good scrub with the Camelbak brushes, rinse it thoroughly, then dry it with the Camelbak hanger thing (apparently wire coat hangers are also good).

I did forget to clean it out the last ride I had before my knee operation in...er, September , so when I needed to use it last weekend, I used sterilising tablets (Tesco own brand). :oops:

I mixed up a load of water and the sterilising tablet in a mixing bowl, and dunked the entire reservoir (left open) and valve in it. Left it there for an hour or so, then filled up the reservoir with half of the stuff. Shook it around a bit, made sure it went through the tube, left it for a while, emptied it, rinsed it and hung it to dry.

Tasted absolutely fine the next day - in fact, it's probably the first time it's not actually tasted of anything!

JK in the UK

Rinse out, freeze, rinse out, fill, ride... Why f**k about?

Been doing it since before going to uni so about 6 odd years. Gets the milton treatment if I forget to take it out & it goes mouldy...which I've done a couple of times over the years. I drink strong squash (not the no added sugar stuff) - has as much carbs in it as the posh energy drinks & you can add a tiny amount of salt too & you've got the complete package. I digress....

It's pretty badly stained wee colour with the odd brown patches of old mould but it's been scrubbed & milton'd when necessary so is deffo clean - I'm fine anyway!

Sounds grotty I know but it does get milton'd once a year!

mountain Blaster

i tried the milton trick but .....didn't rinse properly ...left me with a horible taste for quite a while.. So Milton brings haunting memories of the peak district with no decent drink !! Wot a dougnut !!! :P