Cleaning Timbuk2 bags

marchant
marchant Posts: 362
edited January 2012 in Commuting chat
As the title says, can anyone offer advice as to cleaning a Timbuk2 courier bag? My faithful companion has been through much and not needed more than the odd wipe, but an unfortunate encounter with a cat leaves me no option but the full wash. Am I going to ruin it with a warm cycle in the washing machine, should I sling it in the bath and make like I'm treading grapes (do I want cat s**t on my feet?)? Help!

Comments

  • msmancunia
    msmancunia Posts: 1,415
    Given that if you don't do anything it's pretty much ruined, I'd put it on a quick 30 or 40 degree cycle - see if your machine has a speed wash. It will probably only be surface soiled anyway, but the water/soap will get through the fibres better than doing it by hand/feet. Then fill it up with scrunched up newspaper so that it doesn't shrink and put it somewhere like an airing cupboard to air dry.
    Commute: Chadderton - Sportcity
  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    Why not email Timbuk2 and ask them for some washing instructions?

    Otherwise, hot soapy water and a nailbrush should do the job, no?
    Swim. Bike. Run. Yeah. That's what I used to do.

    Bike 1
    Bike 2-A
  • First.Aspect
    First.Aspect Posts: 16,996
    You just need to know how to speak Californian....

    http://www.timbuk2.com/wordpress_cms/faq/#faq-5

    Greg does not seem to own a cat. He does not realise that cat wee is like skunk spray, but more persistent. And if they smell something a bit like ammonia (small of back courier bag sweat, for example) they go for the full powder coat.
  • marchant
    marchant Posts: 362
    It seems to have survived a cycle in the washing machine quite well, the velcro looks a bit fluffy and the stitching holding one strip on seems to have come adrift, but that might have been going on before the wash. I think it still whiffs, but that could be psychological :roll:

    Starts looking at replacement bags :)
  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    First Aspect wrote:
    You just need to know how to speak Californian....

    http://www.timbuk2.com/wordpress_cms/faq/#faq-5

    Greg does not seem to own a cat. He does not realise that cat wee is like skunk spray, but more persistent. And if they smell something a bit like ammonia (small of back courier bag sweat, for example) they go for the full powder coat.

    I have a cat. He's a smart cat (natch). He uses his litter tray or the garden. Like me.

    Apart from the mats he gets around the tops of his legs, propensity to play with his water (ie knock it over the floor), and his usually bad temperament, he's pretty much perfect.

    And skunk spray is a *lot* worse. 66 Minor did zookeeper for a day at Chessington and got to play with the skunks. The real keepers assured her how bad the spray was.

    I thought that if your sweat had a whiff of ammonia it meant you were metabolising proteins instead of carbs.
    Swim. Bike. Run. Yeah. That's what I used to do.

    Bike 1
    Bike 2-A
  • First.Aspect
    First.Aspect Posts: 16,996
    You got me. Skunk spray is indeed astonishing. You can smell it in space, aparrently.

    No idea about the protein ammonia thing. Whatever the smell is, timbuk2 bags pick it up slowly over about 5-10 years, whereas helly Hansen base layers distil and transmit it over the course of about 30 minutes. That smell.
  • Greg T
    Greg T Posts: 3,266
    Greg66 wrote:
    Why not email Timbuk2 and ask them for some washing instructions?

    Otherwise, hot soapy water and a nailbrush should do the job, no?

    Men don't look for washing instructions and certainly don't ask for them. . .

    Should the "leave it on the ready to use pile for a week and see if it gets clean by itself" plan fails, stick it in the washing machine, pour washing powder at it, close door and randomly press buttons until it turns over..

    At some point in the next week prise open the door, the water that spills out will eventually disappear, don't worry, stick the bag/suit on the top of the radiator / stove until it is dry / the fire dies down and voila - you have a clean thing or you go and buy a new one.
    Fixed gear for wet weather / hairy roadie for posing in the sun.

    What would Thora Hurd do?
  • msmancunia
    msmancunia Posts: 1,415
    marchant wrote:
    It seems to have survived a cycle in the washing machine quite well, the velcro looks a bit fluffy and the stitching holding one strip on seems to have come adrift, but that might have been going on before the wash. I think it still whiffs, but that could be psychological :roll:

    Starts looking at replacement bags :)

    Could be psychological, but then again, that stuff does stink. I really hate cats.

    Either drown it in Febreeze or put a couple of those tumble dryer sheets (Bounce?) in the pockets - should get rid of it.
    Commute: Chadderton - Sportcity
  • marchant
    marchant Posts: 362
    I'm applying my "would it sell on Ebay" logic; an honest ad would read - "For sale, one 18+ year old Timbuk2 courier bag in the red/gold/green colour scheme. Velcro a bit tatty but all clips work fine, including detachable reflective ones. May smell a bit, as my cat had diarrhoea on it. No reserve, 1p start"

    Would you buy it?
    Would you keep it?
  • First.Aspect
    First.Aspect Posts: 16,996
    marchant wrote:
    I'm applying my "would it sell on Ebay" logic; an honest ad would read - "For sale, one 18+ year old Timbuk2 courier bag in the red/gold/green colour scheme. Velcro a bit tatty but all clips work fine, including detachable reflective ones. May smell a bit, as my cat had diarrhoea on it. No reserve, 1p start"

    Would you buy it?
    Would you keep it?
    How about the "Will people at work smell me and think the wife kicked me out and I'm sleeping rough" test?

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