UKC

Any ideas?

In reply to Flicka: dunno but i have the red stuff inside mine...

have you tried sterilising tablets/solution? for baby stuff?

In reply to Flicka:

i boil mine up in a pan of boiling water. Seems to sterilise it and give it a clean. Make sure there is water in the tunbe when you do it too!
And dont leave the pan to boil to nothing, the tube melts!!

In reply to stomach:

cheers sounds like a plan!

In reply to Flicka:

No probs. I stress about not leaving the pan to boil dry!! The tube melts! I know this from experience!!

In reply to stomach: I'd try that if I could be sure of it not boiling dry...

But I cant, so I wont

In reply to marie:

Multi task! Although I did ruin my first platypus tube, as stated!

In reply to Flicka:

I get a piece of stainless welding rod (coat hanger would do) and push a small piece of cloth down the tube. This gets the black slime out. Be careful not to get the cloth stuck.....

I found that sterilising tablets / solutions would not remove the black.

John

In reply to Flicka: i surgest putting a dish cloth in the bottom of the pan so the tube isn't in direct contact with heat!

oh and steradent tablets work wonders on my sigg tube's, oh and stor them in the freezer, stops bacteria growing.

Jess.x

In reply to Little Brew:

Oh yes, well reminded, store in the freezer!!

In reply to Flicka:

I've always fed a piece of cord through the tube. If you run the tube under the tap so water flows through it you can slowly feed the cord in and it just goes all the way through. tie the cord to something pull it tight and you can scrub the inside. Possible when you've not got a piece of welding rod to hand and probably easier too. A camelbak tube cleaning brush would be easier still.
p

In reply to Flicka: Hi

I use denture cleaning tablet, fill the bag with hot water drop one in the bag then fit tube, squaws out the air and leave for an hour then remove the bit peace off the tube and squaws the water though. Then rinse with water worked on mine.

I use them on everything flasks, my tea stained cup at work and toilet ‘u’ bend.

In reply to Flicka:

Second JWB's suggestion, and I use the suggested bit of wire coat-hanger rather than welding rod!

In reply to Flicka: For 10 quid they'll sell you a long tube brush you push down and clean the pipe out, this also includes a brush for cleaning the bladder out too. like this
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/Default.aspx?Main=Manufacturer.aspx&W=0&Cat...

In reply to Flicka:

wire brush and dettol

(or is that for something else ?)

In reply to Flicka: I use baby bottle sterialiser. My first platypus tube was black when I removed the insulation from it after a winter season so I left it soaking over night in a very strong solution of baby sterialiser (I think it was something like 150ml of Milton to 500ml of water!) and that got all the black stuff out. In hind sight that solution was a bit too strong as it turned my tube cloudy but that did also mean I couldn't see the dirt as well in the future

Works well but I'd only go for 2 or 3 times the suggested strength and not ott like I did the first time.

In reply to Flicka: Pass a lenth of coat hanger wire through it, with a narrow strip of rag tied to the end. make sure its wet. Do that a few times, then blast water through it and give it a rinse with bleach, then water again.

In reply to Flicka:

If all else fails, you can get a new tube plus fittings for £10. If you look around you can probably find some suitable non-Platypus replacement tube for a lot less.

http://www.nevisport.com/detail.asp?StoreID=4&DepartmentID=82&Categ...

And in future don't leave it with water in!

In reply to Flicka:

bleach works but you haev to wash it out very thoroughly afterwards!

In reply to Flicka:


Take the platypus to a health spa for a collonic!!!

In reply to Flicka:

1. Buy new Platy.
2. Soak new Platy in milton, fill,&
3. Use on hill.
4. When finished, rinse in cold water and store in freezer.
5. NO black stuff!

In reply to Padraig:

Oh forgot to say..
6. remove from freezer 24 hrs prior to next fill!

In reply to Flicka:

Find a supplier that sells the tube by the metre.

It only costs 50p metre!

In reply to Flicka: Thread a piece of cord through the tube, tie a small knot in the end and pull it back through.
You can also add various adjuvants cleaners etc to the water to enhance the cleaning operation.

In reply to Padraig:

Or keep it filled with tapwater.

In reply to The shamen: I tried that and couldnt get enough pressure on the inside of the tubes with the cloth for it to wipe it off :oS

In reply to stomach: I tried this earlier...

I boiled it for ages and the inside is still red and black :oS

On the upside though, I didnt melt the tube