UKC

After forgetting to empty my platypus and therefore leaving the remaining water in it for the best part of a week, the tube has gone rather um, brown.

I've already tried the dishwasher, soaking it in boiling water with washing up powder and I'm loath to pay £8 for their proper tube cleaner. So anyone know of any cheap ways of cleaning it?

Cheers

In reply to Bahrain: Milton?
http://www.britsuperstore.com/acatalog/Milton.html

In reply to Bahrain:

Fill it with water, freeze it, and then cruch all the ice around inside it to scrape off the algae. Then soak it in a sterilizing solution (use tablets that you get for sterilizing baby bottles).

In reply to tlm:
Also worth storing it in thr freezer between uses - helps stop it going furry.

In reply to Bahrain: use a straightened wire coat hanger to push a strip of cleaning rag soaked in detergent through it a few times.

In reply to Bahrain: pull off end bits, tie a cube of scourer to string, pass string through tube
if you tie scourer in middle of long enough string and a second pair of hands you can go back and forth, to clean quicker

a bit of water and suds obviously

hth

In reply to Bahrain:
Simply take the bite valve, and screw connection off each end (may need to immerse in warm water).
Take an approximately 3m a length of paracord (2mm diameter or so) and tie a small overhand knot in the middle.
Feed one end of the cord down the tube until comes out the other end and the knot is at the start of the tube; then carefully pull the knot down the length of the tube.

The cord ought to be long enough to enable you to pull it back the other way to get any bits it missed the first time etc.

This will scrape out the nasty mould. Then simply pull the cord out, wash it as normal and leave to dry.

In reply to Bahrain: Get a piece of fine muslin and a bucket of very dry sand. This can be collected from a clean beach near you but sieve it first. Builders sand from B+Q would probably suffice though. Stick one end of tube into sand, place muslin over the entrance to the trachea, stick other end of tube in your mouth and sook an blaw. Hey presto sfter a few breaths you will have a clean tube.
Or just don't bother cleaning it!

In reply to Bahrain:

I do actually own special brushes to do this... they were expensive, but I love them.

In reply to Bahrain: Just get baby bottle steriliser tabs from Boots.
Cheap, effective, simple.

TTG

In reply to Bahrain: I had a piece of Nylon tube that had the same outer diameter as the inside diameter of my Platypus tube. Was great for cleaning it. Alas, I threw the nylon tube away as I forgot what I had it for.
Like others have said, just try and find something that can be pushed or pulled through and is roughly the same size as the inside of the Platypus tube.

In reply to Bahrain:
I use false teeth cleaner (sterident) and pass a bit of cotton strip through it. Instead of paracord or sting though, I sue a length of that tie and twist stuff- the extra stiffness of the wore helps to thread it through a wet tube. I then make sure it's dry before putting it away.

Sxx