UKC

Tips for cleaning new or unpopular routes?

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 sfletch 28 Aug 2015
I thought I'd throw this out to the great and good of UKC; what is the best (and cheapest) method of cleaning a new route? More specifically, what kind of brushes would you use? Even more specifically I'm thinking of granite that's caked in slime with big scrittly patches.

All helpful comments welcomed.
 Bob 28 Aug 2015
In reply to sfletch:

The softest brush that is able to remove the slime. Not the most accurate answer but it's the one that will potentially do the least damage to the rock.
 Dr.S at work 28 Aug 2015
In reply to sfletch:

Calling TobyA, calling TobyA....
OP sfletch 28 Aug 2015
In reply to Bob:

Cheers Bob
 d_b 28 Aug 2015
In reply to sfletch:

What bob said. Nylon washing up brush is more than sufficient for mere slime.
In reply to sfletch: A nylon brush is rarely effective. Just to be sure take a wire brush too. You will also need a patio knife for cracks etc.

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 Null 29 Aug 2015
In reply to Frank the Husky:

I spend most time furkling out cracks with a robust nut key (a very stiff tent peg is handy for excavating finger pockets).
I always carry a short crowbar for levering loose blocks, tree roots, and general digging and chopping.
Folding handsaw for cutting roots and trees.
Very strong work gloves.

I find brisk nylon brushing is generally enough, but I suppose that depends on rock type as well.
 phleppy 29 Aug 2015
In reply to sfletch:

Agree with others that a soft brush should be good enough but lately I've also used a work/gardening glove which is very effective for getting rid of scrittle and lichen, it could also be quite helpful for the slime you referred to.
OP sfletch 30 Aug 2015
In reply to phleppy:

Thanks a lot chaps.
 Wild Isle 30 Aug 2015
In reply to Erstwhile:

> I spend most time furkling out cracks with a robust nut key (a very stiff tent peg is handy for excavating finger pockets).
> I always carry a short crowbar for levering loose blocks, tree roots, and general digging and chopping.
> Folding handsaw for cutting roots and trees.
> Very strong work gloves.
> I find brisk nylon brushing is generally enough, but I suppose that depends on rock type as well.

Fully agree, this is the essential kit. I'd add that a hand trowel (gardening type although I have friends that use mason's style) can be useful to clear small ledges and for scraping lichen before brushing. When choosing a wire brush get one with a curved handle or with a handle on the back of the brush. Plain straight handles will see you smoke your knuckles - painfully and likely bloodily, wear leather gloves. I find a light but durable glove is best because it gives the dexterity you need without tiring the hand so much as a stiff glove. x2 for a beater nut key.
 EddInaBox 30 Aug 2015
In reply to phleppy:

> ... lately I've also used a work/gardening glove which is very effective for getting rid of scrittle and lichen...

In reply to Erstwhile:

> I'd add that a hand trowel can be useful to clear small ledges and for scraping lichen ...

I would like to point out that because lichens are an incredibly slow growing symbiotic organism, and many varieties are quite rare, you need to be aware that they could well be protected under the Wildlife and Countryside act 1981, if so removing them constitutes a criminal offence.

http://www.ukwildlife.com/index.php/wildlife-countryside-act-1981/schedule-...
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 JDal 30 Aug 2015
In reply to EddInaBox:
Unfortunately you have no chance of knowing if your lichen is a rare one or not. Not much help, I know. The only way to be safe and still clean it off is to be able to ID the common ones and leave anything else alone. I don't think you are breaking the law if you get it wrong, as the law stipulates "Intentionally".

I did a course in them so I'd be able to recognise unusual ones and not extinct a 'species' whilst cleaning problems, but I don't think it was much use really, although I did manage to spot the very rare one growing all over the bottom of Raven Crag Langdale.

Also, for the record not all are incredibly slow growing ( you get then on small branches of trees for instance). Huge areas of the UK had lichens wiped out by air pollution and since the 1960's they have re-populated amazingly well, they are resilient things.



 EddInaBox 30 Aug 2015
In reply to JDal:

> ... I don't think you are breaking the law if you get it wrong, as the law stipulates "Intentionally".

I think you may be wrong, there is a general principal that ignorance of the law is no excuse, if you deliberately removed lichen by brushing or scraping, the act would be intentional whether or not you knew the species were protected, ignorance of the protected nature of the species would not be a defence. If on the other hand you climbed the route and destroyed the lichen by doing so, you would not have deliberately destroyed it.
 JDal 30 Aug 2015
In reply to EddInaBox:

It's not ignorance of the law though, it's ignorance of the ID of the lichen. The law could have stated something like "recklessly" but it didn't. I suspect because the law is aimed at deliberate acts. Or farmers could be breaking the law by ploughing/spraying.
 EddInaBox 30 Aug 2015
In reply to JDal:

The original act has been amended ( http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/69 ) and 'recklessly' has now been added, I have pasted the relevant parts below. I am not a lawyer so cannot give authoritative guidance and do not intend to speculate wildly (as is so often the case on UKC) I think it wise however that those intending to do some 'gardening' on routes be aware of the potential legal implications and for the sake of any rare and endangered species they should take the trouble to identify plants before simply destroying them. There are many crags where access for climbers is a sensitive issue, we share the places we climb with others and if we do not take care of those places properly we run the risk of damaging our own cause.


13 Protection of wild plants.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part, if any person—

  (a) intentionally or recklessly picks, uproots or destroys

    (i) any wild plant included in Schedule 8; or
    (ii) any seed or spore attached to any such wild plant; or

  (b) not being an authorised person, intentionally or recklessly uproots any wild plant not included in that Schedule, he shall be guilty of an offence.

(2)...

(3) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1), a person shall not be guilty of an offence by reason of any act made unlawful by that subsection (“an unlawful act”) if he shows—

  (a) that the unlawful act was the incidental result of a lawful operation or other activity;

  (b) that the person who carried out the lawful operation or other activity—

    (i) took reasonable precautions for the purpose of avoiding carrying out the unlawful act; or
    (ii) did not foresee, and could not reasonably have foreseen, that the unlawful act would be an incidental result of the carrying out of the lawful operation or other activity; and

  (c) that the person who carried out the unlawful act took, immediately upon the consequence of that act becoming apparent, such steps as were reasonably practicable in the circumstances to minimise the damage to the wild plant in relation to which the unlawful act was carried out.

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