Noob rope washing question

I washed my rope for the first time not too long ago and have a question. I washed it at a laundry mat and used one of those silver industrial washers. I daisy chained it and put it in a mesh bag and ran it cool with no detergent. After hanging it to dry the rope seems smoother (less kinky) and stretchier (though that's just by pulling it by hand so I can't really tell). There is also kind of a weird taste to it almost like some cleaning product but I can't tell.

I heard you need to watch for residue bleach and I guess I have no idea if my rope was exposed
or not. I just don't know if those industrial washer have residue bleach and how to even tell if my rope was exposed to it.

Am I gunna die?

Give yourself a 60 meter wedgie! Then you are clean.

Your rope has a weird "taste" to it? When did people start tasting their ropes? I've heard of wine-tasting, but rope-tasting?

Put the rope in your bathtub and soak and rinse it a couple of times til the strange taste/smell is out of it. Probably won't take more than one soaking. Do it now! Don't wait. The less time the rope is exposed to chemicals, the better.

Hahaha I went out for a half day of climbing not too long ago and bit the rope to grab slack for clipping and that's how I noticed it

Whenever I use a commercial laundromat I see leftover detergent powder caked in the soap receptacles. So I don't wash my rope in commercial laundromats. I stick the rope in the bathtub, fill the tub with water, and pull the rope through a Beal rope brush. If the water gets really dirty I change it half way through the washing process, and if I'm feeling extra diligent I wash it a second time. Flake the rope out on the tarp in the rope bag, let it dry and put it back in the rope bag. Doesn't cost anything, it doesn't take any longer than daisy chaining the rope, bagging it and taking it to and from the laundromat, and I never have to worry about the rope getting exposed to bleach or detergent.

I don't wash my ropes. Ever. Despite the lack of washing, I cannot tell any substantial difference in how fast my ropes wear out compared to the one person I climb with that washes her rope. I see a lot of threads about rope washing, but the vast majority of people I climb with and I don't see much benefit in doing it.

NC Rock Climber wrote:I don't wash my ropes. Ever. Despite the lack of washing, I cannot tell any substantial difference in how fast my ropes wear out compared to the one person I climb with that washes her rope. I see a lot of threads about rope washing, but the vast majority of people I climb with and I don't see much benefit in doing it.

if one were to climb moderate multi in squamish, one would have dirty ropes every day ... those nice green pictures of squamish with all those trees on ledges mean one thing on multi ... DIRT (and mud)

each time you washed your rope it would get filthy the next moderate run up the chief

no one has died from dirty ropes here yet ...

;)