Beal Rope Brush - A Review in Pictures

My wife dropped a Beal rope brush in my x-mas stocking this year. It seemed pretty gimmicky, but I tried it out last night anyway. I think the before and after photos speak for themselves. Between each pass, I drained and refilled the bath tub.

Beal rope brush:

Before the first pass:



After first pass:



After second pass:



After third and final pass:



I'm not sure I would have spent $25.00 on the brush, but now having seen the results, I'm glad my wife did!

Another rope brush solution. instructables.com/id/How-to…

How do you use this thing exactly and what was it like using it? I sure like the looks of the results. The douching method has only been somewhat effective in my experience.

Chris I wrote:How do you use this thing exactly and what was it like using it? I sure like the looks of the results. The douching method has only been somewhat effective in my experience.

Just push the end of the rope through the brush and pull the rope all the way through while submerged. I think on each round of water I passed the rope through 2 or so times. There is a lot of resistance pulling the rope through the brush, so it took me a while to complete the job.

When ropes start getting ragged out and packed with dirt they sometimes tend to swell up and they don't fit thru the belay device as well. Did you notice any improvement in that respect?

Chris Miller wrote:When ropes start getting ragged out and packed with dirt they sometimes tend to swell up and they don't fit thru the belay device as well. Did you notice any improvement in that respect?

My rope hadn't reached the point of swelling in a noticeable way, so I can't speak to how well the brush would help ropes in that condition.

No worries, jus wondering. Thanks for posting up tho.

tim f wrote:My wife dropped a Beal rope brush in my x-mas stocking this year. It seemed pretty gimmicky, but I tried it out last night anyway. I think the before and after photos speak for themselves. Between each pass, I drained and refilled the bath tub. Beal rope brush: Before the first pass: After first pass: After second pass: After third and final pass: I'm not sure I would have spent $25.00 on the brush, but now having seen the results, I'm glad my wife did!

I throw my ropes in the wash machine when they need washing, and with far more water than what is pictured in your photos the water ends up being as black as it is in your photos. Maybe the brush helped, maybe not, but you dont need a brush to clean your rope. :)

party pooper ^^^

yer gonna die!

oh, wait...wrong thread...

I'm considering getting one of these, too. Kinda tired of running to the laundromat for the front-loading washer and all the waiting that goes with it. When I managed a challenge course (ropes course), we used something similar, but it hooked to the hose, which I'm considering getting instead.

With either manual device, is there any concern that the tightness of the brushes might actually push dirt further in? With a washing machine or bathtub, the agitation may float out the dirt from the rope. With a manual brushing device, it seems like it could push it in further...which would also explain why the water looks cleaner as you go. The dirt would be going INTO the rope instead of out!

I don't know, it's just something occurred to me as a possibility.

Cool review, Tim. TFPU!

Just curious, is there any evidence that periodically cleaning a rope actually prolongs its life? I never wash my ropes, and do not find that they wear out quicker than my climbing partners' ropes. I don't feel strongly about this, and am not saying that rope washing is bad. I just feel that rope washing is a waste of time and energy. If there is data out there to the contrary, I will be happy to change my mind.

NC Rock Climber wrote:Just curious, is there any evidence that periodically cleaning a rope actually prolongs its life? I never wash my ropes, and do not find that they wear out quicker than my climbing partners' ropes.

I'm not aware of any double-blind tests, but I've owned same model of ropes, one that was retired to the gym & another only outside. The sheath of the gym rope never sustained any more noticeable damage and was retired after it got really stiff from repeated falls. The outside rope, however, is due for chopping from rope end sheath wear w/ a lot less fall mileage.

Of course, that doesn't prove anything. But dirty ropes do make dirty hands, and more over, wear out your hardware way quicker. That's reason enough for me to wash them. I've used the rope brush method and it works well. But I've gotten just as good results w/ Sterling rope wash (daisy chained in a top loader) & it sure is hell of a lot less work.