Can you soak a rope too long when cleaning?

okay. i know all of you are experts.

Some miscommunication between my gf and I resulted in our dry-treated (core and sheath) rope being left in the bathtub for 2 hours. Should I be worried about it's strength being compromised once it's dried out?

FUCK.

In just water? No. 

Water and Sterling brand rope wash

Not at all

Gosh Glance wrote: okay. i know all of you are experts.

Some miscommunication between my gf and I resulted in our dry-treated (core and sheath) rope being left in the bathtub for 2 hours. Should I be worried about it's strength being compromised once it's dried out?

FUCK.

I sincerely hope this did not cause any tension between you and your girlfriend. Did you raise your voice to her and say a bad word?

In my experience, it sometimes rains for more than 2 hours at a stretch in the mountains. Isn't that what a dry rope is for?

Consider a day of spring ice climbing. The rope is more or less soaked for 8+ hours. If a dry treated rope can’t handle that, it’s not worth the price.

No tensions haha. Besides, it was my fault. I figured it's fine but I don't ice climb and wasn't sure fully submerging for 2 hours is more water logging than dragging across snow or ice.

Thanks for the feedback y'all.

I wonder why anchor ropes are made of nylon......

2/10 ..... well 3/10 .... since you made it to 6 hours till you got a troll rating

how can you see a troll rating?

Gosh Glance wrote: how can you see a troll rating?

You just request it.

Tim Stich wrote:

You just request it.

In my tiredness, I thought a troll rating referred to a new MP feature under our new, non-REI overlord. 

Gosh Glance wrote:

In my tiredness, I thought a troll rating referred to a new MP feature under our new, non-REI overlord. 

Nope. K Weber gave you a rating in the same post that they mentioned it.

And Nick is one of the original founders of Mountain Project. REI took it over a few years ago, and returned it to Nick a couple of weeks ago. He's always been an admin, and has always been heavily involved in the management of the site.

Andrew Krajnik wrote:

Nope. K Weber gave you a rating in the same post that they mentioned it.

And Nick is one of the original founders of Mountain Project. REI took it over a few years ago, and returned it to Nick a couple of weeks ago. He's always been an admin, and has always been heavily involved in the management of the site.

Indeed, this history is well documented here on the Proj. Praise be unto him.

I think this troll post deserves 0/10 since it was a serious question, albeit a silly one. I don't do any ice climbing or lead climbing in torrential downpours, so my experience with wet ropes is nonexistent. Common sense told me it's fine, but I figured I'd ask the MP oracle, since the interwebs has wildly differing thoughts on how long to soak a rope when cleaning. I should've posted it in the Beginner Climber thread in retrospect. #gumbified

Gosh Glance wrote:

I think this troll post deserves 0/10 since it was a serious question, albeit a silly one.

It's not a troll post. Those are intentionally done to upset people and purposely generate outrage.

 I don't do any ice climbing or lead climbing in torrential downpours, so my experience with wet ropes is nonexistent. Common sense told me it's fine, but I figured I'd ask the MP oracle, since the interwebs has wildly differing thoughts on how long to soak a rope when cleaning.

Dude, your rope is made of nylon. The same stuff tents and packs and running shorts are made of. You could soak it for 2 years and it would be fine.

Let's keep this fine thread going.  You probably shouldn't wash your rope at all, especially with soap, unless there is poop on it or something.  It won't make it "clean" (i.e., remove the layer of aluminum oxide that typically makes a rope look filthy), but it will diminish the dry treatment and the quality of the handling. I learned this the hard way, with a coupe ropes when I started out climbing.  Best practice is to keep it clean, by using a tarp/rope bag whenever possible,  If it's getting dirty, use a wet rag to wipe it off. If it's picked up a lot of grit, you can submerge it in clean water a couple times to get the grit to drop off.  But the propensity to pick up grit means your rope is becoming worn out.  It will still work safely, but the handling will start to suck and it will wear out your gear much more quickly (due to the grit acting like sandpaper when you lower and rappel).  

Also, if you got mad at your girlfriend for her somehow being responsible for the washing instructions of your rope, you aren't going to handle it very well when she misreads the descent description of Forbidden Peak and you end up benighted in 20 below temps. 

Tim Stich wrote: Also, if you got mad at your girlfriend for her somehow being responsible for the washing instructions of your rope, you aren't going to handle it very well when she misreads the descent description of Forbidden Peak and you end up benighted in 20 below temps. 

This sounds like a personal experience. I'll be doing that climb this summer. What do I need to know to avoid this epic? PM me!

Marc801 C wrote: It's not a troll post. Those are intentionally done to upset people and purposely generate outrage.

Dude, your rope is made of nylon. The same stuff tents and packs and running shorts are made of. You could soak it for 2 years and it would be fine.

ya I didn't actually think it was a troll post, that was just poorly veiled sarcasm.

And though tents are also made of nylon, they don't hold the lives of you, your loved ones, and your friends hundreds of feet in the air, hence my question. I knew ropes can get wet, just wasn't sure that the submerging them for 4x the time the rope soap instructed was good.

Erroneous Publicus wrote: Let's keep this fine thread going.  You probably shouldn't wash your rope at all, especially with soap, unless there is poop on it or something.  It won't make it "clean" (i.e., remove the layer of aluminum oxide that typically makes a rope look filthy), but it will diminish the dry treatment and the quality of the handling. I learned this the hard way, with a coupe ropes when I started out climbing.  Best practice is to keep it clean, by using a tarp/rope bag whenever possible,  If it's getting dirty, use a wet rag to wipe it off. If it's picked up a lot of grit, you can submerge it in clean water a couple times to get the grit to drop off.  But the propensity to pick up grit means your rope is becoming worn out.  It will still work safely, but the handling will start to suck and it will wear out your gear much more quickly (due to the grit acting like sandpaper when you lower and rappel).  

Definitely agree with this 100%. My rope was loving life and was unbelievably clean until my last multipitch route, when high winds caused my follower to tuck away our rope tarp until we returned to Earth. On the last rap to the ground, the rope of course pooled in a perfect pile of loose dirt- not the granite slab at the base we were aiming for, promptly ending my rope's clean appearance...