Another Hydration Pack Question: Getting Rid of Smells

[Periwinkle]

Any advice on getting rid of the bleach smell?

This was never an issue before when I was using my Camelbak all the time. But now that it sits for months, I feel the need to bleach it again before I use it. The last time I did, it smelled of bleach and plastic even after rinsing it extremely well. Yuck!

It's never been a mold factory even tho it's stained yellow from lots of Gatorade (gotta have it!) Should I just give up and buy a new one, or can I put something in it as a final rinse to get rid of the nasty odors?

 

[keepin' on]

Home brew

I have used a product called B-Brite in mine. It is nothing more than a fancy, food grade bleach-type cleaner. It is used to sterilize beer or wine bottles prior to bottling for fermentation. It stops bacteria growth in the yeast, and doesn't have a taste or smell(well, other than clean). You can find it in any homebrew supply store. Maybe supermarkets have it, but I have never looked.

 

[Rob S]

Peri,
Try baking powder (or is that baking soda ...... darn, I never remember which ). I use very diluted bleach and never had a problem with the bleach smell remaining, (but then again I have a Cascade Designs Platypus, maybe that's the difference?). Also, I've heard that a drop of Vanilla extract may help to remove odors. And recently someone mentioned diluted lemon juice. I cannot personally vouch for all these ideas so take it for what it's worth. YMMV.

Good luck,
Rob

 

[Waumbek]

Baking powder = the stuff in the yellow box (often found in the back of your refrigerator). Baking soda = the stuff in the red can. Use the stuff in the yellow box to get rid of smells and odors. (Did I get that right?)

 

[BorealChickadee]

Baking powder is in the red can (used for the rising of baked goods without yeast)

Baking soda is in the orangey/yellow box (more orange to me) (used for odors) Arm & Hammer

Looking at them in the here and now. You want baking soda.


The Baking Lady

When you bleached , Did you try washing after, yes after, the bleaching with detergent like Joy? Bleach is slippery stuff and if you used a high concentration you'll need to wash out the bleach. Let clean water soak in the camelback overnight and then draining and drying over a coathanger or dowel or something that allows good air circulation to completely dry the inside.

 

[Neil]

I had a real stinky bladder (no not my bladder, my hydration unit) and I followed the instructions on the back of the Javex bottle in order to get the correct dilution. I rinsed the unit out for only a minute then rinsed it well. Next, I filled it with water and left it for a while then emptied it. After, it went into the freezer. No residual chlorine smells or tastes. I bet your concentration was too high.
Now, as soon as I get home I empty my bladder (ahhh!) and hose and stick them in the freezer until my next trip. No more problems.
My neglected hose had spots of mold growing all along it. Gross eh? I had to buy a special semi flexible - semi rigid extra long wire brush to roto-rooter it out.

 

[BorealChickadee]

Neil,

I also freeze my water filter between trips.

I have also pumped through a liter of water with just about a half teaspoon of bleach and then pumped through about three liters of plain water. After this treaatment I let it air dry for about a week to let the chlorine residue evaporate before it goes into the freezer. It 's cheaper than buying a new filter and my water has absolutely no off taste.

 

[alpinista]

Peri -- I don't know if this will ultimately help you out, but what I do after each hike is rinse out the camelback bladder and then hang it to dry with a hangar folded so it fits inside the bladder and keeps it bulging out a tad to get air in there (rather than allowing it to collapse flat). That dries it out nicely so it doesn't get gunky (that's a highly technical term! )

 

[Neil]

Neil,

I also freeze my water filter between trips.

I sure hope you mean you freeze your water bladder!

 

[Lawn Sale]

You may have overdosed it. I don't know what the effect of the chlorine on the bladder material is though.

Rinse it out well. Ask at yout local water or wastewater plant for some Sodium Thiosulfate, it'll counteract any remaining chlorine. You won't need a lot, only one or two tablets.

 

[Periwinkle]

Many thanks for all the good advice. I tried the most readily available methods: washing after bleaching, then soaking with baking soda. SUCCESS!!!! Best of all, I got to try it out last weekend. Loved the brand-new, clean, sweet smell (oh, and the hiking too!) Thanks again for solving the smelly mess!