Curious what other climbers use to clean pine pitch off their gear, especially their climbing ropes & lines. We just did a residential white pine job & this stuff is crazy! These lines are onlya couple months old but about ready to the point of buying new ropes & just toss these. Thanks in advance for all replies.
Al
Over the years, there have been a lot of threads on this topic. They are pretty sticky, aren't they?
My favorite method is to just throw the ropes in the washing machine. Some guys advocate putting them into a cloth bag to reduce tangling, but that tends to spin-dry out of balance on the machine. Go to a public laundry if your spouse is going to fuss about getting the machine dirty.
(It doesn't)
They'll be fine, and they come out looking like new. Other members will posit that ruins a rope, and they wouldn't trust such a rope afterwards. Different strokes for different folks.
Gasoline tolerant stuff like chainsaws wipe up quickly with solvent soaked rags. Gasoline is flammable, but works great. Diesel isn't so flammable, and works pretty well. ( It leaves a film, however.)
Acetone is expensive and highly flammable, but works fast. Carbon tetrachloride is safe and fast, but you might die from inhaling too much of it. Substitute brake cleaner in spray cans if you don't mind the expense and are working up some detailed areas that are difficult.
Non-washable items like climbing gear, leather pads on spikes and such come pretty clean with saddle soap, Pinesol, or dawn soap. As I recall, lanolin-based hand cleaners do real well, too.
Myself, I never bothered with much cleanup except the ropes. That pine pitch on most equipment will catch enough sawdust to soak it up, then it rubs off fairly soon.
