Because I ride in salt water every 10 sessions or so I like to wash my harness, wetsuit and lines in hot water (maybe 65 degrees, not boiling but too hot to keep hand in) with dettol to kill off anything untoward. Will either of these elements heat or dettol degrade my gear? I've never seen and noticeable change in my line length or delamination of my grip.
Cheers
Hmm not sure if it is bad or not, but salt has been used for thousands of years as a preserving agent as it draws out moisture. I would think it is good to draw moisture out of line's etc to preserve them and it will just wash off anyway when you have your next session and the lines get wet. Yacht sails never get washed and they seem to hold up fine.
Select to expand quotenoodelsrominov said..
Because I ride in salt water every 10 sessions or so I like to wash my harness, wetsuit and lines in hot water (maybe 65 degrees, not boiling but too hot to keep hand in) with dettol to kill off anything untoward. Will either of these elements heat or dettol degrade my gear? I've never seen and noticeable change in my line length or delamination of my grip.
Cheers
Its a whole lot of unnecessary work, the lines are made of a material that is impervious to salt/saltwater, and so are the materials in your harness. Your wetsuit could be damaged by water and dettol mix, there are better products to get rid of any p1ss smell, like the RipCurl "P1ssoff"
Basically what you are doing should not harm bar/lines/harness, but could be damaging your wetsuit and all of it is unnecessary anyway.
Select to expand quoteIts a whole lot of unnecessary work, the lines are made of a material that is impervious to salt/saltwater, and so are the materials in your harness. Your wetsuit could be damaged by water and dettol mix, there are better products to get rid of any p1ss smell, like the RipCurl "P1ssoff"
Basically what you are doing should not harm bar/lines/harness, but could be damaging your wetsuit and all of it is unnecessary anyway.
Hi Terry, thanks for the heads up it could be unnecessary. I always wash my swivel with hot water after every 1 or 2 sessions to try and make it work so I think I just went the next level.
Select to expand quotesirstomp said...
This has got to be a joke, yeah?
Please tell me you're trolling...
Que?? Why do you think this is a joke?
Select to expand quoteI like to wash my harness, wetsuit and lines in hot water (maybe 65 degrees, not boiling but too hot to keep hand in) with dettol to kill off anything untoward.
Cheers
Anything untoward like?
Quick fresh water rinse is good enough
Select to expand quotenoodelsrominov said..sirstomp said...
This has got to be a joke, yeah?
Please tell me you're trolling...
Que?? Why do you think this is a joke?
noodelsrominov said..sirstomp said...
This has got to be a joke, yeah?
Please tell me you're trolling...
Que?? Why do you think this is a joke?
The whole 65 degree water & dettol bathe for your kite gear sounds completely out of left field!
It's just kiteboarding, not surgery! 
Select to expand quotenoodelsrominov said..
Because I ride in salt water every 10 sessions or so I like to wash my harness, wetsuit and lines in hot water (maybe 65 degrees, not boiling but too hot to keep hand in) with dettol to kill off anything untoward. Will either of these elements heat or dettol degrade my gear? I've never seen and noticeable change in my line length or delamination of my grip.
Cheers
I reckon you would be prematurely damaging your gear especially your lines which just need a rinse off in cold water and dried, you might use warm but not hot water for a wetsuit, no detergent needed. Saltwater is a great disinfectant unless you kite elwood (far) canal.
Is your mother washing your gear?:)
Not sure if Dettol and hot water would be detrimental or not but I don’t think it’s worth the risk. With my first kite I cleaned my gear like I would have a boat after going fishing – washed everything down with freshwater sometimes detergent but now I have my new kites their straight into the bag ready for next time. I still rinse the bar and lines and check the moving parts are free, obviously for safety reasons.
Even if the Dettol and hot water isn’t damaging your gear I reckon it might be a waste of time…
I never wash any of my gear except for maybe my board occasionally since it has steel for the bolt thread that can rust. My gear has lasted a long time like this without any problems.
I wash all my gear in cuddly soft so I feel my harness gently hugging me on every session and my lines sing lullabies through the air really feeling the love 
Not trying to be sexist, but I'm just wondering if you are a woman by any chance? Just that most blokes I know wouldn't even take their gear out of the car let alone wash it with detol and hot water. I think the only time my wetsuit has made it to the clothes line is when my Girlfriend is taking all her stuff out and makes me feel bad about not doing it. Also anytime I take something out of the car I always forget to put it back in, quite a risky situation.
Select to expand quotenoodelsrominov said..
Because I ride in salt water every 10 sessions or so I like to wash my harness, wetsuit and lines in hot water (maybe 65 degrees, not boiling but too hot to keep hand in) with dettol to kill off anything untoward. Will either of these elements heat or dettol degrade my gear? I've never seen and noticeable change in my line length or delamination of my grip.
Cheers
So what do you do after this treatment? Bag & vacuum seal the gear. If not, it will just get "germy" as soon as you put it down somewhere.
What are you worried about In the ocean? There are bigger and much more dangerous things than germs.
it's gotta be a troll.
I know a guy who didnt wash his gear in hot water, next thing you know he caught ebola. Coincidence?
Select to expand quotesirstomp said..
This has got to be a joke, yeah?
Please tell me you're trolling...
It's not me I promise!
Select to expand quotenoodelsrominov said..
sirstomp said...
This has got to be a joke, yeah?
Please tell me you're trolling...
Que?? Why do you think this is a joke?
How can you not think it's a joke? Do you really think it is sane and sensible to want to sterilise your kitesurfing gear? What strange twisted logic lead you to the thought in the first place?
PS. I particularly like to use clean, neat gear and even I don't wash stuff that much. The best thing is to use it and abuse it, but avoid getting stuff unnecessarily dirty in the first place.
Well the majority have spoken and it looks like I'm a bit of a freak with my gear or just a freak in general.
My 2 cents here:
When salty water dries it leaves behing salt crystals. Crystals are highly abrasive (as sand is, because of their angular shapes) and can deteriorate kite lines.
I do believe than rinsing the lines and leach in fresh water after every session is a good idea.
The kite should be kept dry, but if you need to keep it a few days wet, salty water will be less prone to moulding it than fresh water.
Jeremy
Who really cares.....ride it like you stole it, piss in your wetsuit, pack it up wet. It wont make you kite any better or worse.
I would rather come home from a kite come inside and have a beer than worry about all this BS.
But that's just me.
If you have to rise your gear every session through an OCD, you should be windsurfing
After a session I've rinsed my gear under the shower with me plenty of times. But I've also left it in the car plenty as well! I think rinsing your gear helps it last longer, but I don't think it makes a difference if the water is hot or cold.
Select to expand quoteAlystan said..
My 2 cents here:
When salty water dries it leaves behing salt crystals. Crystals are highly abrasive (as sand is, because of their angular shapes) and can deteriorate kite lines.
I do believe than rinsing the lines and leach in fresh water after every session is a good idea.
The kite should be kept dry, but if you need to keep it a few days wet, salty water will be less prone to moulding it than fresh water.
Jeremy
hmmmm. I have never rinsed lines in 13 years of kiting and nothing ever happened. I even used some sets for probably 4 or 5 seasons in the beginning, so unless you want your gear to last 10 years I don't think it really matters. Although I'm sure it's probably better if they aren't full of sand and salt.
Oki doki....let me clear up a few of your queries.
1. I'm a male
2. I'm not OCD and in fact a pretty messy guy.
3. I'm not trolling but looking at the sarcastic responses I wish I was.
4. I've kited in some pretty crummy places like next to the largest fertilizer factory in Hainan that I feel it's not such a stupid question or thing to do to wash the lines.
5. I find washing the sand and salt out of the swivel helps (a bit)
Anyway I'll roll my way.
I rinse harness,bar/lines and board once in a while
I believe its great for ensuring that swivels and silly things like safety features are free of grit.weed and sand.
Select to expand quotefingerbone said..
I rinse harness,bar/lines and board once in a while
I believe its great for ensuring that swivels and silly things like safety features are free of grit.weed and sand.
Sorry Fingerbone had to red thumb you- just don't like
it when your sensible.
Select to expand quotenoodelsrominov said..
Oki doki....let me clear up a few of your queries.
1. I'm a male
2. I'm not OCD and in fact a pretty messy guy.
3. I'm not trolling but looking at the sarcastic responses I wish I was.
4. I've kited in some pretty crummy places like next to the largest fertilizer factory in Hainan that I feel it's not such a stupid question or thing to do to wash the lines.
5. I find washing the sand and salt out of the swivel helps (a bit)
Anyway I'll roll my way.
I always fresh water rinse my gear after each session (except the kites). Every now and then I wash my wetsuit with soap too. I am always careful too to shake all the sand out of my kite bag and kite when packing up too.
I also don't leave my kite pumped on the beach all day like others to avoid UV damage and canopy deterioration from flapping around in the wind.
That's just me though, I've always looked after my gear / toys. I've invested some $8k in kiting gear and don't plan on upgrading every season.
