A great season was enjoyed. And it is not quite the end of winter. Spring is almost here. The fine art of ski touring was mastered a bit more. The goal of one winter backpacking trip a month was achieved. Some foothills trail work was done on a few occasions. Your trusty leather hiking boots not only let you walk up to a trail work site, but also became coated with mud on some of the warm winter days that occur just before spring.

Your down coat seems a little grungy from some deep shoulder season camping trips and is redolent of the fine aroma of what seems to be fermented wood smoke. And you go into the gear closet and notice your sleeping bag smells a bit like last summer’s backpacking season...for better, but probably worse.

Your pack is encrusted with salt and red dirt from some early season Utah trips already taken. A favorite wool ski hat? Seems a little stiff from sweat and salt after some hard ski tours the past month or so. And the hiking poles need a bit of TLC. A few buttons are loose on a favorite hiking shirt. And there is a tear in a rain jacket you meant to repair. And the pockets on the pack have a bit of a rip.

It is time to spend a weekend to perform some spring cleaning. It is time to do some gear maintenance. In an ideal world, all gear maintenance would be done as soon as needed. But we are all human. And we are busy humans. Full time jobs to work. Sometimes family and social obligations we must do. And the free weekends are used to play. And even those of us blessed with weeks of free time tend to be out backpacking and taking care of the gear less.

Sure, we may dry out our tents and sleeping bags, and clothes are thrown in the wash. But sometimes after many months of playing outdoors, a day or two is needed to take care of the gear. Packs need to be thoroughly cleaned, repairs need to be tended to and outer layers need a good wash. I find late March or April, and then again in November, is a good time to clean my gear and to perform some needed maintenance. In Colorado where I live, and in New England where I grew up, these are in the “in-between” times. The ground is often muddy with the higher country still a bit too snowy for backpacking. And in November? The days are often gray, cold and blustery.

These in-between months are a good time to take stock of all the gear used hard the previous months. Then do what is needed to make sure the gear continues to function well in the months ahead. Gear and outdoor clothing are tools in the end. And by taking care of our tools, we make sure the tools are functioning correctly when we need them to function the most. Here are some tips for gear maintenance and cleaning I find useful.

Cleaning Backpacks

Packs soak up sweat, become salty and often dirty with ground-in dirt. After hard months of use, it is often time to clean the pack. A clean pack is not only aesthetically pleasing and less “dirt bag” looking, but also lasts longer. Sand, sweat, and salt can, over time, abrade and even weaken the fabric. And dirt on a zipper? A potential problem waiting to happen.

To Clean a Backpack

• Remove any visible dirt and debris from the pack body, the pockets, etc.
   
• Fill a bathtub with lukewarm water.
   
• Add some mild soap to the water in the tub. Something such as Dr. Bronner’s soap is excellent for cleaning without being too harsh on the fabric.
   
• Place pack in tub.
   
• Swish pack around tub; submerge pack but do not soak it.
   
• Use a stiff bristle toothbrush and some elbow grease to get out any really ground in dirt spots. Run the brush gently up and down the zippers as well.
   
• When pack is satisfactorily clean, remove pack and drain tub.
   
• Add cold water to tub for the rinse cycle.
   
• Add one cup of white vinegar per gallon of water. White vinegar will cut down on any soap residue on the pack as well as help remove any fragrant odor.
   
• Again, swish pack around in tub. Submerge pack without soaking it, too.
   
• Remove pack from tub once satisfactorily rinsed; ring out as needed and hang out in the sun to thoroughly dry.

Leather Products

As with packs, dirty boots or shoes can lessen the lifespan of the product. And with leather products, it is very important to keep the leather supple so as to not dry out. Leather products must also be treated to keep the moisture out, too. Sno-Seal waterproofing is a product more than eighty years old and is wonderful for the treatment of not only boots and shoes but also leather work gloves.

Leather work gloves take a beating during trail work and, when weather-proofed, are useful for group winter backpacking trips. I typically treat my leather ski touring boots at the end of the season. And my leather hiking boots twice a year. Work gloves? As needed. Using Sno-Seal is easy.

• Remove any caked on mud or dirt stains with a mild soap (again, such as Dr. Bronner’s) and a toothbrush. Use a damp cloth to remove any excess moisture.
   
• Once dry, I like to use a hair dryer on low heat an inch or two above the leather product. Warm leather soaks up Sno-Seal and penetrates into the leather.
   
• Using my fingers, I rub Sno-Seal into the leather.
   
• Wipe off any excess Sno-Seal.
   
• I like to let the leather products sit in the warm sun a bit or even on in front of a sunny window. The warm sun helps Sno-Seal penetrate a bit more, too.

Down Clothing, Sleeping bags, or Quilts

Sweat and oils will get into down products after much use. The down will not be as lofty and will be less effective. To insure the longevity of the often expensive down products, be sure to clean them when needed. The TrailGroove Blog has some excellent instructions on how to clean a down product effectively. Note that Nikwax also makes a cleaning solution meant for synthetic sleeping bags and “puffies”. Use the same instructions for down products but with the Nikwax synthetic product wash instead.

Keeping trekking poles clean will go a long way towards ensuring they work properly out on the trail.

Hiking Poles

Dirt on hiking poles can cause issues. The grit prevents the poles from collapsing effectively or even to become stuck. To clean poles effectively, make the following mix in a spray bottle:

• ½ cup Dr. Bronner’s soap
   
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
   
• 1.5 cups baking soda
   
• 1 cup of water

Apply mix to hiking poles, use a cloth “scrubby” to clean and then rinse with cold water. Let poles dry before collapsing again for storage.

Shelter and Tent Cleaning

Though I am very good about thoroughly drying any shelter before placing back in storage, I am less thorough about removing dirt and debris. Not owning a single family home, it is harder to set up a shelter for a good cleaning. This is especially true if I am home late on a Sunday before the work week starts.

Even a homeowner may be pressed for time even if they have available space for a good cleaning. But the cleaning has to be done at some point. I usually find some sunny day when I am home to give my shelter a thorough cleaning. The shelter is typically set-up in the common area. My neighbors are no doubt amused to see a “camping trip” on the community lawn!

How to Clean a Tent or Backpacking Shelter

• Setup shelter.
   
• Sweep out shelter of any debris.
   
• Gently wipe the shelter walls and floor with a mixture of one part water to one part white vinegar. Wipe a little more vigorously where needed.
   
• The white vinegar solution will not only clean any dirt, but white vinegar also helps cut down on mildew.
   
• Let the shelter thoroughly air out before packing away.

Wool Clothing

Wool hats, socks, and to a lesser extent, base layers tend to dry out a bit when soaked with sweat and when they’re exposed to the sun and have salt layers get embedded into the clothing. Wool hats seem especially prone to this type of abuse. What happens is that the wool loses the natural oil called lanolin that makes wool so weather resistant. The wool becomes less supple and almost brittle.

However, it is very easy to take care of wool layers to make them again supple and weather resistant.

The following directions are good for one wool hat or a pair of wool socks. Adjust measurements appropriately if cleaning more clothing.

• Hand wash clothing in warm water with Woolite cleaner.
   
• When done washing, squeeze out excess moisture.
   
• Make a solution of one marble size ball of pure lanolin, a dash of Woolite and about 10 oz of hot-from-the-tap water. Mix thoroughly. A jar of lanolin may be found in most health food stores and online.
   
• Add clothing to a wash bucket.
   
• Fill wash bucket enough to cover clothing completely with warm, not hot, water.


• Add the prepared solution a little at a time and hand mix the clothes in the warm water and lanolin solution.
   
• Let the garment soak for about twenty minutes.
   
• Once the garment is done soaking, wring out the garment and let it dry overnight on a clothing rack.

Dental floss is one option for repairing rips and tears in clothing or fabric.

Rips and Tears in Nylon Clothing or Gear

Duct tape is an expedient field repair, but not really ideal for long term repairs. For rips or tears on nylon clothing, something such as Kenyon repair tape (my preference) or Gear Aid Tenacious Tape (preferred by others) works well. Rather than just place the tape on the garment, I find the following steps work well for long term repair. I have a down coat that was repaired using the following steps and is still going strong almost seven years later.

• Gently clean ripped area with a damp towel. Let area dry.
   
• Cut appropriate sized strip of repair tape.
   
• Before placing repair tape on rip, round off the corners. A circular patch is less likely to get snagged and come off.
   
• With a flat iron on very low heat, gently press iron against the patch. The heat bonds the patch to the garment more effectively. Note that the more delicate the fabric, the more gentle this step must be. If the nylon is especially thin, such as the nylon found on many ultralight garments, this step may want to be skipped.
   
• Hang up garment and let the patch set for at least a day.

To repair Dyneema Composite Fabrics (DCF), known as Cuben Fiber until recently, a special repair tape is needed. Z-packs sells this tape and patches. Use similar steps from the nylon repair above but skip the ironing step.

For silnylon shelters and clothing, the suggestion is to purchase some silnylon scraps from a manufacturer first. Two patches will be needed. Gently clean the area around the rip, again make a circular patch and use Seam Grip SIL / Sil-Net to apply the patch to the material. Repeat steps on the other side of the hole. Let the repair set. Alternatively, Gear Aid makes pre-made silnylon adhesive patches.

Gear Aid makes a nifty all-in-one sewing kit for outdoor gear repair.

Rips, Tears, and Other Sewing Reinforcements

Bushwhacking, tree skiing, shimmying down canyons, and even on-trail backpacking can cause rips, tears and wear on the gear. Inspect the clothing and gear and see what needs to be sewn up.

• Inspect for any buttons that may be loose. A medium gauge needle and thread is perfect for sewing up a button so it is no longer loose.
   
• See a small rip? Sew it up then and not later. A small rip can easily turn into a large tear.
   
• Need some repairs on pack straps or other high stress areas? Fishing line or dental floss is a fantastic and strong thread for repairs on thick fabric or parts of gear that carries much weight and are often stress points. I like to use an embroidery needle for this type of repair as the needle handles the thicker thread and is easier to push through thicker material.

Miscellaneous Repairs and Cleaning

For Nordic ski tour bindings, I like to squirt in a little bit of WD40 at the end of the season to make sure that the bindings, especially in the hinge areas, don’t rust.

Can’t get odor out of synthetic clothing such as base layers? Add your mild detergent of choice as normal for washing laundry. However, when the washing machine is full of water, directly add half a cup of baking soda for a full load of laundry. During the rinse cycle, add a full cup of vinegar. The clothes will be a little softer and will smell fresher.

Shoes or boots delaminating a little bit? Some Shoe Goo glue is a wonderful and quick repair adhesive that is very effective. Clean the boots in the area of the needed repair, add the Shoe Goo, wipe off any excess adhesive and let set for a day. Some duct tape may need to be used to temporarily keep the repair together until the adhesive has set.

Windshirt a bit “ripe” or dirty? Hand wash with Dr. Bronner’s in lukewarm water, rinse in cold water with some white vinegar. These same steps will work with stuff sacks as well.

For rain gear, use the same steps as above. Technical DWR rain gear is more likely to retain its water repellency over time if the garment is kept clean. Do this cleaning sparingly as excessive cleaning can ruin rain gear DWR properties. Rain gear no longer repelling water? Nikwax makes a wash that will restore repellency to DWR fabric for three ply fabric. Have a rain jacket with a mesh liner? Use a spray on restoration solution.

Cleaning and Repair Items to Have Stocked

After reading this article, you are probably ready to do some cleaning and gear repairs of your own. Here is a checklist of items I find useful to have in stock for my own personal cleaning and gear repair. These items are:

• Dr. Bronner’s soap is an all-purpose body soap, laundry treatment for hand-washing and cleaning solution that works well for many different uses. More gentle than many more well-known commercial soaps and detergents, too, when hand washing is required.
   
• Baking soda and white vinegar are two common household items that also work well for a myriad of different cleaning and washing projects.
   
• Dental floss makes an excellent heavy gauge thread for heavier duty repairs. An embroidery needle is suggested for use with dental floss.
   
• McNett produces an outdoor sewing kit that works well for lighter repairs such as buttons, clothing rips, or similar. The kit also comes with an instruction manual for those who did not take HomeEc classes while in High School.
   
• WD40 for any moving metal parts. Less common for backpackers unless skiing or using certain snowshoe bindings.
   
• A hard bristle toothbrush and a scrub pad are good for removing dirt.
   
• Woolite cleaner works well for not just wool but any delicate baselayers.
   
• Pure lanolin is fantastic for restoring the suppleness of any wool garment.
   
• Sno-Seal waterproofing for the treatment of any leather products.
   
• Kenyon repair tape and / or Gear Aid Tenacious Tape is a bit of an all-purpose, duct tape like solution. But where duct tape is good for field repairs, the repair tape specific products sticks better and adheres more permanently compared to duct tape. Repair tape is also more pliable. In other words, repair tape is perfect for fabric repair.
   
• Gear and clothing cleaners and treatments (Nikwax products, etc.) for washing down garments or gear. Buy the appropriate detergent for synthetic garments or gear.

When hiking during mud season, your hiking gear may require more frequent cleaning in order to ensure it performs at its best on your next trip.

Final Thoughts

Spring Cleaning is also a good time for restocking any food or other supplies for the upcoming season. Enough fuel on hand for your stoves of choice? Your personal pantry supplied with food for a trip when the opportunity arises? With supplies readily on hand, more time is spent outdoors and less time scrambling at the last minute getting ready for a trip.

The gear is repaired. The clothing is cleaned. And the supplies are stocked. With one weekend of maintenance, you will be ready to be on the trails for the upcoming season. The trails are calling. And with your restored and clean gear, you can be sure to comfortably enjoy the trails, too.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in Issue 27 of TrailGroove Magazine. You can read the original article here for additional photos and content.