I’ve always cleaned my camelbak with a drop of fairy liquid and lots of warm water, shaking it about to clean, and rinsing thoroughly. I always run some of the soapy water through the hose, and then rinse that with clean water too.
Thing is, while the bladder is clean, I’ve got brown gunk on the inside of the hose and I was wondering how to clean it. Obviously a pipe cleaner might be a start, but it’s probably not long enough. Any other suggestions?

the classic suggestion is the steam nozzle on a coffee machine

the camelback cleaner kit is actually pretty good (if quite expensive).

I find the proper cleaning kit a bit lacking as the ‘pipe cleaner’ bit is shorter than the hose – so you always push a bit of gunk further in. Having said that it does seem to clean it OK.

An alternative is to rinse the hose, then thread through a long piece of string so it’s hanging out both ends. Tie a knot in one end & leave it hanging out. Tear up some kitchen roll and stuff bits in hose (knot end), then pull the string though. The knot should force the kitchen roll through, cleaning as it goes

Stop cleaning it so much
Rinse it out with clean water after every ride & pop it in the freezer

Fill it with a solution of sterilising fluid every now & then, let it stand for a couple of hours & then rinse it well & put it back in the freezer

when mine started to hum and taste bad i gave in and got the cleaning kit, worth it just to have around and get lumps out with

I used to use a straightened wire coat hanger, with a small bit folded over at the end as a hook to drag a bit of cloth through. Last summer though, I bought a cleaning kit from our local Decathlon (Albertville!) for 9€. Much, much better! (Although my wife has recently used it to clean gunk out of the kitchen sink, so I’m going to have to get another one…)

I use cheap sterilising from tesco/morrisons/asda,they do the job very well but just make sure to flush them through the hose and rinse well after.

I never cleaned mine but then I just used water. I then used a formula drink and left it for two weeks …erghhhhhh…

BTW why put it in the freezer uplink?

buy the decathlon version of the hose cleaning kit – £7.95

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/bladder-cleaning-kit-3961832/

You can get plug cleaners at most Household stores/ old style DIt shops. long thin brush for about £3.00. Just the job.

When it got to the stage where the tube was more black than blue I found that it was cheaper to buy a new one off ebay than buy the cleaning kit 😯

FIREHOSE!!

I clean my bladder and hose in a solution of warm water and a couple of teaspoons of sodium bicarbonate. Then blow through hose with an air duster can, only takes a few blasts and the hose is bone dry.

i heard about the freezer thing and it definatly works.just give it a quick swill with just water then shove it in the freezer.not one bit of gunk in mine

piedi di formaggio – Member
I find the proper cleaning kit a bit lacking as the ‘pipe cleaner’ bit is shorter than the hose

I disconnect the hose from the bladder end then past the ‘pipe cleaner’ through both ends. Clean with soapy water, rinse, put in disinfectant fluid, rinse and then hang up to dry. The drying bit is important because most airbourne mould (black stuff) thrive in damp, glucose rich (your sports drink) environments. Repeat the procedure for the bladder, bite valve and tap.
When all dry then reassemble.
It did occur to me, you could cut the tube to the same length as the ‘pipe cleaner’!

coffee machine steam nozzle here and a very very long boot lace with a big knot in the end as a pull through chord.

BTW why put it in the freezer uplink?

Things don’t usually grow at those sorts of temps
I would think my current Camelbak bladder is around 3 yrs old & has never had anything more than what I posted above.
It’s stayed as fresh as the day I bought it

serilising fluid made up fairly cocentrated with boiling water works. 1tsp with about 500ml water, and carefully let it run through the hose and leave for a a few hours to cool, occasionaly letting some fluid out the mouthpiece.

Usualy gets ll the gunk to flake off.

Rinse with mroe boiling water, then use orange juice the first ride out to get over the taste.

I’m with the freezer people on here.

WHen I finished riding, I just rinse out the bladder a couple of times, then let pour perhaps 1 litre or so through the tube and bite valve before emptying the whole thing out, drying the inside a bit with some kitchen towel and then stick it in the freezer.

Probably every 5th or 6th use, I let it sit in some terilising solution (cheap tablets from Tesco) for an hour or so, before thoroughly rinsing and whacking back in the freezer.

Just store it with water in the tube, i find mould grows when there is air+water only.

If you do get water, some mouth wash (non alcohol type worked for me) left in there for a day or two will loosen the mould and it’ll swill right out.

Leaves you with a yummy minty taste 🙂

I use a pipe cleaner stuffed in the end of some gear/brake outer casing works a treat.

Very good point about the mouthwash! May well try that. And yes, it’s only really an issue because the hose is never completely dry on my camelback – even after hanging up it is a bit humid in there, I think, and so gunk grows.

got the decathlon version today, can't fault it for a tenner. though there are still brown bits inside the bladder that won't come off… 😆