Freshening a camelbak

  • rinse with rubbing alcohol
  • clean out tube and bladder with a cleaning brush and antibacterial soap
  • rinse with camelback disinfecting tabs (follow instructions)
  • rinse out real well and a final time with tap water
  • air dry for a day

That should cover it for a while as long as you only fill your pack with water. You might still see some specs of algae in the drink tube but that won't affect the water. Shoot, if you saw the inside of your sink pipes, they're covered in slime.
 
I've always cleaned it with soap and water and make sure to keep dry after every use. But they do sell Camelback cleansing tablets. I have never used them but you may want to give it a try. I know Amazon sells them.
 
listerine. then you have minty water for a while. it eventually goes back to normal. that or the stuff you clean dentures with - efferdent. works great. you just have to flush it out well.

also - a way to avoid having to clean is to throw your bladder in the freezer after each use. you won't have to clean it for a lot longer.
 
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thanks for the tips guys. It's only 6 months old. sounds like storing in the freezer is a better idea than hanging it in the hot ol' garage
 
Fridge for the bladder, never got sick or had floaties. Once a year I empty and submerge everything in denture cleaner. The hose sometimes get funky and I clean w a cleaning brush and denture cleaner. Works like a charm.
 
I boiled water and pour the bladder and hose with it. Algae and any contaminants came off easily. Sometimes i use the tablet.
 
those cleaning tablets are pretty much the same as the denture tablets.
also, if you have city water, you have enough chlorine in your water to keep bacteria from growing in your bladder. It doesn't last that long though, so you can't keep water overnight, the chlorine will be gone. But if you put fresh tap water in that chlorine will kill anything left in the bladder from the previous.
This is why you don't have a cleaning kit for the pipes in your house 😉
 
Most common tips I've heard is denture/Alka-Seltzer tabs (same as CB tablets apparently), freezer sessions, and I've rinsed mine out full of water and a very small amount of bleach.
 
stro908 said:
table spoon of bleech diluted.
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This is what I did when I used a Camelbak. Fill the bladder with water, add a tablespoon of bleach, drain some water through the bite valve to pull some bleached water into the hose, and let it sit overnight. Rinse thoroughly and that's that.
 
+1 bottles who wants a hot pack in the summer anyways. When i did use bladder always stored it in freezer in the summer months. Cleaned with bleach and/or peroxide when needed using kit brushes.
 
mattybfat said:
+1 bottles who wants a hot pack in the summer anyways. When i did use bladder always stored it in freezer in the summer months. Cleaned with bleach and/or peroxide when needed using kit brushes.
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guess I need to add some bottle holders on my mtb!
 
mattybfat said:
+1 bottles who wants a hot pack in the summer anyways.
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I always fill my CB to the top with ice cubes and then fill it with water when I get to the trails. This way, for most of the ride, I have a nice cold ice pack keeping my back kind of cool. 😀
 
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