washing dirty backpack

After years of use... how do I wash my pack and make it more presentable for travel abroad? Dry cleaners? Seems very unlikely! Ideas? Thanks in advance!

HB,
Any particular pack in mind or just in general?

In general, I would think you could hand wash it in the bath tub using something like Woolite for detergent. Rinse it out a couple of times, then hang it up outside to dry. I would try to keep it out of direct sunlight while it dries, but that's just me.

Tango

I have very occasionally washed my packs - my day pack more often than my internal framesheet backpack. Before washing my backpack I removed the framesheet, obviously.

When I washed them I filled the bathtub shallowly with lukewarm water, added small amount of dishwashing detergent, hand-agitated the pack in the water, drained the dirty water, then rinsed it repeatedly in several changes of water. To dry I hung it outdoors in the sun. I figure that if a backpack can't survive direct sunlight, it isn't much of a pack. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Thanks,

It's a northface backpacking pack that has seen better days. I am traveling through a few countries and while "shiny new" can attract petty theft, "scroungy" and "well loved/used" can leave locals not feeling particularly friendly or helpful!

I will try the tub!

Backpacks are made of nylon, so any mild detergent should do fine. As for the support pannel, if it is plastic it can get wet, but you may want to take it out so the pack is not so stiff. I wash my pack in the bathtub - soak it overnight, pull the plug and then run the shower (cold water) for about 20 minutes. The most important thing is to get it fully dry so you do not get mold. I luckily have a front-loading washer, so I can put it in on the spin cycle. I put the entire pack in a cotton duffle so that nothing gets caught in the little holes in the washer tub. I then hang it outside in the sun (100degree heat)! For some reason I am a bit hesitant to do the entire washing in the front-loading machine. I guess it is because once I washed a tent fly in the washer and the waterproof coating disintigrated! I think it had more to do with the fly being very old and damaged by UV light. But packs generally are not made of coated nylon so I think it would be OK.

Thanks daisy!

I recommend machine washing if you ever want to strip the coating off something. I would not recommend it if you want to keep your gear intact, even with a front loader. Detergent, heat and agitation are all coating killers.

If you take the stays or framesheet out while washing, be sure to put them back in before hanging the pack out to dry. Some nylons can shrink so much that you can't get the stays or framesheet back in.

Penny or anyone else,
What kind of soap, if any, would you use when trying to wash a backpack. I have one I picked up a while ago second hand that has the smell of body odor in the back padding and I was going to try to give it a wash one of these days.
Any suggestions on best way to get rid of the body odor, or is this a hopeless effort?
Any suggestions for a cleanser to use in washing the pack bag itself that won't remove the fabric coating?
thanks
Gerry