Washing filter socks

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John Bowers

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I recently bought enough filter socks so I can wash a batch at a time in my clothes washer. I washed them with hot water only and ran the rinse cycle 3 times, and the socks came out visually very clean.

However when I put them in the tank my protein skimmer went crazy putting out a few gallons of liquid that was clear, and my pumps started putting many small bubbles into the display. It did return to normal in 6 or so hours, and nothing in the tank appeared to be bothered (but hard to tell of course).

Any advice on using washing machines on filter socks, as it appears that enough soap from previous loads remains to mess up with the protein skimmer. Does bleach or ammonia help? Previously I just washed one or two at a time with warm water in a bucket or sink, but the whole reason to buy a bunch was to save time and use a washing machine.

I want to change filter socks every few days and having my skimmer go crazy every time just wont work with that schedule, and I don't want to go back to hand washing either.
 
Check out this thread. Seems people have had success washing socks with OxyClean/sodium precarbonate powder

atlantareefclub.org

Filter Sock Cleaning

So, I been thinking about switching to socks for ease of cleaning vs nylon mesh and rinsing them out. They start to get smelly overtime and stained. Well, I'm on septic and I always try to avoid bleach if at all possible. I've read people had really good luck with hydrogen peroxide as a...
atlantareefclub.org atlantareefclub.org
 
It is not the detergent choice when washing my socks, it is the left-over detergent that is in the washing machine from previous loads that is enough to mess things up. I am trying to run the wash cycle with water only, and no detergent or anything.
 
When i used filter socks all i did was wash out the socks with hot water and got them as clean as i could. Then i would air dry them outside in the sun.

Now i use this.... Filter Media
I have a filter cup that fits in my sock holder and i just cut out squares that fit in the holder. When it gets dirty i just throw it out.
 
Actually it was rinse 1x, presoak, wash, rinse 3x. But I did not dry them beyond what the spin cycle did and they were still damp. No new detergent or anything for any cycles, just possibly old soap buildup in my machine from past use.
Maybe just the washing machine is leaning too far in the direction of water saving and does not really clean itself between loads.
 
I never washed socks with any detergent at all, just bleach. When I switched to sodium precarbonite I soaked them in that then threw more in the washer for the wash cycle.
 
3 socks , some bleach , heavy duty was,extra rinse . I take mine outside and rinse with the water hose and let them dry outside .
 
I used washing machine for a bit rinsing twice and air drying. Most times my protein skimmer is good but sometimes it does go crazy for a few minute then my wife got me a potable washing machine. I love it so much, I wash my filter socks 2wice a week and it comes out even cleaner than when I used the big washer.
ceeb64cb7bbb38dbf4ef6e0a4ebb98dc.jpg


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