A while back, I heard of a way to clean bladders without using the expensive stuff Camelback and others sell. I'm thinking it was denture cleaners, or something. Anyone know?

Can't really comment on cleaning a Camelbak bladder, but can talk about keeping it clean. I've been using mine for the last 3 years, and only wash the mouthpiece when I get home, just rinsing it in water. I then fill 'er up again and put it in the fridge. Have been doing it for all this time and the water tastes pristine, with no discoloration or gunk floating around or that black liquen that usually forms inside old water bottles.

I've never owned one of those but I would think that bleach diluted in water would kill most bacteria give it a good ringsing after??? how do you spell that word?

That's what I do. Only problem I've ever had is in the tube...nasty stuff. A diluted bleach rinse occasionally and all's good.

I do the diluted bleach, and then scrub it with a bottle brush. Rinse well and hang to dry.

In addition to the above suggestions, it is best to not put stuff like Gatorade in it. If you do, it should be rinsed out when you get home and possibly be kept in the refrigerator. Otherwise, mold will grow. Also, get one of the Camelback tube brushes to clean the inside of the tube as well.

That is what I have always done. You don't have to keep it full either, just some water in, and in the fridge. Should be fine for years.

If it were gunked up, I'd head over to my homebrewing supplies and use the iodophor and line cleaner, but honestly it's never been problem enough.

If the bladder is new, just do like me and TenSpeedV2 are doing and it will never get dirty.

after every use I'm sure to rinse it clean. every 3-4 uses make a mix of ¼ cup baking soda to ¾ cup of water per liter volume. shake the hell out of it for 30 seconds. after that i add 1/2 cup lemon juice and shake it for another 10 seconds. the acid+base reaction creates some pressure so make sure to vent it away from your face. repeat the shake/vent combo until satisfied. finally rinse with water. cleans well and doesn't leave any residual odor or taste. in fact, camelbak recommends the lemon juice cocktail in their instructions.

in cases of mold or other nasties, I give it 1 ounce of bleach per liter volume, fill the remainder with water, shake, and let sit overnight. rinse it well in the morning and let 'er dry.

I just throw it in the freezer, empty, after every use. Been a little over a year with no issues.

Fill it with 80 proof vodka, that will clean it for sure.

+1 on this

I am not fimilur with the material Camelback uses for their blatters. But in another life about 40 + years ago I ran cardio pulmonary labs, and respiratory therapy departments. We used glacial acedic acid to clean rubber parts & plastic we could not auto clave (heat steralize) or could not use poison gas because it would penetrate the plastic material. Glacial Acetic Acid is also know as good old vinegar like you buy at wally-world for a buck & change per gallon.

Think 50/50 vinigar & distilled water over night should kill the bugs off, if real dirty I would go for 24 hours, and in either case rinse well post vinigar until the taste is gone.

Like the Vodka idea but vodka doesn't kill bugs, germs, but is good with Kailua, or straight up on ice.

Someone told me to use those fizzing denture cleaning tablets in my water bottles, and it worked a trick. Bet that would work for a hydration bladder, too.

I use mine infrequently, and usually with Gatorade. I always rinse it out thoroughly with water, and let the bladder air dry a day or two before I put it back in the backpack. I usually stuff a piece of wadded up paper towel in the bladder to make sure that it's more open inside and able to dry out any liquids.

Just something that is worth pointing out: one thing is to always use the bladder with water, but it's a totally different animal if you regularly use isotonic beverages.