So my Camelback is looking a little dirty. The tube that leads to the mouthpiece. It looks like it's got something (growing.....ewwwww) in the tube, some kindof bacteria. Is this something that I can clean out or do I need to purchase a new tube or Camelback?

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks so much!

I have left water in mine plenty of times and I've managed to clean it out.

I suggest filling the camelbak with fresh water and putting about half a capful of bleach in it. This will kill the germs.

From there, I wash it out with mild soapy water and rinse it out thoroughly enough so I don't taste the bleach or soap.

I clean mine by putting hot water and bleach in to it and shaking it. Then drain and rinse it a few times, then put some minty mouth wash in to get rid of the bleach taste.

It's a french conspiracy...You gotta buy the brushes to clean them.

I do the same as Kevin, before going on a ride, I put in a few drops of lemon juice, it really cuts out the plastic taste of the bladder.

BTW, what model do you own?

I bought one of those camelback Tube cleaners. it is a long wire that has a brush on the end. just wash it with soap and water and then run this Pipe cleaner through the tube. cleans it very nicely. you can also use it on the Elbow part of the mouthpiece. make sure you clean that out thoroughly, you'll be surprised what's in that thing!!!

You can use a gauze pad or some similar item on the end of a wire hanger to clean the tube out just fine. Camelbak has instructions regarding the proper bleach mixture to use on their website.

There's a thing you can buy from a music store that is a long wirey thing with 2 plastic brushes on the end with hard plastic bristles, that they use to clean instruments.

There's also at pet stores, a long wirey thing with a brush on the end with plastic bristles again, that is used to clean fish filters. So you can look in the fish section.

I never clean mine but then again I only have water in mine and then freeze the empty bladder after rides. Been doing that for a couple years with no problems or science projects

Ordinary household bleach will clean out your camel back just fine. It kills microbes fairly effectively. I would think you probably have some form of algae in there rather than bacteria, assuming you use water in the camelback.

Just be sure to dilute the bleach before throwing it in and a small amount of bleach in a quart or 2 of water does it (like was said before a "capful" whatever that is). The notion of running through some mouthwash to get rid of the bleach taste sounds good.

I keep mine in the freezer as well at all times. That mold comes quickly and can be bad news

Well, to start with I only use water in my Camelbak which makes cleaning much easier. What I do with mine is that after every ride I empty the Camelbak bladder, remove the bite valve from the hose and then dry out the inside of the bladder with paper towels. I then hang it up with the hose hanging down to drain any remaining water and keep the fill cap off so that the bladder is completely open to air. Haven't had any problems with growy things and it still tastes fine without ever having to use chemicals to clean it out.

I would recommend letting the bladder and hose soak with the bleach mixture overnight. Then rinse it out and soak it again with a tablespoon of baking soda to get rid of the bleach taste. The baking soda is also useful to get rid of any sports drink aftertaste left in the bladder.

I use the baking soda method. I put just enough water to form a paste with the bakind soda and then just scruch it around.

I've also used denture cleaning tablets.

BTW, don't leave your Camelback in your gear bag for 3 days in the back of your truck in 90 + degree weather! YUCK!

Had to soak in for 2 days in bleach! Still Yuck!

L8R

I learned about homebrew and fermentation when I left gatorade in the camelback the first yr I used one. Really hard to clean. Algae grows in gator or powerade even in the frige once the bottle is opened, so don't leave it there, unless you freeze it, for more than a week or two. Now I only use water, and even then biofilms of some sort, hopefully algal but probably some mix of that and which ever of the dozens of oral bacteria that reflux back into the water when you drink survive. I also found there are at least two diameters of long flexible brushes for the tubes, one of which was a fraction of a millimeter too small and does not clean Blackburn tubing! It just slides back and forth. Brushes are useful when the biofilm gets a bit tenacious and won't let loose. Steve

CamelBack recently started selling tablets, they come about 6 to a pack for like 5 bucks, you fill it half way or so and drop a tablet in and shake it up and let it sit for a few minutes. It bubbles and stuff. Then you rinse it very well and its good to go. It made mine like new.

I clean mine with baking soda and only put water in it.

Thanks guys! This is great info.

Hopefully now the green weird gunky stuff will go away!

Thanks again!

Wonder if the Camelback tabs are similar to denture cleaner? I use denture cleaner for a moutpiece I have to wear at night.....hmmmmmmmm.

I use a touch of household bleach, or automatic dishwashing liquid. With these products, you don't have to worry about all the foamy bubbles.

REMEMBER, if you don't clean out your hydration bladder, it will eventually clean you out. Don't take the chance - clean it on a regular basis!

CLEAN?!?!

I have to Clean it?

Hydrapak makes a new system with a reversible bladder for easy cleaning. Me likey.