How to clean cloth pots

[OhioChell]

Anybody have suggestions on cleaning black cloth pots for next grow. Don't really think my wife would appreciate it if I threw them in her washer.

Should I soak in bleach to kill any mold or bugs?

 

[SmokingWings]

Wash off dirt in a large tub of some sort or in a bucket if they will fit in that. Swish it around, let it soak and swish again until it seems like no dirt is coming off.

If you want to use bleach then use it sparingly. Maybe a 1/4 cup at most in a 5 gallon bucket of water. A regular washing machine uses about 20 gallons of water for the wash cycle and a cup of bleach is about the limit recommended.

Test the diluted bleach on a small area of the cloth pot. Bleach can weaken some fabric materials, even the plastic fiber used in those pots.

Come to think of it, after a rinsing in water and getting the loose dirt off the pot it could go into the washing machine. Think of the dirt on work clothes and the kid's clothes after they have spent a day rolling around on the lawn.

 

[skirk]

Laundromat, Dr. Bronner's Castile soap, 2 oz. Cold pressed orange oil.

 

[PE636]

I wash mine outdoors with the hose and elbow grease as much as possible, let dry to a crisp for a week, then use a stiff bristled nail brush to break off the root bits on the inside. Then I toss them in the washer while the wife isn't looking . Hard to get them perfectly clean but hey they are only gonna get dirty again so it works for me.

 

[Deketx]

Damn, I feel bad. I don't wash my pots. On grow number 5 for some of them, no issues. Mine don't have some of the nasty looking moldy stuff I've seen on others though.

 

[SmokingWings]

Mine don't have some of the nasty looking moldy stuff I've seen on others though.

Water soluble minerals and salts, depending on what and how much fertilizer has been used.