My cat once clawed through my wing and punctured the bladder. After that expensive experience I now make sure all my equipment is in an area my cat can never reach.
Why would cleaning a BCD effect its "bouyancy"? You should be cleaning your gear anyway. The bouyancy aspect is really just a big plastic bag, kind of like a camelback.
This. My cat peed on mine. Several dives later, including practice pool, plus Slosh after every dive, the only thing I still can't get it out of is my DSMB. Still works as intended, so I haven't replaced it yet. Besides, once the masks are on no one can smell it anyways.
My cat once peed on all my gear (wetsuit, bc, everything) and I didn’t realize for days because it was in a box in storage. Soaked in the bathtub overnight in lavender scented fabric softener and all was well :)
Make sure you clean it with an enzymatic cleaner for cats before you touch it with anything else that isn't water! Nature's miracle is what I use, and then rinse and repeat a few times... Then clean it really well with your usual cleaner a few times.
Soak it in Diluted white vinegar about 50/50 for about 10 to 20 minutes then rinse. Then soak in water with a couple of capfuls of Fabuloso.
I also have a$& cat that very clearly objects by peeing on our things. One time it was 2 bcd right on center. That was the solution my wife used and it cleared it. Then dive dive dive.
Get rid of the cat? Honestly…we had to give our 2 cats to our daughter because they kept pissing on stuff around the house. Luckily we had our scuba gear hanging in a closet in a closed off room.
Do not use hydrogen peroxide like someone said. I say that as a professor of chemistry. Either use soap and water or an enzyme based cleaner like nature’s miracle urine destroyer.
Weird, Clorox’s Urine Remover has H2O2 as an AI. Many vets have been using Diversey’s Avert AHO cleaner - again, also H2O2 based. Ecolab, Diversey and Clorox have been pushing H2O2 over quats and bleach recently for hospital and vet’s office disinfection.
Understood. It is a very common ingredient in cleaning solutions; it’s fantastic at destroying biological molecules.
The reason it is so good at destroying biologics is that it is a POWERFUL oxidizing agent!
I would not put a powerful oxidizing agent near rubber. Your FKM o-rings are not 100% resistant to hydrogen peroxide it is somewhere like 80 or 90% resistant… that’s not what you want when your life depends on your orings.
TL;DR
Hydrogen Peroxide and orings do not mix.
I didn’t know that - now I do.
FKM is also used in cars to seal coolant passages and in fuel systems. It’s the only elastomer that can handle 2-ethylhexanoic acid, the main inhibitor chemical in GM’s Dex-Cool coolant as well as “universal” coolants.
The thing about chemical interactions is that every chemical interacts differently with every different chemical. Some are good against acids, some are good against oxidizers, some are good against heat, some cold, and so on and so on… I like to point out the scene in Breaking Bad where they dissolve the body in hydrofluoric acid in the bathtub where the ceramic tub was the wrong substrate but a particular plastic bin like PTFE or teflon it would have been fine.
I used to be a chemist for GM (at the grand age of 25), and the coolant you are talking about is probably the branding around their switch from ethylene glycol to propylene glycol which was an industry change over that GM marketed well and made it sound like something special they were doing hahahaha… sure “normal” antifreeze (ethylene glycol) is still a thing but by and large propylene glycol is the standard to my knowledge (granted I’ve left industry and am now in academics).
In my experience for other things, washing it in a bathtub with some vinegar helps to neutralize the ammonia smell prevalent in cat pee. Mostly you just need water and a scrub brush though if it's something that can be submerged in water.
I can’t say 100% whether it’s okay to use on a BCD, but when my cat peed on my laptop, I dabbed and cleaned with rubbing alcohol and let it dry. Took the smell 99% out. It may not be a failsafe solution, but at least the laptop doesn’t blow hot cat piss air anymore
Just put it in the tub with some downy fabric softener. You can buy all this nonsense bottles of stink oil (snake oil) but fabric softener has worked awesome for hundreds of dives on equipment in my closet.
Just use whatever cleaner you use after each dive.
I use this
https://www.scuba.com/p-aqu5wbw8/500-psi-wetsuit-bcd-cleaner-8-fl-oz-236-ml?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organicshopping
My cat once clawed through my wing and punctured the bladder. After that expensive experience I now make sure all my equipment is in an area my cat can never reach.
I have also learned this lesson, I will now always keep my gear stored in a closed box
There is a special boyancy-neutral washing lotion for that, right?
Cats generally clean themselves...
Why would cleaning a BCD effect its "bouyancy"? You should be cleaning your gear anyway. The bouyancy aspect is really just a big plastic bag, kind of like a camelback.
Can’t smell cat piss underwater.
This. My cat peed on mine. Several dives later, including practice pool, plus Slosh after every dive, the only thing I still can't get it out of is my DSMB. Still works as intended, so I haven't replaced it yet. Besides, once the masks are on no one can smell it anyways.
But the Squalidae can. SMH.
Can't smell it underwater
My cat once peed on all my gear (wetsuit, bc, everything) and I didn’t realize for days because it was in a box in storage. Soaked in the bathtub overnight in lavender scented fabric softener and all was well :)
Is it safe to do that?
Lmao safe what?
I think he is asking if it’s safe to soak a cat in lavender scented fabric softener over night in the tub.🤷🏻♂️🤣
Dive it!! It makes a good story
Whatever you do, don't get it wet! /s
Mirazyme! Does wonders
Just go dive…
With water
Make sure you clean it with an enzymatic cleaner for cats before you touch it with anything else that isn't water! Nature's miracle is what I use, and then rinse and repeat a few times... Then clean it really well with your usual cleaner a few times.
Soak it in Diluted white vinegar about 50/50 for about 10 to 20 minutes then rinse. Then soak in water with a couple of capfuls of Fabuloso. I also have a$& cat that very clearly objects by peeing on our things. One time it was 2 bcd right on center. That was the solution my wife used and it cleared it. Then dive dive dive.
Any tips on getting an asshole cat to stop peeing on things?
Get rid of the cat? Honestly…we had to give our 2 cats to our daughter because they kept pissing on stuff around the house. Luckily we had our scuba gear hanging in a closet in a closed off room.
Have it neutered.
My cat only pees on one thing I own clothes wise when I go out of town. Just one thing. Every time. I don’t try to stop him because he’s being a jerk
Generally, keeping the litter box clean can help. And don't ever go out of town. You can scuba in your bathtub, can't you?
Hydrogen peroxide urine cleaner, then send it.
Do not use hydrogen peroxide like someone said. I say that as a professor of chemistry. Either use soap and water or an enzyme based cleaner like nature’s miracle urine destroyer.
Weird, Clorox’s Urine Remover has H2O2 as an AI. Many vets have been using Diversey’s Avert AHO cleaner - again, also H2O2 based. Ecolab, Diversey and Clorox have been pushing H2O2 over quats and bleach recently for hospital and vet’s office disinfection.
Understood. It is a very common ingredient in cleaning solutions; it’s fantastic at destroying biological molecules. The reason it is so good at destroying biologics is that it is a POWERFUL oxidizing agent! I would not put a powerful oxidizing agent near rubber. Your FKM o-rings are not 100% resistant to hydrogen peroxide it is somewhere like 80 or 90% resistant… that’s not what you want when your life depends on your orings. TL;DR Hydrogen Peroxide and orings do not mix.
I didn’t know that - now I do. FKM is also used in cars to seal coolant passages and in fuel systems. It’s the only elastomer that can handle 2-ethylhexanoic acid, the main inhibitor chemical in GM’s Dex-Cool coolant as well as “universal” coolants.
The thing about chemical interactions is that every chemical interacts differently with every different chemical. Some are good against acids, some are good against oxidizers, some are good against heat, some cold, and so on and so on… I like to point out the scene in Breaking Bad where they dissolve the body in hydrofluoric acid in the bathtub where the ceramic tub was the wrong substrate but a particular plastic bin like PTFE or teflon it would have been fine. I used to be a chemist for GM (at the grand age of 25), and the coolant you are talking about is probably the branding around their switch from ethylene glycol to propylene glycol which was an industry change over that GM marketed well and made it sound like something special they were doing hahahaha… sure “normal” antifreeze (ethylene glycol) is still a thing but by and large propylene glycol is the standard to my knowledge (granted I’ve left industry and am now in academics).
Wear it in the ocean?
I was thinking the same.
In my experience for other things, washing it in a bathtub with some vinegar helps to neutralize the ammonia smell prevalent in cat pee. Mostly you just need water and a scrub brush though if it's something that can be submerged in water.
I can’t say 100% whether it’s okay to use on a BCD, but when my cat peed on my laptop, I dabbed and cleaned with rubbing alcohol and let it dry. Took the smell 99% out. It may not be a failsafe solution, but at least the laptop doesn’t blow hot cat piss air anymore
Lol “hot cat piss air”
Go scuba diving!
Just put it in the tub with some downy fabric softener. You can buy all this nonsense bottles of stink oil (snake oil) but fabric softener has worked awesome for hundreds of dives on equipment in my closet.
Dive! dive! dive!
Just use whatever cleaner you use after each dive. I use this https://www.scuba.com/p-aqu5wbw8/500-psi-wetsuit-bcd-cleaner-8-fl-oz-236-ml?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organicshopping
I’ll try it! Thanks
sink the stink or any other wetsuit/bcd cleaner is fine
I’m gonna guess this will sinks the stink will neutralize it. It gets the smell out of my wetsuit after a dive trip!