Yes, you can wash a nylon hammock!
Most people wonder if they can really wash their hammock, especially when it is made of nylon material. The truth is, nylon, like other materials, gets dirt as well. Therefore, why not wash it after a couple of usages?
If you use your hammock when you go camping, you must have noticed that it gets dirty after several trips of camping. You can get confused about the best way to get the dirt out of the hammock. Most people choose to wipe the material clean with a wet cloth. And there’s nothing wrong with undertaking this kind of cleaning, especially when you don’t have enough time to clean the entire product.
You could also be lazy to clean the hammock manually, thus wonder whether the material is machine washable. From research, I have found that nylon hammocks can be washed with washing machines. Most of the hammocks we use for camping activities are usually made of synthetic materials. Although you can easily wash this type of material by hand, machine washing is also possible. However, it is always good to avoid machine drying the hammocks but hanging them outside to dry naturally.
If you choose to use a washing machine on your nylon hammock, there are some precautions you need to observe. Knowing the suitable materials is very important because there are materials that cannot be machine-washed. Generally, The ENO brand of hammock made from nylon is usually recommended for machine or hand-washing. The hammock is a lightweight and single nest, available at Amazon.
Contents
Tips for proper machine cleaning of a hammock
If you are looking to clean your nylon hammock with a cleaning machine, there are a few steps you need to observe and keep in mind as follows:
Step 1: Removing carabiner
Carabiners refer to the metal loops attached to the hammock straps. You should avoid allowing the carabiners to go into your washing machine because they are likely to be noisy and sometimes cause internal damages to the washing machine. Therefore, they need to be removed before you can toss the hammock into the washing machine.
Step 2: Add a mild detergent and a gentle cycle
Hammocks are made of a thin material, which is why you should apply a gentle cycle from your cleaning machine. Using a gentle cycle is vital in reducing the possible wear and tear, helping it last longer. It is also recommended that you wash the hammock alone with cool or cold water and avoid much detergent because this can damage the fabrics. You must bear in mind that the critical point is to use a top or a front-loading washer that doesn’t have an agitator because the agitator can be damaging to the hammock.
Step 3: Hanging the hammock to dry
The hammock should be spread on a clothesline, a fence, a tree, or something suitable to dry. It is essential to ensure that the drying point doesn’t have a sharp edge that could tear your hammock. An important thing to avoid is leaving the hammock under direct sunlight because the sun’s UV rays can hasten the degradation of your fabrics. The same effect can be caused by machine drying; thus, it should be avoided. If you are looking to speed up the drying process, a breeze or a fan pointed towards the hammock would be helpful.
Step 4: Handwashing your nylon Hammock
Handwashing your nylon hammock is suitable for all types of fabric materials. However, there are specific steps you need to observe where undertaking this exercise as follows:
Step 5: Soaking the hammock
The first step is to get as much water on the hammock as possible. You can spread the hammock on a concrete surface and use a garden hose to spray water on its surface. Another option could be using a bucket to dump water on the hammock or put it in a semi-full bathtub to soak in the maximum possible manner. Ideally, it would help to wet the hammock with old water before starting the actual cleaning exercise.
Step 6: Apply appropriate detergent
After soaking the hammock, you should use a soft wet sponge to apply a mild detergent on its surface. The application process involves rubbing the detergent lightly on the hammock when soaked into a bathtub or an equivalent big vessel. The process of spreading the detergent on the hammock surface is the actual cleaning exercise. It should be done severally on the material until you feel that it has been cleaned. When you’re satisfied, empty the water from the vessel or the bathtub in readiness to rinse.
Step 7: Rinsing
Pour clean water into the bathtub or the vessel to clean all the soap/detergent used to wash your hammock. After this is done, your hammock will be sparkling clean by hand-washing. You can get it to dry and repeat the process after it gets dirty again following episodes of use.
Step 8: Drying the hammock
The steps applicable to the machine-washed hammocks should be applied for the hand-washed material. However, remember to allow the hammock to dry away completely before putting it away because it can be linked to such problems as fungus attaches due to dampness. The mildew and mold attacks could make you opt for a new hammock, thus, the need to allow the fabric to dry out completely.
Can you leave your nylon hammock in the rain?
There’s no problem leaving your hammock in the rain. Indeed, the rainwater is just like the water you use to clean the fabric. More so, it can get rainy when you go out camping, and the hammock will be the one to protect you from the outside weather. Therefore, there will be no harm to your hammock whenever left under the rains. Nevertheless, experts recommend minimizing the possibility of leaving the hammock under the rain. Make sure you store your hammock properly after use because it can be degrading to your fabrics.
You can also avoid the interval with which you clean the hammock by avoiding entering it with dirty shoes, avoiding eating in the hammock, and putting the hammock away when it is not in use.
