Club Obi Wan

What's standard protocol for cleaning a nylon whip?

My whip got a bit icky this morning, so I wet a cloth with water and added hand soap to it, scrubbed down the whip, then rinsed the whip with a hose and dried it with another cloth.

Is this acceptable? Do you think hand soap got it clean enough?

What about the water? I was told by rjallen to never submerge my whip, but do you think rinsing it with a hose quickly is alright?

There is much confusion with nylon and shrinkage which is the problem with getting it wet.....

When you read more closely it's clear that the actual paracord does not shrink as such it's the core that shrinks....

If you have a whip thats made from de-cored paracord getting it wet with the hose or submerging it in water won't hurt it at all, if you have the type thats plaited in reverse using whole paracord your right in trouble....unless of course the whipmaker has gone to the trouble of pre shrinking it...

My old faithful 5 foot nylon bully has had several full scrub ups fully submerged in the bath and is non the worse for wear....

Tony

IndyWhips wrote:...if you have the type thats plaited in reverse using whole paracord your right in trouble....unless of course the whipmaker has gone to the trouble of pre shrinking it...

Plaited in reverse? What does that mean?

Some nylon makers use the whole chord and plait the whip backwards, you start with a single strand halved and twist it then continue adding paired strands as you go rather than the conventional way of dropping strands as you go after starting from the top.....

Look at the Coyotewhips web site to see examples of this type of plaiting...

Tony

i find a damp papertowel to work, just whipe in a spiraling motion and it gets the dirt off....
submerging it or soaking it can never be good eh?

Shagbd wrote:i find a damp papertowel to work, just whipe in a spiraling motion and it gets the dirt off....
submerging it or soaking it can never be good eh?

The big advantage I have is if I ruin it I can just make another

If it's just dirty from use that day then I agree with you a towel Paper or Cloth will do the job fine, when I said I cleaned mine in the bath (I did) but that was grime built up over time rather than getting it muddy on one day, I submerged it to rinse the soap off after scrubbing it top to bottom with a nail brush...it came out like brand new with no adverse effect at all....

Tony

Well for those of you who may not know I have been making nylon bullwhips since about 2001-2002, and this is one of the top questions that I get asked about nylon whips. I personally tell people that you should try to have the same respect for a nylon whip that you should for a more expensive kangaroo hide whip, in terms or use and cleaning. First when people say that there whip has got a little dirty with use and want to know how to clean it. (My reply to them is good to hear, that you are using your whip and not just letting it sit as a display piece. I then will go on to say that it is normal for a whip to pick up the greenish color of the grass that you should be cracking it on) In some cases people may need to give there whip a slight cleaning for what ever reason. The common thing that people say is that it is made out of nylon so you can get it wet. Personally being a whip user and a whip maker I would say no for the most part (there are exceptions). You wouldn't want to get a kangaroo whip wet so why would it be ok to do that to a nylon whip. First I would recommend taking a dry towel or cloth and wiping the whole whip down. If there are a few spots that still might be a little cruddy you lightly, lightly, LIGHTLY, damp the towel and try rubbing where the part that may need a little more help. As for using soap I try to stay away from it, many soaps contain oils and other hash chemicals that could damage the nylon. If one needs to use soap try to use a more water based one like Johnson's baby shampoo. Mix a SMALL amount of soap in room temp. water and dip a towel into the mix, ring out so that it is not dripping wet. Softly scrub the area affected, then light rinse off the area that you had to work on, take a dry towel and blot the wet area until almost try, then unroll your whip and leave unrolled to dry (not in the sun, and do not use your whip until it is dry.) I hope that kind of helps with your question I know it may seem like a simple thing but there is a range of stuff to cover in it. If I was unclear about anything or you have anymore questions about this feel free to ask.

Keep Crackin
James

Go and get about 2 bucks worth of quarters.

Go to a drive-in car wash.

Pull out the power-wash wand.

Wash, Rinse, Repeat ;-)

At least that's what a buddy of mine did with his 8 foot nylon.

Of course, this is the same guy who didn't listen to me and knocked a quarter -sized chunk out of his arm with a bullwhip because he wouldn't listen to me too. I'd take that into consideration before following the above.

Me personally, I'd follow the directions outlined above by Classicbullwhips.

Wet is fine, as is soap. At least for my whips. I do not condone soaking all the way through, as I use steel shot. Water could seep beneath the binding with no way out and rust the steel.
For heavy soil in spots use a soft bristle toothbrush. Otherwise a damp towel with or without mild soap.
Ron

IndyWhips wrote:Some nylon makers use the whole chord and plait the whip backwards, you start with a single strand halved and twist it then continue adding paired strands as you go rather than the conventional way of dropping strands as you go after starting from the top.....

Look at the Coyotewhips web site to see examples of this type of plaiting...

Tony

I had a hard enough time figuring out how to braid a 12 plait...
Now I need to do it backwards!!?!?!?!

rjallen70 wrote:Wet is fine, as is soap. At least for my whips. I do not condone soaking all the way through, as I use steel shot. Water could seep beneath the binding with no way out and rust the steel.
For heavy soil in spots use a soft bristle toothbrush. Otherwise a damp towel with or without mild soap.
Ron

Rjallen70, as I stated you should always try avoid getting any whip wet even nylon, no matter who made it (even if they are your own). I have been making whips for a fairly good amount of time and been cracking them for even longer so I tend to stand fairly strong on the advice I give about nylon whip care. While nylon can be more of a forgiving material then leather it still should be given the same respect as those more expensive whips. A wet whip is never a good idea no matter the material. As for the heavy soil spots even a soft bristle brush is not the best choice for cleaning. A brush has the ability to somewhat make the nylon fibers seem like they are a little fuzzy when the whip dry. You can however use a very mild soap but not my first choice when cleaning a nylon whip. The best way is the way described above if at all.

Keep Crackin
James

Okay, well my whip is dry now and it seems like it is A-OK. I just hope that I didn't soak it enough to let it seep into the steel shot - It was a rinse with a hose, really fast - I guess I'll just try not to worry about it and next time I'll just stick with the cloth.

Thanks everyone for your replies and help. It seems like this is actually more a misconception about nylon than most people realize.

Yeah.... "what would I know"

Still it's good to see a forum working as it should.

The OP posted about his concerns having hosed his whip..

I at one end of the extreme posted of my experience of cleaning nylon whips.

Classicbullwhips posted the other end of the extreme with the opinion you shouldn't get the whip wet at all.

Rjallen the maker posted the middle ground that soap and water were fine just not hosing and dunking....

The OP is now in a position to make an informed choice on how to clean his whip next time round taking into account other peoples opinions and experiences along with his own...

GREAT!


Tony

Tony,
I can't really speak with any authority on your whips, or C.B.'s
I agree with you in that the un-cored nylon paracord is quite capable of immersion. I keep a couple of "knock around" whips that have been put through the ringer so to to speak and show no adverse effects, but these are lead loaded. (Even salt water). But the steel in the core of my current design would be my only concern. So we are not in disagreement really at all.
Ron

rjallen70 wrote:Tony,
I can't really speak with any authority on your whips, or C.B.'s
I agree with you in that the un-cored nylon paracord is quite capable of immersion. I keep a couple of "knock around" whips that have been put through the ringer so to to speak and show no adverse effects, but these are lead loaded. (Even salt water). But the steel in the core of my current design would be my only concern. So we are not in disagreement really at all.
Ron

Hey Ron,

I didn't think we were in disagreement either, but if we were thats what forums are about anyway, differing opinions, and more importantly experiences so the folks reading get an overview

My experience is that I use 3.4mm ball chain so no issues with water, I put the whip in the bottom of the bath then using a bowl of water, some shower gel (whatever was on the side) and a medium weight nail brush I scrubbed the whip top to bottom, I rinsed the bath out to get rid of the dirty soapy suds in it, then ran a few inches of water and dunked the whip fully in the water and swirled it about to rinse it....I hung it on the line in the garden to dry, once it was dry I rolled it on the marble slab just as I do when they're fresh plaited....this did not effect the whip in appearence or performance at all...infact I've done it twice to the same whip now, it's really wet and muddy here at the bottom of my garden in the UK...

Best Wishes

Tony

Edited because I lied I said above that washing it didn't effect the appearence or performance.....thats not true it very much changed the appearence it looked and smelled LOTS better

The only reason I crack nylon whips is because I can get them wet and not have to worry about it. But then I usually wear out the ends of my nylon whips within a year and buy new ones. So maybe if I didn't get them wet I'd get more life out of them (though that would also mean less use).

Do you guys have any opinions on re-waxing nylon whips?

-Adam

Hey Adam,

buy nylon whips why are you not making your own? Time?

I don't wax my nylon as standard but I've played about with wax when I first started to plait in nylon...I tried parafin wax and also bees wax...

I'm guessing it's the same in the states(but maybe not) as here in the Uk bee's wax comes in two colours brown and yellow, the yellow one for some reason I have no logical explanation for seems more hardy and long lasting.....the bonus is it dries clear to...

To re do the ends when I get those requests I just heat the wax till it's melted, let it cool slightly then drop the whip in, I hang it to dry then once it's dry I go over it with a hairdryer and a cloth to melt and work in any excess thats accumulated.....

Someone like Rhett Kelly or the guy on here ~IndianaHall~ will be much better qualified to answer than me about wax but this is my best effort

Tony

classicbullwhips wrote:Well for those of you who may not know I have been making nylon bullwhips since about 2001-2002, and this is one of the top questions that I get asked about nylon whips. I personally tell people that you should try to have the same respect for a nylon whip that you should for a more expensive kangaroo hide whip, in terms or use and cleaning. >>snip
Keep Crackin
James

Wait a minute, now I'M confused! I thought the whole reason nylon whips became popular in the first place, was because wranglers in Florida found that synthetic material was better to use in the swampy areas of the state, and could "take a punch" for the wet wear and tear they would receive, more so than cowhide, or even a fine roo whip.

No disrespect to the talented nylon whipmakers out there, but I would certainly be more concerned about the care of a whip made of roo leather, than one made of nylon. Please educate me about this if I'm wrong.

bluzharp wrote:Please educate me about this if I'm wrong.

Sounds to me like your pretty well educated already

I agree.
No kid gloves required here.

Ron