Cleaning your CamelBak

When you buy a Camelbak nowadays you are getting an Omega bladder which has a special FDA and EPA approved layer (HydroGuard) to eliminate 99.99% of common bacteria and fungus from your tube and bladder. This doesn’t mean you don’t need to clean your reservoir.

I did a number of searches on the internet for the best method of cleaning. I came across users who used mouthwash, vodka, water, and some didn’t even clean them. The most common methods other than the tablets you can buy from Camelbak were baking soda, bleach, or denture tablets. Here is the information from the Camelbak website.

1. Fill reservoir with warm water and mild soap.
2. Clean with Reservoir Bursh and Delivery Tube Brush
3. Re-fill reservoir with 1L of water
4. Add 1 Cleaning Tablet
5. Shale reservoir until tablet is dissolved
6. Let stand for 5 minutes
7. Remove water from reservoir
8. Rinse reservoir thoroughly
9. Re-fill for drinking or dry completely before storage

It also says in an emergency you can add a tablespoon of bleach after Step 3 just make sure to rinse it thoroughly. They also say to clean the whole pack place it in a tub or bucket and wash with cold water and mild detergent. They go on to mention how you should not place it in a washing machine.

The method I used combined the CamelBak method with others I found on the internet.

WORKING METHOD

1. Fill reservoir with warm water and 2 teaspoons of bleach
2. Let stand for 8 hours
3. Remove water by removing bite valve and draining through tube 3 times
4. Rinse once with hot water and 2 teaspoons of baking soda
5. Fill with hot water and 1 tablespoon baking soda and let stand for 2 hours
6. Rinse thoroughly and then dry

As I am writing this it is sitting with the baking soda in it.

Update: This method worked perfectly. There is no plastic taste, no bleach taste just the refreshing taste of clean water. I hope this helps some of you out.