Washing your chaps.............

[WoodMann]

They get pretty dirty quick what with all the oil flung off the chain and dust all over, so as the title says, what's the best way you all have found to clean'em? Drycleaning................

 

[kevin j]

I don't.
figure that any cleaning might degrade the fibers that I can't see inisde until too late.
so that's my rationale anyway.

they never get as bad as carharts on the railroad, so I just wear em.....

k

 

[Eric Johnson]

I think you can wash them by hand in soapy water and then dry them out. I've run mine through a commercial washer, and that worked fine. You probably want to do that before they get too awful, just out of common decency.

I don't know for a fact, but I've heard just the opposite, kevin: As the fibers get dirty, they start to lose their effectiveness. Thinking about it, I think it's fair to assume that clean, dry fibers will stop a chain better than greasy ones.

I like to air mine on the garden fence to keep the deer away, and sometimes they get rained on. That's another way to keep them relatively clean. My wife isn't happy about the scenery, so I have to be kind of sneaky about it--like putting them out there at night.

 

[BrotherBart]

Any fibers last longer and stay stronger when they are clean. The abrasion of dirt grinding in fiber and fabric wears them out. Old lesson learned from an old dry cleaner I worked for in high school.

 

[kevin j]

I may have to rethink my strategy, not be so lazy. I don't have much oil, just sweat. I try and keep out of line of bar as much as possible. I always let them air out at end of day, but have never washed. And of course the knees of mud.

Woolite? I use that a lot for wool sweaters, polypro cold weather underwear, mc riding boots and gear and helmet liners.


eric, curisouty. I have seen on other avators also, the very steep tall notch. why? for control all the way down? or looks like you may be boring the center and need the case clearance? Don't have any pine this part of state, and the hardwood is mostly under 24 inches, often under 16, so I have no idea of handling big softwood.

kcj

 

[My_3_Girls]

Don't quote me on this, but I could swear that when I bought my set last year, it said to wash them before using otherwise they would not protect the full amount they were designed to. In my mind, this gives some credibility to the idea that clean fibers should be washed to fluff (un-mat)them? I don't know, but I haven't done it yet, and that was a few cords ago.

 

[LarryD]

This is refreshing to see this being talked about! I have seen some nasty lookin chaps.

This is what I have done with my chaps and cutting pants. Make sure all of the snaps are snapped together, they can break in a washer and dryer. Put them in the wash machine without any soap. There is enough residual soap in the machine to get them clean. Once washed put them in the dryer on low heat or air dry. The action of being tumble dryed "fluffs" them up and they will be more effecitve in the event of a cut. You may opt to go to a laundramat, I know my wife has complained about washing chaps and such in the past.

This is what is recomended by Husqvarna.

LarryD

 

[WoodMann]

Hmm- wash by hand in soapy water. I'll try dishwashing liquid...........

 

[d.n.f.]

I use Simple Green. The stuff is amazing and totally fine for the environment (or so the bottle says). You can use it full strength or dilute it. It cleans up oil stains too.

I dilute it to wash my motorcycles.

 

[Scott in IN]

If the chainsaw chaps are made with Kevlar fibers you DO NOT want to get them soaking wet! Moisture, sunlight and heat all degrade Kevlar fibers (like in a bullet proof vest). If it were me, I'd just wipe them down with a clean wet rag...

 

[Gooserider]

I'll admit - I cheated and read the instructions! :red: :coolgrin:

From the package on my Stihl Promark Chaps...

Care Instructions
1. Launder all Chain Saw Protective garments before putting into service. (Chaps & Pants)

2. Keep all Chain Saw Protective garments clean and laundered.

3. Machine wash in Warm water (40*C) and machine dry on low setting.

4. Use color safe detergents, but DO NOT USE BLEACH.

5. Improper washing may destroy cut-retardant material.

6. Replace any broken buckles or zippers before putting any garment back into service

7. Once the protective pads are cut, damaged, repaired, or improperly washed, this garment should no longer be used as Chain Saw Protective clothing.

They also had a note saying to Machine Wash before using, and to launder Weekly "to Keep Protective Products at Their Best!"

Now that I've read the instructions, I need to actually wash the chaps! I'd been hoping that if I just kept wearing them, they'd eventually get strong enough to go out and buck up the logs by themselves :lol:

Gooserider

 

[Eric Johnson]

I may have to rethink my strategy, not be so lazy. I don't have much oil, just sweat. I try and keep out of line of bar as much as possible. I always let them air out at end of day, but have never washed. And of course the knees of mud.

Woolite? I use that a lot for wool sweaters, polypro cold weather underwear, mc riding boots and gear and helmet liners.


eric, curisouty. I have seen on other avators also, the very steep tall notch. why? for control all the way down? or looks like you may be boring the center and need the case clearance? Don't have any pine this part of state, and the hardwood is mostly under 24 inches, often under 16, so I have no idea of handling big softwood.

kcj

It's called an open-face notch. It's what everyone who knows what they're doing uses. Developed in Sweden. Instead of a typical pie-slice notch (like you see on Ax Men), the open face notch doesn't break the stem from the stump before it's nearly down. This allows better control and preserves valuable wood fiber. An open-face notch should be about 90 degrees. Google it and you'll find all kinds of good information on felling.

 

[downeast]

[eric, curisouty. I have seen on other avators also, the very steep tall notch. why? for control all the way down? or looks like you may be boring the center and need the case clearance? Don't have any pine this part of state, and the hardwood is mostly under 24 inches, often under 16, so I have no idea of handling big softwood.
kcj

It's called an open-face notch. It's what everyone who knows what they're doing uses. Developed in Sweden. Instead of a typical pie-slice notch (like you see on Ax Men), the open face notch doesn't break the stem from the stump before it's nearly down. This allows better control and preserves valuable wood fiber. An open-face notch should be about 90 degrees. Google it and you'll find all kinds of good information on felling.[/quote]

The horizontal bottom cut on the Open Face CAN let the tree "bounce" on itself when falling. It was my common cut before the GOL and CPL courses. An Open Mouth, or bottom cut that is cut upward at ~ 45 degree angle and a top cut top down at about the same gives an Open Mouth of 80 to 90 degree opening that will allow the tree to fall without a possible kickback or bounce, as well as preventing Barber Chair splits. Don't forget to allow a strong even hinge to control the fall that's ~ 80% of the diameter.

'It has worked well for years, on most trees.

 

[wally]

The horizontal bottom cut on the Open Face CAN let the tree "bounce" on itself when falling. It was my common cut before the GOL and CPL courses. An Open Mouth, or bottom cut that is cut upward at ~ 45 degree angle and a top cut top down at about the same gives an Open Mouth of 80 to 90 degree opening that will allow the tree to fall without a possible kickback or bounce, as well as preventing Barber Chair splits. Don't forget to allow a strong even hinge to control the fall that's ~ 80% of the diameter.

'It has worked well for years, on most trees.

yup. been doing the open-face in combination with the slight upwards angle for the bottom cut for several years. it does work well. still, the open-face by itself is almost always a better option than the "traditional" notch, as the hinge is severed when the stem is much closer to its destination - the ground.

the drawback with the upward-sloping bottom cut is a higher residual stump than for cuts using a flat bottom cut.

 

[Gooserider]

The horizontal bottom cut on the Open Face CAN let the tree "bounce" on itself when falling. It was my common cut before the GOL and CPL courses. An Open Mouth, or bottom cut that is cut upward at ~ 45 degree angle and a top cut top down at about the same gives an Open Mouth of 80 to 90 degree opening that will allow the tree to fall without a possible kickback or bounce, as well as preventing Barber Chair splits. Don't forget to allow a strong even hinge to control the fall that's ~ 80% of the diameter.

'It has worked well for years, on most trees.

yup. been doing the open-face in combination with the slight upwards angle for the bottom cut for several years. it does work well. still, the open-face by itself is almost always a better option than the "traditional" notch, as the hinge is severed when the stem is much closer to its destination - the ground.

the drawback with the upward-sloping bottom cut is a higher residual stump than for cuts using a flat bottom cut.

What I do most of the time is make my felling cuts using an open face with sloping bottom at waist height or a little higher so that I can be standing when the tree starts to go - figure that gives me an extra moment or two of "dodging time" if I don't have to stand up. I try to plan it so that I have one or two stove lengths of stump. Then after the tree is on the ground and I've gotten the stump freed up, I will come back and make a single straight across cut at as close to ground level as I dare. Since there's no tree sitting on it, there is no problem doing a straight cut to free the stump, and it leaves as little a residual stump as possible. It does mean that you'll have two rounds where some of the splits will be shorter than normal, since each has a part of the notch cut out, but IMHO that's not a big deal. I'd never want to be felling a tree when I'm kneeling down as low as I go when making my residual stump cut, and it's a lot easier and more accurate to make the felling cuts when holding the saw at a comfortable standing height.

(Note that I'm not a pro at felling, but this approach works well for me the little that I do - however there are guy's here that do it for a living, and may have better advice than mine!)

Gooserider