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11 Expert Tips:

How to Clean Nylon Webbing Strap

Ever wonder what should you do with a contaminated nylon webbing strap?


Ever wonder what should you do with a contaminated nylon webbing strap? Especially after weeks or months of wearing it against your skin with all the sweats in the outdoor environments for hours? Or you got it soiled or stained somehow during one of your outdoor activities. Regardless of the reasons, most people have no proper guide when comes to cleaning their nylon made fabric items such as nylon strap. Here are some tips in response to the common questions about the cleaning of nylon for you, including the most often asked question: “Can I bleach nylon?”

What Do You Need to Know About Nylon?


Before cleaning, you should have some knowledge about the material you are going to clean - NYLON.

• A synthetic material specially treated with a solution that can resist different chemicals and maintain its good look. Inappropriate use of the cleaning solution might weaken the chemical properties.

• The tough webbing construction of a nylon strap is made of woven threads for durability purposes. But it is prone to trap dust and germ.

• Nylon has a high melting point which makes it an excellent abrasion-resistant. Burning it will only melt it and make it fuse together but not catch fire

Q1: Hot water or Cold water?

Use lukewarm water with a mild detergent or all-purpose laundry detergent (Tip1). Soak the strap inside the soapy water and use a soft brush like a toothbrush to aid the scrubbing process. This is to remove the dirt trapped inside the woven threads. 

Q2: Hand wash or Washing machine?

Hand wash is sufficient (Tip2). If you want to wash it using the washing machine due to your laziness, please put the nylon strap into a mesh bag before entering the cycle with the cold water setting (Tip3). You would never want it to interfere with the normal functioning of the washing machine. 

Q3: How Frequently should you wash it?

Wash the nylon strap every 1 to 2 weeks (Tip4) at least even though they might seem dirty in our naked eyes, especially with the Covid-19 pandemic happening. For intensive cleaning due to the reasons like after months of wearing or full with muds, stain remover with cold water (Tip5) is recommended. 

Q4: Can I bleach nylon? 

The stain on the nylon webbing strap is the most headache issue. Ask your wife or your mom and she might scream at you. Bleaching is often the option to turn to for removing the stain and kill germs. But should you bleach it? If you are a cleaning freak, you probably would say yes. But cleaning experts would give a “NAY” answer. Bleaching a nylon strap without any dilution and too frequent is going to weaken its best properties over time, weaken its strength, and therefore undermining its optimal functioning. Therefore, NEVER bleach a nylon strap with load-bearing capacity (Tip6) unless you would like to put your life at risk!


If your nylon strap is not the load-bearing kind, you can bleach it with enough dilution. A ratio of 10:1 is recommended (Tip7) by the cleaning experts to minimize the damage and also to avoid discoloring the colored nylon (Tip8) as there is no white color underneath it. Referring to the guide of the bleaching solution you have purchased is always the best way to play it safe.

Since bleaching is not recommended for the load-bearing kind of nylon strap, what alternative can you go for? Use ½ cup of lemon juice in a spraying bottle with water and let it air-dry under the sun (Tip9). The combination of citric acid and sunray would create a bleaching effect naturally.

Q5: Blow-drying or Air-drying?

After rinsing it, just lay the strap flat or hang it for air-dry overnight (Tip10). Although nylon has a high melting point, it doesn’t mean you can just expose it to high temperatures for a long duration. It is better to avoid blow-drying or putting it into a dryer (Tip11) if you want it to last long.


A Quick Wrap Up


• Use lukewarm water with all-purpose detergent.

• Hand wash is sufficient.

• Use a mesh bag and choose a low-temperature cycle if the washing machine is your choice.

• Wash it every 1-2 weeks.

• Use stain remover with cold water for intensive cleaning.

• Never bleach on load-bearing kind of nylon strap.

• Use a ratio of 10:1 to create a weak bleach solution.

• Never bleach on the colored nylon strap.

• Use ½ cup of lemon juice with water and let it air-dry with sunray.

• Choose air-dry.

• Avoid the use of a blow-dryer or dryer.