Cleaning your gear

[Cyberpyr8]

I bring a water only spray bottle. I use that and a microfiber cloth for my mask. I have a regular bath towel for everything else on the field. At home I wash everything including clothes, pod pack and neoprene tank covers in the laundry with just detergent and cold water. Everything gets hung up to air dry. I have been doing this forever and my pants and jerseys are all still in good shape. They always feel and look great plus I know they don't have old paint sitting on them to get stained. I also sometimes forget and wash by barrel squeegee too.

[punkncat]

At the field I carry a couple of junky towels and a microfiber for wiping down and the last, in particular, for cleaning the lens. I have a small spray bottle of lens cleaner but couldn't say the last time I actually used it.

I have swapped over to mags as the only (current) marker I shoot. When I get home all of my wearable gear goes into the washer, my mask and marker go to the sink. I leave the air on the mag and run it under water. Shoot it a few times, drop the valve, clean the bolt/spring area, re-oil, shoot a few times and into the bag or tote.

[MrBarraclough]

Spray bottle of 50/50 water/alcohol solution, fluffy polyester microfiber towels, thin microfiber wipes, and some cotton or cellulose reusable wipes/towels, all from the dollar store. I carry an Exalt Barrel Maid swab/squeege on the field, and have a couple of cheap silicone pull-throughs floating around in my bag too. I've also got a bore snake but usually leave it at home. It's just like the one I use to clean my shotgun (same company, too), except it lacks the brass bristles so it's all soft. I've got a few bolt-out-the-back spool valve markers and I can run that bore snake straight through the body tube if needed.

The water/alcohol mix is great because it cuts through paint residue easily but evaporates quickly without streaking. I'll often clean my goggles of paint residue, wipe them off, and then give them another spray and let that air dry, which seems to give me a less streaky/foggy result. The soft polyester microfiber towels are great for carrying in a pocket on the field to clear paint off goggles and clean up old hits (we usually play scenarios with respawns). The thin microfiber wipes are like the ones that usually come with sunglass cases, and I reserve their use for when my lens needs a final polish to remove streaks or haze from paint residue after cleaning the paint off.

I've learned the hard way to not rely solely on the polyester microfiber towels because of the poor absorbency. If it's raining a bit, those things just turn big water droplets into lots of tinier water droplets and smear them around. So I've always got at least one actual cotton dish towel in the bag for when I need to soak up moisture. Those white cellulose wipes that are sold as a paper towel substitute are great for cleaning off gear. Just toss them in the wash afterwards. They'll eventually start to disintegrate after a few washes, but at $1.00 for a pack of 4 I feel I'm getting my money's worth. I avoid typical paper towels, especially with my lens. I might use some of the more cloth-like paper towels, such as blue shop towels.

Back at home, I'll use Dawn on anything that has dried paint residue that can't go in the washer. I prefer the Dawn foam that comes in a spray bottle. It's great for barrels, especially for getting paint out of the porting. Just wash them in the kitchen sink with a brush. If you're worried about anything oxidizing, just spray it with some alcohol, which will displace the water and evaporate more quickly (a trick I use with razor blades too). I would avoid running a mask with a thermal lens under the faucet, though, as you would risk water infiltration of the foam seal that separates the panes. All my clothing gets at least soaked if not washed that same evening. I try to not let anything sit overnight.

Windex is a bad idea. Ammonia is not friendly to polycarbonate lenses, or to plastics in general.

[lew]

Water in a spray bottle, microfiber lens cloths, and a towel for everything else.

[PlawB]

On the field: Sac full of rags, microfibers, some of my drinking water. That's it. I just need to clean my hits and my mask.

At home: Pants, pod pack, and pads go in for a regular wash on cold water. Make sure the hard velcro is covered. Then jersey and everything else in the next wash.

If you need anything other than water to clean the gear that doesn't go into the washer, you don't have enough rags/microfibers/squeegees.