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climbingaz
Feb 5, 2004, 9:40 PM
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Before anyone yells at me, I did a search of previous threads and wasn't able to find much info on this. I heard someone at my gym say they use rubbing alcohol to clean the bottoms of their shoes and it keeps the rubber real sticky. Any thoughts? Would this damage the rubber/shoe if done repeatedly?
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bobbabaru
Feb 5, 2004, 9:46 PM
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I am no scientist, but I do know that the rubber of my shoes is not my number one "wear and tear" priority.
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rckfreek
Feb 5, 2004, 9:49 PM
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I don't think that it would destroy your shoes...atleast not quickly. But i am not sure that it is really a needed thing. Just rag off the general dirt....and occasionaly use a light brass bristle brush to get the hardened rubber off. This seems to keep things going very well.
Climb Hard
Rock Freek
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dangermonkey
Feb 5, 2004, 9:59 PM
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SimpleGreen spray works awesome. Best cleaning compound I've used for shoes.
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okinawatricam
Feb 5, 2004, 10:05 PM
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Depends on how dirty your shoes are. The rubbing alcohol is nice when your shoes have not been used in awhule and the rubber iodizes (if that's what rubber does). It doesn't need to be done on a regular bases.
I like warm to hot water when my soles het real dirty, but general I don't clean my soles to often. I just yipe them off on my calf when I start a route.
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fiend
Feb 5, 2004, 10:13 PM
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Spit works fine for cleaning shoes, but you might want to avoid licking the shoe directly. I read about a guy that got a parasite from doing just that.
The rubbing alcohol is better for stripping grease off of your hands.
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travelin_light
Feb 5, 2004, 10:59 PM
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ya, they will be sticky all right, sticky for about the lenght of time it takes from one boulder problem to another. i would not bother unless you keep blowing a foot off that crappy shiny hold that every one warms up on in the gym....then maybe. are you a clean freak by any chance? :lol:
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boss
Feb 5, 2004, 10:59 PM
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Boreal actually recommends using rubbing alcohol to clean shoes. So as far as I know it's an OK thing to do. I use it when my shoes get really nasty, and it does seem to bring the rubber back to life a bit.
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wlderdude
Feb 6, 2004, 10:52 PM
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Yes, it gets the rubber really sticky. No, it does not last a real long time.
Yes, solvents like alcohol are can bad for most polymers (like rubber). Polymers have chemicals called plasticizers that lubricate the long chains of atoms. If you stip these out with solvents, the chains of atoms will eventually start breaking instead of slipping past each other.
For example, the sun strips the plasticizers from your dashboard and it will eventaully become brittle and crack unless you replace the plasticizers (with Armorall).
I don't know how significant the effects would be on your climbing shoes. My guess is that ocasional use will not do any significant harm. Climbing shoes wear out pretty quickly anyways just from abrassion. Regular cleaning with alcohol sounds like a bad idea, though.
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micahmcguire
Feb 7, 2004, 12:41 AM
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won't make them sticky (at least stickier than the rubber itself). isopropyl evaporates very quickly and leaves very little behind. it would work great for cleaning though
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