Ringing Forums

I think it all depends how far gone they are. Ours got pretty disgusting due to the hand gel used during COVID. I clean ours with warm water and a tiny drop of washing up liquid, if they are really bad by briefly dunking them in the water, otherwise just wiping them repeatedly with a cloth. If necessary, I've used a soft nailbrush to get the gunk out from between the strands. The key thing it to be gentle and patient, you may have to go over them repeatedly - you'll need to rehydrate the goop to get it off. And they will take a considerable time to dry out afterwards.

Here's what Avon Ropes say, which is basically the same thing:

Hemp and Flax are textiles, we would suggest you can use some weak washing liquid/powder and wash them in some warm soapy water for a short period of time which will remove most dirt, you can use a scrubbing brush, but try to keep the time they're wet for as short as possible. We will suggest you allow the ropes to drip dry in a warm room or laid on a radiator. You will notice the natural fibre tail ends get looser and may never return to your original stiffness, even when re-acclimatised within the tower. We suggest you do not get the rope near the sally, or get the sally wet.

We will add a disclaimer to this that Avon Ropes Ltd accept no liability for this advice. Each tower is different, the rope fibres are at different ages and have had different conditions through their life, so anyone washing bell ropes does so at their own risk.