Paracord Care Sheet and Cleaning Guide: 

 

Introduction:

 

So, you’ve just gotten your new, custom project and now you want to know how to keep it looking the best it can be? Here I will discuss everything you will need to know about cleaning and maintenance. But before we get into that, it is important to first understand exactly what Paracord is. Parachute Cord, (otherwise known as “Paracord” or “550 cord”) is a multipurpose rope made from lightweight Nylon and is soft, yet extremely durable while also having a tensile strength of over 550lbs. As well as this, Paracord also offers the benefit of being rot and mildew resistant. All of these are what makes this cord a wonderful material to craft and work with.

 

The Paracord that I weave all my projects from is of the highest grade and authentic. Even with all these benefits, Nylon has the one downside of being susceptible to high heat. This means that it is important to never wear a Paracord Bracelet for example, when you are taking a hot shower/bath or when you are washing dishes. Exposing Paracord to hot and boiling water will cause the cord to shrink slightly. This shrinking will only ever occur once, and even though it will only shrink a small amount, in some cases the shrinking is enough that it can cause projects to slightly deform. Therefore, I strongly recommend you do not submerge your Paracord project in hot water or expose it to extremely high heat. So now let’s get into how we clean our projects

 

How do we clean a Paracord project?

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Now that we understand Paracord a bit better, lets discuss cleaning. Regardless of whether you have a Paracord Collar, Bracelet, Convention Lanyard, Keychain or so on, naturally your project may pick up some dirt, dust, and small debris overtime. This could be dirt from wearing your bracelet outside or perhaps a scuff mark from your Lanyard brushing up against a wall or maybe just a natural accumulation of dirt/sweat that can build up overtime. So how do we clean this? There are two methods for simple and effective cleaning. The first requires Isopropyl Alcohol (cleaning alcohol), a cloth and a small hard-bristle Brush and I personally find a small toothbrush to be the best for this. The second method requires a small bowl of lukewarm water with a few drops of dish soap mixed into the water, a cloth, and a small brush. Please do not use any harsh or potent cleaning agents such as Bleach when cleaning. Also, please do not use a Tumble Dryer to dry any paracord project or use a Washing Machine to wash a project.

 

Note: these two cleaning methods can be applied to any project. Paracord can also take quite a while to dry and please be careful when scrubbing if your project has Microcord Stitching. For both method examples, let’s assume we want to clean a Paracord Bracelet.

 

• For the First method, take your Bracelet and place it on a solid, clean surface. Open the Isopropyl Alcohol and rub some of Alcohol onto a clean fabric cloth to create a damp spot. Use the cloth to apply the Isopropyl Alcohol and rub the length of the Bracelet. We are not looking to completely saturate the Bracelet, just wet the surface enough to make the brushing effective. Then take your small brush and begin to scrub the length of the Bracelet in small circular patterns and making sure to clean the tight grooves that the cord forms. If any dirt or dust is heavily embedded, simply apply a little bit more Isopropyl Alcohol and continue to brush the desired area until its clean. Then take a cloth and begin to dry the Bracelet to remove any excess moisture that may be left from the cleaning process. Then leave the Bracelet somewhere to dry.

 

• The Second method is very similar to the first but uses Soap and warm Water instead of Cleaning Alcohol. Additionally, while any small cleaning brush will work, I do recommend something along the lines of a Toothbrush for cleaning. So, we begin by taking our Bracelet and placing it on a solid, clean surface. Fill a small bowl with warm water (do not use hot/boiling water), add a few drops of Dish soap and mix with a spoon. Take a dry and clean cloth and dampen it in the water before applying it to the surface of the Bracelet. We are not looking to completely saturate the Bracelet, just wet the surface enough to make the brushing effective.  Use the small brush to clean in circular motions to remove the dirt and debris. If any dirt remains, simply apply a bit more of the soapy water with the damp cloth and scrub again. Then take a dry cloth and begin to dry and remove any excess water from the surface of the Bracelet before leaving it somewhere to dry fully.

 

It should take about one or two days for your project to completely dry. Again, please do not use a Tumble Dryer to dry any Project. Paracord, like a lot of other things, can also become Bleached by the sun if left in direct sunlight for Extended Periods of time. Normal wear will not cause sun bleaching though, so don’t be afraid to bring your project outside. Extended periods of time would be for example, leaving a Keychain on a windowsill for several days.

 

Ill leave you with one additional tip as well. The metal buckles I use for all my projects are extremely high-grade and one thing that can help to prevent and stop any unnecessary wear and tear to the underside of the Buckle (the part that touched your skin) is to apply a thin coat of clear Nail Varnish to that section of the buckle. The varnish works as an extra layer of protection over the surface of the buckle.

 

I do hope this guide was helpful to you. If you have any other questions or queries, please contact me using the “Contact” section of the Website.

 

Vesrynn~