Anyone cleaning reusing roller fleece

Zwogle · May 3, 2022

Curious if anyone has a good system pf reusing/cleaning roller fleece.
I diy’ed a filter roller using a Klir d4 roll to fit as a drop in without modifying the sump of my Red Sea 250. It works great, but can’t justify buying $15 rolls of fleece that last maybe a couple weeks at a pop. I’m guessing someone has figured out how to get more life out of their fleece, so I would love to see some options before trying to build a clean out jig.

ReefRondo · May 3, 2022

I’ve never heard of anybody doing this. Great idea however not sure how it can work. Even getting it rolled back up would be a challenge. Interesting!

laverda · May 3, 2022

My guess is you can soak them in 25% bleach and 75% water just like filter socks. Then roll them back onto another tub while washing with a garden hose reverse the original direction of water flow. Then soak in fresh water. Perhaps with some Prime to remove the bleach. Or air dry in the sun until there is no bleach smell. I would be concerned about removing all the bleach in the center of the roll.
You could probably rig up a motor to roll it to another roller while you wash it then reverse it to roll it the other way very slowly while it air dries in the sun. That should not be too hard as you already built the filter.

gbroadbridge · May 3, 2022

Zwogle said:
Curious if anyone has a good system pf reusing/cleaning roller fleece.
I diy’ed a filter roller using a Klir d4 roll to fit as a drop in without modifying the sump of my Red Sea 250. It works great, but can’t justify buying $15 rolls of fleece that last maybe a couple weeks at a pop. I’m guessing someone has figured out how to get more life out of their fleece, so I would love to see some options before trying to build a clean out jig.

The cost of replacement rolls is just part of running a roller mat.

Like replacing tyres on your car.

Can't imagine anyone being patient enough to reuse one.

homer1475 · May 3, 2022

Suppose what @laverda posted will work(treat it like a filter sock), but I think the time to clean one would take away from the ease of using one.

Kind of defeats the purpose of running a filter roller. Instead iof cleaning a filter roll, think I would just go back to using filter socks.

Lbrdsoxfan · May 3, 2022

If your going through fleece in only a few weeks, you may need a redesign. It should last a few months, typically.

The material isn't pliable like a sock, imho so I doubt you'd get too many washes and Id worry about how much bleach or any other chemical will stay in the fleece material.

Malcontent · May 3, 2022

If I had a filter roller I'd definitely try cleaning the material but I'd use a pressure cleaner/pressure washer instead. I've been using this on my filter socks and it's quick and effective so it's the first thing I'd try if I had a filter roller.

Pntbll687 · May 3, 2022

I'm sure you can wash the roll just like filter socks, without any issues.

I think the main issue is going to be rolling it back up and getting it to fit.

SmCaudata · May 3, 2022

Lbrdsoxfan said:
If your going through fleece in only a few weeks, you may need a redesign. It should last a few months, typically.

The material isn't pliable like a sock, imho so I doubt you'd get too many washes and Id worry about how much bleach or any other chemical will stay in the fleece material.

Single <4" roll is pretty small all things considered. It's the downside to the drop on variety.

Lbrdsoxfan · May 3, 2022

SmCaudata said:
Single <4" roll is pretty small all things considered. It's the downside to the drop on variety.

This. They make wider setups but they arent drop in.

vtecintegra · May 3, 2022

I use to wash the roll in the washing machine. Then roll it back up (do it while watching TV). Probably specific to my Bubble Magus, but the material would get a little more flimsy, and instead of laying flat against the holes in the roller, the material would tend to get pushed through the outside holes. Once that happened, water would bypass through. So I stopped washing. Would have worked I think, if the holes in my roller weren't so close to the edge of the material.

Zwogle · May 5, 2022

Thanks for all the feedback, here is the idea for a washer I've been thinking about for a while. I made a quick mockup up that hopefully makes sense. Basically, just roll the fleece from one spool to another, then use a spray bar (hooked to a garden hose maybe) spraying the opposite side that traps the debris off. Keeping the distance in the middle to the same as the roll should hopefully get it to roll up evenly. We have well water here, so no worries about chlorine, but I'm guessing I'll need to soak it in some RODI to get rid of the tds present.

Zwogle · May 5, 2022

Lbrdsoxfan said:
If your going through fleece in only a few weeks, you may need a redesign. It should last a few months, typically.

The material isn't pliable like a sock, imho so I doubt you'd get too many washes and Id worry about how much bleach or any other chemical will stay in the fleece material.

Definitely could be a design issue, one thing I will try is change the relay timer, currently when the float is triggered it is set to run for 4 seconds, If I lower that by half it may help with longevity.

Zwogle · May 5, 2022

gbroadbridge said:
The cost of replacement rolls is just part of running a roller mat.

Like replacing tyres on your car.

Can't imagine anyone being patient enough to reuse one.

Definitely understand this, just run into issues when Amazon is out, the added shipping cost from other vendors to Alaska can be a bit too much for me to justify.

kenand · Oct 29, 2023

Zwogle said:
Thanks for all the feedback, here is the idea for a washer I've been thinking about for a while. I made a quick mockup up that hopefully makes sense. Basically, just roll the fleece from one spool to another, then use a spray bar (hooked to a garden hose maybe) spraying the opposite side that traps the debris off. Keeping the distance in the middle to the same as the roll should hopefully get it to roll up evenly. We have well water here, so no worries about chlorine, but I'm guessing I'll need to soak it in some RODI to get rid of the tds present.