Wow, lesson learnt.

[Baker]

So last night I learned a lesson. I washed my filter socks with a load of laundry which I have done before. It just so happened that it was a larger load and I just put the socks on top. Big mistake! Not thinking anything of it, I pulled my other socks and put the "washed" ones in. We'll next thing I know, my skimmer is producing soap bubbles like crazy and all my corals immediately closed up and most LPS started to look like it was melting. Of course I started to freak out. With a couple thousand worth of coral in this tank I was thinking I was going to lose it all. Luckily I had a bucket of water so I immediately mixed some salt and did a water change. I filled the reactor with fresh carbon and rowaphos. Started the system back up with the socks pulled out. Within an hour or so I started to see things open up again. Crisis averted. I guess the machine didn't wash out all the soap. So now I have a question, how do you guys wash your socks? I was thinking about hand washing but that's a pain in the a**.

[Aquattro]

I wash mine as a separate load in hot water only. No soap.

[reefwars]

I wash mine as a separate load in hot water only. No soap.

Same here socks only :)

[Skimmer Juice]

I scrub mine by hand in the sink with just water , takes 5 mins I do it once a week

[christyf5]

I soak mine in a light bleach solution, then wash in cold water with an extra rinse (hot water stinks up the basement). Then I let them air dry for at least a week before I use them. I have many in rotation.

[daplatapus]

I run my washer through once empty to rinse any soap residue, then stick the filter socks in by themselves with a 1/4 cup of bleach through a heavy wash cycle and an extra rinse cycle. Let air dry for a day after that.
Probably over kill, but works for me.

[chef]

"not thinking anything of it', will get ya nearly every time. Anyway...
I turn inside out and wash by hand, then soak in water till I have a few piled up. Extra cycle , bit of bleach, NO soap, air dry as long as possible.

[Slyguy00]

I scrub mine by hand in the sink with just water , takes 5 mins I do it once a week

+1

[straightrazorguy]

I scrub mine by hand in the sink with just water , takes 5 mins I do it once a week

Same here.

[AquaPin]

I run my washer through once empty to rinse any soap residue, then stick the filter socks in by themselves with a 1/4 cup of bleach through a heavy wash cycle and an extra rinse cycle. Let air dry for a day after that.
Probably over kill, but works for me.

Do all the same here except I do not do the pre-rinse of the washing machine.

[Dez]

Filter socks? What are those things you speak of?

[kien]

I don't use socks on a regular basis either. Takes 0 minutes out of my day.

[craigwmiller]

Filter socks? What are those things you speak of?

Something to waste your time, and cause you problems I recon :D

[Craigdillman]

Yea socks only hot cycle and a splash of bleach and let them dry before putting them back in, i got 4-5 sets so it works pretty good (wife doesn't like filter socks hanging from the laundry rack but no wars as of yet...

[toxic111]

I wash mine alone with baking soda only.

[Northvan]

Rinse in sink, soak in bleach/water mix for a few days (we have 2 sets)
We used to use the washer on hot, no soap, works also...but I dont trust the washer to completely rinse out the soap

[Baker]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I feel pretty dumb and lucky. Everything looks like nothing ever happened. I washed them in just hot water today and they came out great.

[H2o2]

I power wash mine , built a round wire mesh slip them over and power wash away then hang to air dry

[chutsk10]

First I turn mine inside out and wash them by hand under warm water then soak them in Hydrogen Peroxide for a day. Then they go in the washing machine on high temperature, no soap. I also run a quick rinse cycle on the empty washing machine before putting the filter socks in.

I read somewhere that Hydrogen Peroxide is a more safe method than bleach. Not sure if it's true or not but it seams to get the job done.