Cleaning Holds Question

Chris Rice here from the Pay It Forward thread.  Like everyplace right now our Rec Center wall is closed.  So it's a good time to strip the walls - wash and check the ropes and anchors - take down all the tape - touch up some paint and check everything out safety wise.  It's also a good time to wash all the chalk and rubber off the holds.  In the past the wife and I have used a wash tub with soapy water and a scrub brush - takes forever :) .  Anyone have any tricks on how to do a large number of holds and still do a good job?

The gym that I used to work at used a power washer. Try that? If you don't own one sometimes hardware stores rent them out.

You can use citric acid (food grade) and it peels the chalk off very quickly. Then just rinse with water. Very little effort required. This doesn’t take the shoe rubber off the holds, but it still cleans them up. Also +1 for pressure washer cleaning. Takes off chalk and shoe rubber but takes a bit more time/space.

James Frost wrote: The gym that I used to work at used a power washer. Try that? If you don't own one sometimes hardware stores rent them out.

I have definitely seen the people who work at my gym use a power/pressure washer to clean holds. I would be careful with how powerful of a setting you use though as I could see a setting too high resulting in breaking/damaging some of the holds.

Vinegar bath! Make a white vinegar / water and a little detergent solution. 

Soap/acid presoak, power-wash everything off. Make sure to wear face shield with some sort of mask to minimize inhalation of aerosolized "stuff".
Ideas for acid - vinegar and citric were given above, another option is diluted muriatic acid ( HCl ) - check out pool maintenance supplies. If going with muriatic acid MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW directions, it is real acid. 

Someone posted video of steam cleaning rock climbing wall, looked very effective at removing gunk, something to consider.

If you have it use a power washer. 3000 + psi is fine, it won't hurt the holds. No soap or solvent bath needed

If your doing it by hand, 10% white vinegar mixed with water solution, let holds soak in a bucket for awhile then scrub off with a sponge or scouring pad