HELP!! Cleaning Rycote Softie

[Todio]

Long story short... Waitress dumps whole tray of soda all over my audio rig. Having rig cleanes at Trew Audio but the Rycote Softie is a sopping, sticky mess. Can I hand wash it (no soap) and air dry it or use a hairdryer on low, then give it a good brushing? I'm sure the hair and the rubber gasket are safe to wash but what about the foam inside?

Am going to have to sue the restaurant to get the cleaning bill paid though. He says "well, you shouldn't have brought something that expensive into the restaurant." My immediate response was "What if I was wearing a $5000 Armani suit? Would I have to strip naked to eat there just in case the waitress decided to dump 4 Cokes on me?"

Life's great

[JumpCut]

I've never had a problem cleaning a softie with soap and water. Had to clean my camera one many times after being in smoke from fires and the like.

Just immerse in soapy water and away you go. Leave it out overnight and then give it a good brush to get it looking good again.

[Deaf and Blind]

Mate,

Take the softie, dunk in warm water with a good wool wash use the hands lovingly to work detergent in to the worst areas. If the coke dried on it let it soak for about thirty minutes before using hands and wool wash.
Rinse thoroughly in cold water and hang out to air dry which may take 24hours or more.
You can hold it in your hand and using a full arm swing to get excess water out will hot hurt it if you hold it in the middle.
Do NOT use a hair-dryer it will melt the synthetic hairs.
You may want to tape a dowel to the back of a chair so you can let it dry in a vertical position.
When drying brush gently in the same direction from the back to the front of the softie loosening any knots that may have formed.
Tip up with base facing the ground so hair will fall back drying in a fairly strait (horizontal) direction and should look like new when finished.

I cop a lot of sh!t from crews around town as my woolly dogs always look new. but after every day of use they get brushed / fluffed up stored verticly or hanging free and cleaned on a regular basis.
Having some waitress drop four coke's on it will not do any lasting harm if washed as soon as you can. I assume the microphone inside was still dry?
The foam inside will eventually break down after about 20 years use, by then you can afford to replace it.

cheers mate

D&B

[Todio]

Thanks all, that's a load off my mind! The rig is working fine now and the mic was crackling a bit after the incident but seems fine now too. I'll wash the Softie tonight. My wife's hairdryer has a cold setting so I'm not worried about melting the hair.

Why does stuff like this always happen on the busiest month in ages?

[Gripper]

Please forgive me, as i'm just getting started in the business...but what is a softie?

Thanks for your help.

Gripper

[News Active]

It's a windshield. Reduces the noice that wind generates in the microphone.
http://www.rycote.com/products/softie/default.asp

[ May 17, 2005, 12:30 AM: Message edited by: News Active ]

[Run&Gun]

[ May 17, 2005, 11:02 AM: Message edited by: Run&Gun ]

[Todio]

The washing trick worked wonders, It's like new again!

Thanks all! It's stuff like this that reminds me why I come here.

[Anonymous]

I have one with some bad cracks in the rubber base. What's the best way to fix that (besides buying a new one). Rubber cement?

[Deaf and Blind]

May as well use the industry standard...

Gaffer Tape.