About Rope Conditioning

Here is some quick info about rope treatment, and what you can expect from our ropes when selecting "Fully Conditioned".

- We use only the purest natural filtered beeswax and jojoba oil. These are expensive materials but worth it.

(Please enquire about vegan option if beeswax is a concern)

- Our ropes are made with high quality fibers and our process renders them silky soft.

- Almost all the initial shed of fuzzies are removed, and while natural ropes will shed fibres through its lifetime, it will be much, much less than singed ropes.

This results in a rope that is conditioned, not simply 'treated'. It is smooth, soft, beautifully defined and comfortable from the start.

 

We dont boil, break, bake. In many parts of the world when advice about rope treatment is given or when vendors sell rope as "Treated" it usually means at most some or all of the following:

- Sometimes the rope is 'broken', pulled under tension and friction over a carabiner and against itself to soften it up, and remove some loose hairs or 'fuzzies'

- The rope is pulled through a flame to singe off the fuzzies, giving a cleaner appearance

- The rope is oiled, or sometimes waxed (and sometimes baked to let the wax melt into the rope. More often than not, it is oiled with mineral oil, which is not terrible but not great either.

This is all kind of okay, and there is nothing inherently wrong with this approach.

But we don't like it.

- 'Breaking' the rope literally creates micro-fissures in the fibres, and while it does soften up stiff or low quality ropes, it also weakens it.

- Singeing rope does remove the appearance of fuzziness, but it makes the rope quite scratchy until it is used enough to become a bit fuzzy again :) It also darkens the appearance of the rope with soot, and can damage the rope if not done well.

- Oiling with petroleum derivatives is not great and can cause skin irritation in some people. Baking the rope to melt in wax has the possibility of damaging the rope if not done well.

 Our method does not use any of these steps, apart from the lubrication.