I was just wondering what everyone else does to clean/dry their Sawyer filter.

I have the 4L complete.

After a trip, I back-flush the filter with water as hot as my tap will deliver. I will shake the water out of the filter as well. Then I fill the 4L dirty bag w/ hot bleach water, and let it sit for 10 minutes or so. Then I run about half of it through before I stop the flow, and let it sit for another 10 minutes or so. Then filter the rest. Add 4 more liters of hot tap water, and run it through the filter.

The hard part is getting the bags dry. I usually just put them outside in the sun with the caps off to dry.

Does anyone have any great tricks for drying them?

Kudos on your fastidious routine, but it may possibly be more than you actually need to do. The instructions that came with my 4L Sawyer system said nothing about needing to use hot water for backwashing, just: "Let the water flow for about 20-30 seconds after water running through the filter turns clear."

It goes on to suggest: "Prior to long-term storage, or after extended use, the filter may be sanitized by adding a cap full of chlorine bleach to one quart of clean water, then passing it through the filter unit by squeezing the grey dirty water bag. Wait 20 minutes then drain the water from the filter and Quick Release Tube. Let air dry." I just do this by gravity, instead, and have it run into the blue bag, too; I figure that way it all gets bleached.

As far as drying, I clothes pinned mine on the line in the laundry room for a couple of weeks. I 'pucker' the bags open to help with the air drying, and also flip them over and re-position them after a week or so to get the last of it to dry out. They're now stored in a sack that allows air flow, not sealed up tight -- one of my plastic woven sandbags, actually -- with the covers off and tubes detached.

The instructions on our 4L Sawyer indicate to let the water and bleach mixture sit for one hour. We did that and then hung everything to dry for a couple of days before putting away. As Schweady said - all components are detached before storing.

quote alpine525: "The instructions on our 4L Sawyer indicate to let the water and bleach mixture sit for one hour. We did that and then hung everything to dry for a couple of days before putting away. As Schweady said - all components are detached before storing."

Good to know. One hour it will be from now on!