“I always use the thistle knot."

By design and by default, a rope has 2 ends. Always. Ever. No exceptions. 2 ends. No more, no less.
What to do with those ends? It is advisory to think about treating your rope ends according to what you feel works best for you. In most cases (also when getting yourself one of them RopeBoxes), you'll get them with a simple overhand knot. Why?

• – Everybody wants to have their rope end treated differently and some of the rope ending techniques are 'irreversible'. Of course there is always the option of cutting the rope ending of, but that's a waste of rope. With a simple overhand knot, which is very easy to undo, you're free to end your rope the way you want, without the need to make your rope shorter by cutting it, before you even got to use it!
• – Some rope ending is needed for shipping – without, the ends will start to fray, rendering the rope ends useless, so you'd have to cut them of anyway.
•  

Okay clear. But what to do with the rope ends?

There are different ways to secure your rope ends. I'll sum up a few below, and give some pro's and con's about them. Please do note that these arguments are based on my personal view and are not pretending to be the 'al-knowing truth'. Maybe you agree with me on this – maybe not. As always, YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary).

“Don't wash your ropes"

Different partners

If you have a lot of different partners with whom you tie, hygiene might be a concern. Yes, people do sweat, yes we all 'shed skin' constantly. It's not wrong to expect your rope partner to have a certain level of personal hygiene. Would you swap t-shirts with your partner? If you use your ropes often with different partners, try to avoid explicit contact with private areas. To the best of my knowledge, nobody ever caught a disease from bondage, but just the idea by itself might be repulsing. Another option is of course to have a spare set of ropes and give the rope you used for 'intimate contact' to them as a souvenir ;-). 

In any case, if you have a lot of bondage partners or just a single one, treat your rope right. See 'everyday rope care' to learn what to do.

I threw it on the ground…!

Yes, there is a very amusing clip with that title (See this YouTube video) but throwing your rope on the ground is what we're trying to avoid as much as possible. Keep them away from dirt, moist, filth, … If you're doing bondage, make sure the environment is clean. How clean? Would you lie on the floor there?

But they are really dirty!

Well, using your rope might (and will?) make them a bit 'dirty' over time. You can clean them in 2 ways:

The light way: Use a damp cloth and pull your ropes meter by meter through. Not a soaked cloth. Damp is the word. Make sure you've got a cloth that does not pick, because the fluff of the cloth might get all over your ropes. Use one of them fiber cloths. Works perfect!

The heavy way: You can wash your ropes by hand. I don't recommend the washing machines, since this is too intense. However, if you do, use a lingerie bag or a pillowcase. I don't recommend the 'heavy way' because the rope will get soaking wet. As a result, the rope will swell up and shorten. The drying process is very cumbersome and must be done as quickly and thorough as possible. The rope swells up because the water is getting in between the fibers. Rope gets its strength by the friction the different fibers have to one another. When the water evaporates from in between the fibers, without the fibers getting 'forced together' again, the rope will lose strength dramatically. To overcome this, the ropes must be dried under tension. So, take your wet rope and apply tension to it by stretching. After a few hours, you'll notice that the rope you have put under strain is 'sagging out'. Reapply tension. Do this on a hot summer day, so the rope will dry as fast as possible and also the core will be able to dry. If the core stays wet, then some of the fibers might start to rot, again causing a drop in strength. 

Overall advice? Don't wash your ropes…

But they are really, really, really, really, really dirty!

You should have been more careful not to get your ropes that dirty 🙂 However there are times they've become too dirty to use. Think about getting another set. If you're doing bondage in many places that are getting your ropes dirty quickly, then you probably had enough fun to justify getting a new set…!

“Leave them hanging there for hours."

Treat your ropes with the respect they deserve. Why do they deserve it? Because they provide you an endless amount of fun!
– usually your ropes are stored in a bag or something similar. That's OK, because you need to transport them. But let them out once in a while.
– usually your ropes are neatly folded together (hmmm I should make a video on how I fold my ropes and put it here… ). Allow them to 'rest'. To 'lose strain'. To 'get some air'. Do this by taking all your ropes out of your bag, unfold them, and hang them like you would hang laundry e.g. over a clothesline or the bamboo you tied to the ceiling. Or you can do it on a (dry) day outdoors. Leave them hanging there for hours. Or days. Let them breathe.
– fold them. Don't coil them. Yes there is a huge difference. (I really should get that video up…!)
– don't use any braiding techniques whatsoever for rope storage. Your rope will take that shape and you will severely damage the fibers. Not good.