Yup so I was a little headstrong and took a 12m out without rechecking the wind. Thought it was 14 gusting to 19 knots. Later I found out it was 23 gusting to 29 knots.

Long story short I jumped and caught a gust and went up and downwind a long way, then got dragged off my field and into a farmers muddy field.

It looked like dirt at first, turned out to be 8 inches of thick nasty mud. I ended up just dragging my kite out and trudging through it. Trust me it sucked... don't do it.

Anyways. The kite, bar, and lines are covered in mud/dirt. How do I clean this and do I need to do it immediately or can I wait until the morning?

Clean it NOW!
lay it out in the yard and hose it off, use a soft bristle brush to help. NO detergent and No soap. Just some elbow grease and lots of water. them hang it up to dry, kite, lines and bar.

Stay out of the mud, Good luck

only problem is I live at an apartment and temps are currently below freezing

bigkid is correct. If you let is set you will have a camo kite forever! Find a friends house with a hose and do it hang it up in your living room. + if you let the dirt settle into the fabric it will act like sand paper wedged between every fiber of your kite. it will be not crispy very soon.

Yup a good gentle hose and some line drying works everytime... I wouldn't let it dry in the sun though as the uv will break down the coating.

Or you have the vwbrian option acording eli,

so big problem. I thought it'd be a good idea to dunk it in the bath tub and try to wash it and pull it out from one wing to the other. That would have worked possibly, it's not really dirty anymore, except I put a huge tangle in the lines/bar/bridals so now it's soaking wet and too tangled to spread out.

I think I'm going to try to hang it up as best I can over some furniture and put fans on it over night, then work out the tangle and go back to the hand washing idea. Glad I washed it right away though, there was tons of straw from the field, plus over 10 lbs of mud

any better ideas at this point?

buy a case of beer when you start untangling all the lines, you'll need it!!

otherwise as said above

Man sorry to hear about your mud scud. It sounds like a whole lot of work but in the end you'll realize it's worth it.
Oh and drink the beer after you untangle everything. Or you might get frustrated and do something beerish!

dry will work best, and better for the gear

scrubbing will abraid the coating and possibly bruise the material.

the mud on the kite is all water soluble, rinse with water , "gently" wipe with wet cloth, rinse and repeat if needed. if the coating is fairly new it will eventually just fall of by itself. any mechanical effort on the fabric is negative.

wet kite in the house , hang on the shower rod and it will be dry by morning may have to move it around a bit.

Yeah, I don't like the bristle brush idea either, even if soft. Every bit of conventional wisdom I have come across advises against it. I used to use a big soft sponge, like the kind you would use on a car for washing, but now find that a wet terrycloth towel works better. The pile of the terrycloth works into the fabric like a brush would but is softer and not abrasive.

For bad stains in isolated areas I have used a bit of gentle hand soap from a bar, like Dove. All agree that detergent is bad but I have found no cogent arguments against this practice. I have used "Natures Miracle" (for pet stains) on blood and other organic stains (whale snot, bird turds, etc.). It is not detergent but enzyme-based that only works against organic compounds. It is the only product I have found that deserves the word "miracle" in the title.

For big kites inside, tie off the bridle toggles to crock clips or to each other, then feed from wing tip to wing tip through the bath tub then over the shower curtain rod like a conveyor and keep the shower running to rinse as it comes out of the tub.

For the beer, I find a hearty IPA warms the soul.

Aw man stains are like tattoos, adds character. And you will always know which kite is yours. (jk) Do NOT go to your local car wash. Do NOT use a pressure washer. any abrasion is BAD. If it is too cold outside to use a hose, just fill mums bathtub full of tepid(I can't believe I just said tepid?) water, and have a go at it. drain and rinse. repeat

Uhmmm 10 lbs of mud in the bathtub can = way pissed off land lord if it doesn't make it down.
Hope your kite comes out good man