best way to wash equipment

[Thinkingjack 51]

How much oxyclean do you put in the washer? I want to try washing my gear with it. Any tips on a cycle to use?

its one scoop for a full load of laundry so one scoop is fine of it. I do that and its great, and i use the arm & hammer deteregent with oxy clean to it as well and it really really works amazing

that or the tide with febreeze sport, that's worth the money ten times over

[Holden Caulfield 5]

Best solution I found - throw it all in a swimming pool for 12 hours - gloves, shoulder pads, pants, shins, elbow pads - everything but helmet and skates. Chlorine is about two parts per million which sanitizes but does not hurt anything. The water gently removes all the salt, slime and dirt. Air dry in the sun.

Everything smells like roses in the end. Also, another way to further endear yourself to the family:-)

[romdj 26]

So far I've washed all my equipment with a front load machine without equipment damage (knock on wood), and when it comes to skate, I use this I wouldn't recommend it yet as I'm still testing it, but I'm 1 month in and have had good results.

Best solution I found - throw it all in a swimming pool for 12 hours - gloves, shoulder pads, pants, shins, elbow pads - everything but helmet and skates. Chlorine is about two parts per million which sanitizes but does not hurt anything. The water gently removes all the salt, slime and dirt. Air dry in the sun.

Everything smells like roses in the end. Also, another way to further endear yourself to the family:-)

Ya, after you dumped that equipment in, I wouldn't go for a swim that's for sure :P

[hampshirepuck 2]

Any Help with getting the rank smell out of shins and elbows? I am now living in a pretty small apartment and need help keeping the smell down in my apartment

[OpenIceHit42 2]

Any Help with getting the rank smell out of shins and elbows? I am now living in a pretty small apartment and need help keeping the smell down in my apartment

I throw my shin guards and elbow pads in my front load washer once every 3 months and clean it on "delicate". Hasn't hurt the structure of them yet.

[Sputnik20 46]

The best solution I have for keeping equipment clean and odor free, is to use a dehumidifier. I lay or hang my gear in front of the thing and turn it on. By morning it's dry. I have gloves that are 10 years old that have no smell. All my gear lacks a certain scent that my teammates tend to have.

Skates and helmets get a rubbing alcohol treatment periodically.

Take a bottle of alcohol, pull the insoles out just a bit, dump haft the bottle in each skate, swoosh it around, leave in front of the dehumidifier.

Helmet goes into a shopping bag, add alcohol, swoosh it around, dry.

Everything else can be thrown in a tub, add a little Wool Lite, rinse, dehumidifier to dry.

To help everything smell clean, throw some Bounty dryer sheets in your bag, gloves, skates. You'll be surprised how much nicer everything smells.

[hockeyguy1 1]

To help everything smell clean, throw some Bounty dryer sheets in your bag, gloves, skates. You'll be surprised how much nicer everything smells.

good idea! definitely going to try that.

[GiancarloSFL 15]

After every game I spray rubbing alcohol on all my gear including skates after I pull out my insoles and place a fan right in front. No problem with smell so far

[rawathletics 0]

Putting dryer sheets inside your gloves helps. I think the most important part is just not letting it get bad in the first place, as someone already mentioned, which means at a MINIMUM you should be airing your stuff out after every use.

[hyster110 3]

rinse everything in a tub of warm water, replace water when it colours and do this until the water stays clean

[joshgrind 1]

Tried the dehumidifier for a couple of months now with a fan blowing on everything. And whoa does it help!

Makes since, get stuff dry quickly before bacteria has a chance to grow.

[Sputnik20 46]

Tried the dehumidifier for a couple of months now with a fan blowing on everything. And whoa does it help!

Makes since, get stuff dry quickly before bacteria has a chance to grow.

Like I said....

[marc0polo 0]

What about your skates? I try to air them out when I get home, but I have sweaty feet and my skates could probably knock someone out if they took a whiff.

Curiously enough, you can also see some blood on the tongue.

[Sarah_the_Hockey_Sloth 0]

I wash all my gear (except helmet and skates) by filling up the bath tub 1/3 of the way, adding 1/4 cup of detergent to it and letting them soak for about 30-45 minutes. Once the time is up, I rinse them out thouroughly, wring them out, and hang them to dry in a room with good air circulation. Usually takes them over night to dry, it's better if you can put a fan in front of them to help the process. As for skates and bag, I use a disinfectant spray and let it do it's job killing all the bacteria. I like to take the soles out of my skates to let them air out a little more. When it comes to my helmet, I take a warm wash rag with soap to it. If you do this, TEARLESS shampoo or soap work well incase you don't get all the soap off, your eyes won't sting when you sweat. Make sure you pay special attention to your chin strap. Socks, cup holders, and jerseys can just be thrown in the wash, I don't recommend putting them in the dryer due to shrinking. You might want to let them air dry as well. For my mouth guard, I just put it in denture cleaner and let it soak for a while before I take it out and thouroughly wash it down.

Hope this helped. I k ow it seems like a lot but it really does help and kills bacteria. I recommend doing it once every 1-2 weeks but you could probably get away with out cleaning your stuff once a Month.

Happy Hockey(:

[dicedece 1]

Baking Soda and a Tide Pod (not always a brand name guy, but honestly, it's the best clean you'll ever get), gentle cycle. Throw all your stuff in. Hang dry. My gear has no smell now, which is awesome.

[JoeyJ0506 191]

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3506556&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo

I cannot say enough about how well this stuff works. My skates were literally oozing greenish brown sludge out of the liner and smelled like roadkill after 2 days in the hot sun. After scrubbing them out in water and soaking them down with Nature's Miracle almost all the smell is gone. It actually breaks down the enzymes, salts, etc. that the bacteria feed on causing the smell. I figure, if it can break down the smell of cat urine it can break down my foot and leg sweat.

[SirJW 207]

Pretty much what others say here.

Air out everything hang it up and use a fan overnight.

My combination is

Tide Sport

Baking Soda

Vinegar

I wash all my under garments and jerseys in Hot and hang dry after every use.

I do the same every so often when they are rank w/ my gloves, shoulders, and elbows.

Every once in a while I will just spray out my helmet in warm in the shower and towel dry it.

I use mouth guard solvent or denture cleaner on my mouth guard every so often but always spray it w/ my water bottle b4 and after I use it.

[Moose 1]

Reading this thread for the first time and it's blowing my mind considering I mostly hand wash certain items and sports febreze after usage on ones I can't wash well.

I have front loading washers where I live. Have folks put leather gloves into those before on the gentle cycle as well with OK results? I have a pair of lesser-priority nylon gloves I could experiment with (since I'm slightly paranoid even though plenty of people have had success) but wanted to confirm with others about leather gloves.

I also have done the dryer sheets. Only problem is mid-game i've wiped my eyes with my fingers and aggitated my eyes since some of the dryer sheet "stuff" lingered and stings.

[Souldriver 64]

I'm lucky that I never had a big problems with smells and all my equipment all have washing instructions that I follow and never had a problem. All washing machine cycles are put on the lowest agitation setting and whatever is allowed go be in the dryer I keep it on the lowest heat. I don't do my elbows shins skates or helmet or gloves because they always dried out and never had a smell. During the winter they go in the boiler room, summer time they are next to 1 of my two dehumidifiers.

Though lately it may be because of extra hot summer hockey, or bc of their age but the elbows are starting to smell bad. I'll try some febreeze spray if not I will do some of the other suggestions in this thread.

[ktang 34]

Reading this thread for the first time and it's blowing my mind considering I mostly hand wash certain items and sports febreze after usage on ones I can't wash well.

I have front loading washers where I live. Have folks put leather gloves into those before on the gentle cycle as well with OK results? I have a pair of lesser-priority nylon gloves I could experiment with (since I'm slightly paranoid even though plenty of people have had success) but wanted to confirm with others about leather gloves.

I also have done the dryer sheets. Only problem is mid-game i've wiped my eyes with my fingers and aggitated my eyes since some of the dryer sheet "stuff" lingered and stings.

I have dunked leather / nylon gloves into warm water with Dettol and detergent, and it turned out fine.

However, I haven't done that with gloves that have Nash or Clarino palms and/or gussets. Clarino and Nash are wood pulp fibres, so too much soaking would ruin the fabric (in my opinion).

I have two team-mates with the same Eagle gloves with Clarino palms and gussets. One wets his palms before each game, for feel, and the other one doesn't. The gloves that are soaked before each game are disintegrating, and the other pair is fine.

[Meals 2]

I do the tub soak with OxyClean, or go to the laundry mat. If I go to the Matt, I put my hockey pants in a mesh Laundry bag. I got a few for about $1.50 each, and they keep the pads from getting messed up.

I also hang up my gear in the garage when I get home and spray it, seems to have helped.

[Meals 2]

Some take good care of my stuff and wash every 3 months but I'm looking for a spray for my gloves ect which will keep bacteria at bay.

I know people like Febreze Sport Extreme

http://www.amazon.com/Febreze-Sport-Extreme-Eliminator-Spray/dp/B002C88J38

But what about these?? Anyone use them??

Vapor Fresh

http://www.amazon.com/Vapor-Fresh-Sports-Equipment-Eliminator/dp/B005ECO9XI/ref=pd_bxgy_hpc_text_y

Oder Aid

http://www.amazon.com/Odor-Aid-Odor-Aid-Equipment-Disinfectant/dp/B002QFV056/ref=pd_sim_hg_7

[Stewie 721]

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3506556&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo

I cannot say enough about how well this stuff works. My skates were literally oozing greenish brown sludge out of the liner and smelled like roadkill after 2 days in the hot sun. After scrubbing them out in water and soaking them down with Nature's Miracle almost all the smell is gone. It actually breaks down the enzymes, salts, etc. that the bacteria feed on causing the smell. I figure, if it can break down the smell of cat urine it can break down my foot and leg sweat.

definitely going to give this a shot for my skates! The Febreze just kind of masks the odor in my opinion, and artificial scents and me dont get along

[SirJW 207]

Been using white vinegar, baking soda and Tide Sport regularly washing my undergarments. Works great. Haven't needed to wash my gear in quite some time. Always air it out and spray w/ an alcohol water solution and fan dry.

[Powerfibers 8]

Been using Mirazyme. One bath of about five gallons top a cap full for a couple minutes, and the gear smells way better.water turned brown, pretty sick. Now spraying with mirazyme solution to maintain.