Freezing gloves to kill bacteria....

[mojo122 535]

BTW, The Shock Dr bag does not use ozone, it uses ionized air.

Ozone is a byproduct of ionization. Ozone is more problematic for folks with respiratory problems. Question to ask would be how much Ozone does it produce, and whether it remains confined to the bag.

The bag looks interesting, big too. The most important question that I would have to have the answer to before I bought one is:

will it fit in the trunk of my car?

[analog999 0]

I would probably only use the bag at my house and transport with my current bag. As far as my tub idea goes, I plan on testing it out with short increments of time -- the big boy machines do it for 15-25 minutes, so that's what I'll do.

The other poster is right, ozone is a by product of the ionizer, that is why my makeshift tub worked.

According to what I've read, ozone automatically breaks down and turns back into oxygen with time....

[golfpuck 0]

regardless of the smell you need to wash the stuff every once in a while, so that bacteria doesnt build up.

you dont want to get some flesh eating virus or something cause you cut your hand or what ever and then played hockey

[analog999 0]

Ozone shock treatments will kill the bateria/mold in gloves. In fact, it pretty much kills anything after prolonged exposure. That's why people are saying it's dangerous... but only dangerous if you're being stupid, imho

[analog999 0]

FYI - Clothes washer that doesn't use water or detergent...

Link to article

[analog999 0]

The generator came in today and I have to say, it is a smell-free success! I played yesterday for two hours and dried my gear on a tree I have. Today - 20 minutes in my stinky sin bin and my shoulder pads never smelled better.

[malcb33 97]

I am hoping that the ozone generator I bought will really pack a good punch and kill the bacteria on my gear once and for all. I'll let you all know.

Analog999, where did you get your Ozone Generator from? What type of stores would sell a Ozone Generator? How much was it?

[jino86 0]

Haha..dude ~!!!! this may be out of topic... but those smell from our gears are the smell of hockey but do dry out gear b4 its classified as toxic waste..... :P :P

[iceholes 0]

this is quite the trial and error thread..

after reading it, its hard to tell what works and what does not

[analog999 0]

I left my gloves, pants, elbow pads and helmet in the ozone tub last night. There is such a thing as too much ozone! My pants were sitting right against the generator (purchased on ebay for $40 (including shipping). They got a nice little rust colored spot on them now right behind my right thigh pad. Oh well. They're due for replacement sometime soon and a little reddish spot on my black pants isn't that obvious anyway. Anyway - my mistake is your gain - don't put stuff right up against the output! Gear is smell free. It works.

[benpc21 0]

You guys think it would be a good idea to get one of these ozone generators and then put in your hockey bag zipped up? I was thinking about this today, and it becomes pretty air tight, and is like a cheaper version of the Shock Doctor bag but without the drying effect. Any thoughts?

[analog999 0]

My tub is not air tight. You don't want it to be air tight, I think, or the pressure will build inside it, but you do want it enclosed so that most of the ozone stays in the localized area. You will definitely have to air dry the gear first without heat, or add a heater into the mix somehow. I got a bigger tub and I've modified it a bit - added an internal fan to circulate the air to promote a quicker cleaning and I added a timer so I can just leave my gear in there and not worry about excess ozone. When I have it on, the generator will run throughout the night and then just a couple times during the day with breaks. If I left the generator going for hours (as I have done), the ozone starts to build up in my garage. I had to open the doors and air it out today.

My hockey bag is not tight enough (lots of mesh panels) plus there isn't enough room in my bag to keep the ozone generator away from the gear. The generator definitely discolored my pants and I don't know what it would do if it were just crammed in with the rest of my stuff.

[malcb33 97]

Analog999, Could you please take some pics of your drying/ozone tub? I am really keen to try it out also! Also what model ozone generator did you get (there are so many to choose from). Could you post a link or something? Thanks in advance!

[Nelly 0]

Analog, this is a very interesting concept. Mind giving us an update on it and possibly a pic? I can't smell my gear, especially my compression pants and shirt, but the whole locker room is starting to cringe when I open my bag.

[analog999 0]

I took the tub apart because I needed to store my old hockey gear in the tub and my gear is not stinky now. I'm sure soon enough I'll have to put the tub back together and I'll try to take a pic then. By the way, I have a convertible and with all the rain we've been getting here in Washington, I had some mildew/mold start growing in my car - literally! You could smell it as you got into the car - nasty stuff. I wiped the stuff off and ozoned for a few hours and the smell is 100% gone.

Basic Ozone setup:

A big tub, plastic with a closeable lid, but not airtight ($15 at Target)

A small fan to circulate the air ($10 from Fred Meyer)

Ozone generator ($25 from ebay)

24 hour timer ($6 Home Depot)

Use:

Put all your *previously dried* stinky gear in the tub, away from the output of the ozone generator, so that the ozone is not directly blowing ozone onto your gear. Position the fan somewhere inside the tub so that it moves the air around. Plug the ozone generator into the 24 hour timer and set it so that it's goes on and off now and then when you are not in the garage, and off during hours you are in the garage. Believe me, when I first ran this without a timer the smell permeates the entire garage. Let is run for a day or so. Pull the gear out, check for smell. Gear should smell like ozone, not like stink. Let gear sit away from the tub for a couple hours. If gear starts to stink, back in the tub for another day. When finished with no stink, dismantle tub until next time you need to use it.

[technophile 0]

My tub is not air tight. You don't want it to be air tight, I think, or the pressure will build inside it.

If it's airtight the pressure will not build up. (There's no air coming in, so there's no way to increase the amount of air in the bag -- the ozone generator doesn't create new air.)

It would, however, exhaust all of the free oxygen at some point, until enough of the ozone broke down again.

[analog999 0]

I honestly do not know enough about the ozone generator to know how it creates the ozone, and I do not know enough about ozone to know its physical size vs. oxygen. I am thinking for example, like a pop bottle that is shaken can become bloated - it is just fine when left alone and the gas molecules are mixed in with the pop, but after you shake it and release the gas the pressure goes up. Does the ozone generator "shake up" my tub? Who knows - maybe it is an experiment I should do!

[jimmy 194]

Most generators do not create new air or pressure, they use electrical corona discharge to convert o2 to o3. My unit is sealed. Your homemade ones MUST be sealed! Warning, exposure to ozone kills cells, especially in your lungs. It's dangerous stuff. Commercial units have a secondary method to remove residual ozone. If you leave yor equipment in the sealed unit for a few hrs, it is likely the residual will dissipate. Unless you overdose of course.

[analog999 0]

Like I said, I put it on a timer and run it at night. It is long off before I open the tub. Doesn't smell up the garage, but inside the tub you can still smell it. It breaks down rather quickly once I've opened the tub up.

[sds 0]

So, has anyone duplicated analog999's setup? I wonder what type of generator he used?

[Jarick 5]

I just got some of that "Nature's Miracle" stuff a few days ago. Heard good things about products using "natural enzymes".

Normally, after a game, I set everything out on a clothes drying rack, spray it with this Clorox disinfectant spray (mild stuff) and spray it with Febreeze. Everything smells great and clean except the gloves smell HORRIBLE and the palms were crusting.

Put on the gloves and sprayed the palms with a lot of the Nature's Miracle stuff. Stretched my fingers and kind of helped work it in. They smelled like isopropyl alcohol (one of the ingredients), then the smell went away. Now they smell like nothing!

So I don't know if that means the bacteria is dead or what, but at least they don't smell anymore. But I tried a lot of disinfectants and this is the only one that killed the smell. You can find it at any pet store.

[Methane 0]

So, has anyone duplicated analog999's setup? I wonder what type of generator he used?

Ozone Generators are available on amazon.com, the cheapest one is $189 which is probably why he made his own.

[sds 0]

So, has anyone duplicated analog999's setup? I wonder what type of generator he used?

Ozone Generators are available on amazon.com, the cheapest one is $189 which is probably why he made his own.

he didn't make his own generator. He bought one from eBay for $25 - the question is which one? He made his own equipment sanitizing system.

[tsanga 0]

I just tried this at home. Put a small (cheap) ozone generator in a Rubbermaid tub, turn it on and leave some (already dry) gear in there for 1/2 hour to an hour.

No more stink!! I couldn't believe how well it worked. Before this, I would have to wash my hands 3 times to get the stink off from wearing my gloves.

[usahockey22 0]

As others have said, freezing will not kill the bacteria. One way you actually could do this would be to leave your gear out in the sun for several hours on a clear, sunny day.