Freezing gloves to kill bacteria....

[golfpuck 0]

wash them once a season with tide and bleach

works great

[analog999 0]

I have the same problem this guy does. After initially reading the post I went out looking for funkfree.com, which was a waste of time - their website is crappy and you can't order anything. They don't answer their phone during business hours either.

I have tried the following:

0) Simply airing my gear out with a hockey gear tree

Result: Still stinks

1) Using any number of anti-bacterial / anti-smell sprays including Febreeze, some No-stink product I bought at a rink pro shop and more.

Result: This is temporary and usually the smell is back before my next game - and it doesn't really get it all anyway.

2) Washing my gear in the bathtub with amonia.

Result: Pretty good results. This keeps them clean for a bit, but they always get nasty again after a few months. Plus it's difficult to do (compared to what I will talk about in a minute).

3) Washing my gear in the bathtub with detergent.

Result: Not nearly as good as amonia, but does get 75% of the smell away.

and finally

4) After reading this post I wondered what the pros use. I found two sites that sell professional deoderizing equipment ($10k+ for a box). After more research and talking with the people, I found out that they use ozone (also found in a post on here regarding equipment that ozone based sprays work.. ??). I have a few of those Sharper Image Ionic Breezes that create ozone in small quantities as a by product of cleaning dust out of the air. I put those in a plastic container (not completely air tight, but good enough), and put in one of my gloves. After about 5 hours my glove only smells like ozone (which another user's post on this board talked about taking theirs in to have them professionally cleaned for $30, mentioned as a mediciny smell of ozone). My mother in law was able to tell the difference on my new attempt at cleaning - one glove stank the other did not. I am convinced that an ozone generator and a larger sealed tub (like a rubbermaid tub) will solve my problems. I ordered a $20 ozone generator on ebay and I'll let you know my results. Until then, I will continue to use my Ionic Breeze!

[mack 44]

damn, mcguyver.

[jbyun04 7]

damn, mcguyver.

rofl

i don't know about you guys but when i tried that NHL Deodorizing Spray that stuff did jack for me.. I sprayed and it only made the sweat smell like minty sweat with a hint of pigskin.

[Chadd 916]

Funk Free actually works.

[analog999 0]

But where do you buy it?

[Chadd 916]

I got it from Jason at Salming.

[duckjob 1]

I'll throw another recomendation out for lanolin shaving cream. I have a couple extra cans of barbasol with lanolin if anyone wants one, i'll just charge you what i paid for the shaving cream and whatever it costs to ship it to you.

[bekster 0]

My equipment also stinks .. its part of hockey :P

[Jason Harris 31]

I have the same problem this guy does. After initially reading the post I went out looking for funkfree.com, which was a waste of time - their website is crappy and you can't order anything. They don't answer their phone during business hours either.

It's not that their website stinks -- although it does.... :D -- it's the guy Mark has working on it that stinks.

As with most websites, it's been evolving, and the latest evolution has taken two months. Mark says he calls the guy and gets a, "Yeah, I'm having a problem getting one part to work, but I should have it up my tomorrow. The next night at the latest." A week will pass and the dance starts over.

Obviously, Mark is frustrated because the product is starting to become better known but they are losing opportunities.

[stevoc 0]

Although my gloves don't stink, (i do air them out after every game over an air purifier) I do like to wash them at the end of the season just by throwing them in the clothes washer. I wash them with my other gear - shin guards, elbow pads, pants, jersey, etc.

[golfpuck 0]

ozone is not healthy for you

http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/air/ozone.htm

"Finally, ozone may be generated indoors by air cleaners. These generators are not effective at cleaning most indoor contaminants, and the ozone released into the air may result in ozone levels that cause health problems in some people. "

[stunner 0]

i use febreze anti-bacterial on my equipment...seems to work..

[awall 0]

I have been freezing my gloves to kill the bacteria in them the last few weeks, but I'm unsure of how long I should keep them in there to kill the bacteria. I usually leave them in for a day or two.

Any ideas on if that's too short of a time to properly kill everything?

The fight against bacteria growing in your hockey equipment will be an ongoing battle as long as you continute to use your equipment. Funk Free is a great product, but I personally had problems with it. After spraying my elbow pads down with it I found that when I used them the next day my arms were all red and irritated. I've got sensitive skin and apparently Funk Free and I just didn't get along.

Here's what works for me, your experience may vary. After every practice I take all my equipment out and set it up on a card table in our dining room to air out. We never eat in the dining room so my wife doesn't complain much. When she does complain I remind her how much I paid for all my pads and then suggest I could leave them outside overnight on our open apartment patio, but someone might run off with them. Eventually airing out the pads just doesn't work anymore and they begin to stink again. Ahh the smell of hockey. When she starts to notice the aroma new life originating from my pads I take them down to hockey wash and have them cleaned. This happens about every 3 to 4 months. Once I get them back they smell nice again and the process repeats itself.

[analog999 0]

ozone is not healthy for you

http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/air/ozone.htm

"Finally, ozone may be generated indoors by air cleaners. These generators are not effective at cleaning most indoor contaminants, and the ozone released into the air may result in ozone levels that cause health problems in some people. "

http://www.air-zone.com/FAQ.html#safe

Ozone isn't healthy for you if you're breathing it. I'm not talking about cleaning my whole garage with the generator and standing there taking in the fumes, I'm talking about using it in a sealed/semi-sealed tub. The ionic breeze i'm using now from Sharper Image doesn't even generate enough ozone to be harmful, but it sure appears to work! I put more gear into my small tub last night and this morning it smells better. My other glove is stink free and my elbow pads are about 5% of their original stench. My helmet, which never really smelled very bad in the first place does not have any smell to it at all now.

I don't know about you guys, but I wear a t-shirt and long workout type pants under my pads. When I am done playing, the t-shirt is a stinky completely wet rag. My wife will wash it twice in the washer and it STILL smells - now that is impressive stench!

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.

[Chadd 916]

Analog: Have you tried using some oxy clean when you wash your shirt and pants? It's the only thing I found to kill the smell on my old Bauer stuff. I still get a rash from the shirts when I wear them so I have moved on to other products. So far I've had pretty good luck with my Puckskin shirt.

[forbs02 20]

They don't have it up on their website yet, but it was in their new catalog. Shock Dr. has made a hockey bag that uses ozone to clean hockey gear. Here is an article from MSP Star Tribune about it.

[ktang 34]

My mother in law was able to tell the difference on my new attempt at cleaning - one glove stank the other did not.

Did ya give her the old face wash?

[Fletch 219]

Lysol is bad for your skin? I have sprayed Lysol on my gear for years and never had a problem (I have fairly sensitive skin to boot). And the Lysol smell stays around for a while too, which is good.

[analog999 0]

Chadd: I haven't tried oxyclean...

Forbs02: That article is interesting! Glad to know I only have to spend $20 instead of $150 for the bag. $150 would probably still be worth it. I actually was thinking about this last night and I did figure I was going to need a small fan to go inside my tub and circulate the air. Interesting that they warm the air as well. I suppose that is to dry the gear. I may try to jury rig an opening for the heater w/fan I have. This might just be eaiser than having my gear sitting on the tree for a day to dry and then putting it in the tub. Thanks for the link!

[technophile 0]

Analog: Have you tried using some oxy clean when you wash your shirt and pants? It's the only thing I found to kill the smell on my old Bauer stuff. I still get a rash from the shirts when I wear them so I have moved on to other products. So far I've had pretty good luck with my Puckskin shirt.

I always dump a spoonful of Oxy Clean (or similar) in with my hockey stuff when I wash it (pants, jersey, undershirt, knee brace) and never have problems with it smelling terrible. Every couple of months I put my pads through a wash cycle with Oxy as well to keep them clean.

[roadrunner 12]

When do you guys think enough is enough for gloves due to bacteria. I've been using the same gloves for 4 yrs. They don't smell b/c I've put in some baking soda, they're not crusty, just old.

[scruffmeister 0]

They don't have it up on their website yet, but it was in their new catalog. Shock Dr. has made a hockey bag that uses ozone to clean hockey gear. Here is an article from MSP Star Tribune about it.

Thanks for that article. I'm definitely gonna be on the look out for this bag once it's available. I've been airing out my gear in the storage room in my apartment and I'd like to be able to declassify it as a biohazard area.

I did a search and found this other link to the same article but this one includes a picture of the bag and fan unit.

[jimmy 194]

ozone is not healthy for you

http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/air/ozone.htm

"Finally, ozone may be generated indoors by air cleaners. These generators are not effective at cleaning most indoor contaminants, and the ozone released into the air may result in ozone levels that cause health problems in some people. "

http://www.air-zone.com/FAQ.html#safe

Ozone isn't healthy for you if you're breathing it. I'm not talking about cleaning my whole garage with the generator and standing there taking in the fumes, I'm talking about using it in a sealed/semi-sealed tub. The ionic breeze i'm using now from Sharper Image doesn't even generate enough ozone to be harmful, but it sure appears to work! I put more gear into my small tub last night and this morning it smells better. My other glove is stink free and my elbow pads are about 5% of their original stench. My helmet, which never really smelled very bad in the first place does not have any smell to it at all now.

I don't know about you guys, but I wear a t-shirt and long workout type pants under my pads. When I am done playing, the t-shirt is a stinky completely wet rag. My wife will wash it twice in the washer and it STILL smells - now that is impressive stench!

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.

Ozone in large concentration is bad for you because it destroys tissue. In small quantities it does nothing, in fact ozone occurs naturally by the weather. If used in right quantities ozone gets used up by the process, so in fact there is no residual ozone left. So say you place your bacteria infested bag in a sealed box and inject ozone in there. The ozone will deplete itself when it destroys the bacteria. However, if you inject too much, i.e., more than is needed for the job, then there will be ozone left over. This leftover must be run through a charcoal filter to neutralize it.

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

[hockeyblood 11]

I actually use lysol, It's anti-bacterial for sure. Just make sure you air dry them.