Steam cleaning equipment? Safe? Kills bacteria?

[Rags81 0]

So, i was reading through about Sani Sport and Esporta.

They both use chemicals of sorts. And/or water too.

How about steam cleaning equipment?

If you had a hand held steamer, would that kill all the bacteria in your equipment?

I am very anal about my equipment being dry and clean. When i get home from a game i go directly to my "Sport Rack" and hang up my equipment and turn on a fan in front of it and let it dry for a day to a couple days.

Anyway, that couldn't possibly kill bacteria though. So, i was thinking of alternatives to chemicals and water. Steam??

Would steam clean the equipment, kill the bacteria, and not damage the equipment?

JR? Anyone?

If it is a real solution i will go out and try to find an affordable hand held steam cleaner.

Edited October 24, 2008 by Rags81

[Rustpot 1]

If you're religious about bringing your stuff home and getting it on the rack you shouldn't need to worry too much about bacteria and smell.

Playing hockey doesn't make bacteria, it leaves your equipment in the ideal condition to grow bacteria- warm, moist and dark.

I think Sani Sport uses ozone, basically chokes the bacteria to put it simply. It still doesn't take it away and just leaves protein behind for more bacteria to feed on.

Your best bet is to not let the stuff grow in the first place- which means getting air and light to the equipment and moisture away from it. You could even buy a $20 UV lamp or two- the type used to grow plants indoors- and use the UV radiation to help keep the growth down.

Edited October 24, 2008 by Rustpot

[Rags81 0]

If you're religious about bringing your stuff home and getting it on the rack you shouldn't need to worry too much about bacteria and smell.

Playing hockey doesn't make bacteria, it leaves your equipment in the ideal condition to grow bacteria- warm, moist and dark.

I think Sani Sport uses ozone, basically chokes the bacteria to put it simply. It still doesn't take it away and just leaves protein behind for more bacteria to feed on.

Your best bet is to not let the stuff grow in the first place- which means getting air and light to the equipment and moisture away from it. You could even buy a $20 UV lamp or two- the type used to grow plants indoors- and use the UV radiation to help keep the growth down.

Thanks.

hmm, didn't realize that UV light would help. I think i may try that out.

I guess i'm doing good though on preventing the bacteria.

Thanks again! :D

Edited October 24, 2008 by Rags81

[Rustpot 1]

Google something like "stop bacteria growth" and find more solutions. I'd be wary of steam, the heat might not be great for most equipment. I know from washing gloves that if you're not careful you'll get your equipment too dry and stiff/crusty pretty easily.

As for the validity of UV lamps; look into it, don't take my word for it. I just know from chemistry labs all of our cultures were grown in a specialized oven that keeps the samples dark, body temperature and had a pan of water to keep the humidity up. If that's what makes them grow fast and strong, then bright light, cold and dry is the way to go in my book.

My gear never stunk when I kept to a routine of airing it out. Then I moved places and left my bag zipped up for a week after a skate and everything went downhill from there.

[top 1974 0]

I have tried a few of the over the counter sport disinfectant sprays like Odor Aide and Sprayfresh. Between the two, Odor Aide works better for me. However despite religiously spraying and hanging my gear, elbow and shin pads still stink. I made a little mix of my own: 5 parts water to 1 part Hydorgen Peroxide, plus about a teaspoon of teat tree oil. I spray this on my gear every third or fouth ice time. No more funk. The wife thought I bought new gear....

[Jarick 5]

This was a great discussion we had on this topic.

I cleaned everything in a tub with some laundry detergent and OxyClean. My gear is much cleaner and smells better, my cloth pads are bright white again, and the little bit of white good that was appearing on my shin pads went away. I hang it all to dry right after the game, spray down with the 50:50 alcohol:water mix, and then some Febreze antimicrobial for a fresher smell. I have a little fan pointing down at it going 24/7, and no more complaints about smell.

[Law Goalie 147]

Steam works, but is labour-intensive and a bit dangerous.

Isopropyl alcohol (99%) sprayed after use is better.

[Wolfpack_1986 146]

Rustpot, I'd try to not comment on stuff you dont really know anything about. UV light can degrade most plastics. A risk i'd not be willing to take on my shinguards and helmet.

cold and dry will also set most bacteria dormant, usually only high heat will actually kill them. (though, UV light can kill them, again, the plastics)

Edited October 25, 2008 by puck_it

[Chadd 916]

Google something like "stop bacteria growth" and find more solutions. I'd be wary of steam, the heat might not be great for most equipment. I know from washing gloves that if you're not careful you'll get your equipment too dry and stiff/crusty pretty easily.

As for the validity of UV lamps; look into it, don't take my word for it. I just know from chemistry labs all of our cultures were grown in a specialized oven that keeps the samples dark, body temperature and had a pan of water to keep the humidity up. If that's what makes them grow fast and strong, then bright light, cold and dry is the way to go in my book.

My gear never stunk when I kept to a routine of airing it out. Then I moved places and left my bag zipped up for a week after a skate and everything went downhill from there.

I didn't think the grow lights put out UVC light.

[Wolfpack_1986 146]

Google something like "stop bacteria growth" and find more solutions. I'd be wary of steam, the heat might not be great for most equipment. I know from washing gloves that if you're not careful you'll get your equipment too dry and stiff/crusty pretty easily.

As for the validity of UV lamps; look into it, don't take my word for it. I just know from chemistry labs all of our cultures were grown in a specialized oven that keeps the samples dark, body temperature and had a pan of water to keep the humidity up. If that's what makes them grow fast and strong, then bright light, cold and dry is the way to go in my book.

My gear never stunk when I kept to a routine of airing it out. Then I moved places and left my bag zipped up for a week after a skate and everything went downhill from there.

I didn't think the grow lights put out UVC light.

nor the power density.

[Rustpot 1]

My bad, didn't recall plastics and sun was bad. Like I said on it though, I know UV rad. kills bacteria and it might be something to look into. Guess not.

Yeah, cold and dry leaves them dormant, but you're not going to autoclave gear or bake all of your gear, so I don't think you'd be wanting to do high heat either.

[Law Goalie 147]

That's where steam can work wonders - it's actually better than simple high-temperatures. I have a few friends in the nurse/doctor crowd, and they all said the same thing: the only ways to kill *anything* are alcohol saturation, intense ozone exposure and high-temp steam. They work by actually destabilising organic matter - breaking down the cell wall, etc. If anything begins to grow that can survive that, we'll have bigger problems than stinky gear...

[saba 0]

And just think that amount of bacteria that is on those bathroom walls, showers, light switches

You would be surprised how resilient those mycobacterium and fungus are to kill

Google systemic fungal infections for a good read

[Saint George 0]

Steam works, but is labour-intensive and a bit dangerous.

Isopropyl alcohol (99%) sprayed after use is better.

I have tried everything suggested in a number of similar threads - Fbreeze, Funk Free, etc. Those work pretty well, but this stuff is fantastic: MiraZyme.

You fill up a bucket with water and a bit of that stuff, soak your gear for 10 minutes, and hang it up to dry. All odors gone. It is a bunch of naturally-occuring enzymes that essentially eat the odor-causing bacteria. You can get it lots of places - REI, Campmor, etc.

[Monty22 821]

This is MSH- just get new gear.

[chk hrd 164]

that's why I bought one of those expensive front load washing machines; they can fit my gear in it and they have the hi-temp sanitizer cycle. I wash the gear with a little bleach and they come out smelling great and completely cleaned.

[Law Goalie 147]

The enzymatic stuff works fairly well to break down some of the bacterial waste (which is actually what smells), but it doesn't kill anything living in there (which generates the waste that makes it smell again). If you have a piece of gear that stinks, and you've already taken the necessary steps to sanitize it, it's a good final step. NOK-Out (enzymatic pet deodorizer) also works quite well - neutralises a German Shepherd's diarrhea almost instantly - though it is relatively expensive.

I'm seriously thinking about one of those machines, chk hrd. I'd love it.. wife would love it... not sure wife would love my goalie pants in there, however. Some negotiation necessary...

Edited October 28, 2008 by Law Goalie

[starskie 0]

Steam works, but is labour-intensive and a bit dangerous.

Isopropyl alcohol (99%) sprayed after use is better.

Actually 70% ethanol (or any alcohol) works best to kill bacteria. That's what they use in research labs to clean work benches and other areas. That is what they use in Lysol and other such products, i think. Also, I wouldn't worry so much about the bacteria either, but more so about fungi. Fungal infections are not fun to have because they take a while to fully get rid of and they are hard to get off from your equipment because they can form spores under harsh conditions and come back to life when conditions are more viable. The bacteria you would most likely encounter are probably from your skin anyway, so so long as you keep yourself clean it shouldn't be bad; that is of course you store your equipment in some room harvesting nasty bacteria.

[Law Goalie 147]

70% ethanol works better than 99% isopropynol? Interesting...

[Rags81 0]

So what kills spores?

Don't think i need to worry about all of this because i take care of my equipment and dry it out with a fan as soon as i get home from games...

but this stuff is good to know.

Steam works, but is labour-intensive and a bit dangerous.

Isopropyl alcohol (99%) sprayed after use is better.

Actually 70% ethanol (or any alcohol) works best to kill bacteria. That's what they use in research labs to clean work benches and other areas. That is what they use in Lysol and other such products, i think. Also, I wouldn't worry so much about the bacteria either, but more so about fungi. Fungal infections are not fun to have because they take a while to fully get rid of and they are hard to get off from your equipment because they can form spores under harsh conditions and come back to life when conditions are more viable. The bacteria you would most likely encounter are probably from your skin anyway, so so long as you keep yourself clean it shouldn't be bad; that is of course you store your equipment in some room harvesting nasty bacteria.

Where would one find 70% ethanol to purchase?

[Rustpot 1]

So what kills spores?

Don't think i need to worry about all of this because i take care of my equipment and dry it out with a fan as soon as i get home from games...

but this stuff is good to know.

Steam works, but is labour-intensive and a bit dangerous.

Isopropyl alcohol (99%) sprayed after use is better.

Actually 70% ethanol (or any alcohol) works best to kill bacteria. That's what they use in research labs to clean work benches and other areas. That is what they use in Lysol and other such products, i think. Also, I wouldn't worry so much about the bacteria either, but more so about fungi. Fungal infections are not fun to have because they take a while to fully get rid of and they are hard to get off from your equipment because they can form spores under harsh conditions and come back to life when conditions are more viable. The bacteria you would most likely encounter are probably from your skin anyway, so so long as you keep yourself clean it shouldn't be bad; that is of course you store your equipment in some room harvesting nasty bacteria.

Where would one find 70% ethanol to purchase?

Bacardi 151 is ~75% ehtanol. Use that or distill your own!

Chemical stores may sell bottles of ethanol, but as far as I know it's slightly restricted.

[starskie 0]

70% ethanol works better than 99% isopropynol? Interesting...

i don't know about isopropynol per se, but its what we use in the laboratory (and we have isoprop). i believe it's because of how volatile 99% alcohol is. it would evaporate from the surface before killing most of the bacteria.

Like i said there are disinfectant sprays out there that are contact dependent, such as lysol, which contain all the necessary ingredients to kill most of the bacteria.

As for the fungal spores. If you happen to get a fungal infection from your pads, i would suggest just buying a new pair of guards. certain products may claim to kill them, but i wouldn't take their word for it.

[Jarick 5]

What about a 50:50 mix of alcohol and water? Does that help?

Are you supposed to spray Lysol on clothing? I thought that was a no-no (possible skin rashes?)

[Law Goalie 147]

Interesting point about evaporation... I did check that when I first started using alcohol, and it seems to saturate pretty well for a good couple of minutes before it dissipates. I'll keep an eye on it.

Jarick: I think what he's saying is that any 70/30 solution of pure alcohol/water is optimal whether it's pre-bottled or you mix it yourself.

[epstud74 24]

This was a great discussion we had on this topic.

I cleaned everything in a tub with some laundry detergent and OxyClean. My gear is much cleaner and smells better, my cloth pads are bright white again, and the little bit of white good that was appearing on my shin pads went away. I hang it all to dry right after the game, spray down with the 50:50 alcohol:water mix, and then some Febreze antimicrobial for a fresher smell. I have a little fan pointing down at it going 24/7, and no more complaints about smell.

That is what I normally do.. Last time I threw my CCM 652 tack shoulders into the tub..The water turned a brackish green and brown..Disgusting. Do you turn the water to very hot and add Oxy with something like Tide? In the winter-time I let the stuff dry indoors so it doesnt freeze and then I sit the pads outside on the deck overnite to kill any remaining bacteria..Pretty effective in 15-20 degree temps

Edited October 28, 2008 by epstud74