How to clean your smelly gloves

[eugene8080 0]

I found a solution to getting rid of the old glove smell. Basically, you pore boiling water into your gloves. This is the same idea as the autoclave machines in the hospital that heat their surgical equipment to kill bacteria. Except they can get to 120C and we can only get to 100C, but it's good enough to get rid of most of the bacteria.

Note of caution first. I have tried this on my ancient, smelly eagle gloves and it worked perfectly. EXCEPT that it took off a bit of the black paint so parts of it looks gray, which i personally think it looks nice, but you may disagree. I also tried this on old smelly running shoes. The shoe themselves turned out great, but the insoles shrunk. So depending on your glove's material, you may get undesirable effects.

The method:

1)Boil 1 kettle of water.

2)Use a wooden spatula and wedge it between the Cuff and the Cuff roll (this allows you to hold the glove upright while you pour the boiling water.

3)Pour the boiling water into the glove

4)Cover the opening of the glove with a paper towel to hold the hot vapor in longer.

5)Repeat this process three times, pouring 3 kettles of water into each glove

6)Dry the gloves by placing a fan in front of it until dry (this is important because the damp environment will allow the bacteria to regrow!)

Please be careful not to burn yourselves.

Hopefully this will restore some of your old gloves to new!

[Holy the Goalie 0]

You can get the same results without any of the mess with a steam cleaner, or in a pinch, a "whistling" tea kettle.

[puckhoggy 0]

I totally forgot that I made a post a while back asking if a steam cleaner, example tobi steam iron could work well? I might pull it out on my old pair of gloves that I don't use so I can test it out. Let me know if anyone has used a steam iron...

[tscharf 0]

You could have spared yourself the hassle and just held the glove over the boiling water. Steam is hotter than boiling water.

[Andoy 5]

Like I said before, any pet stain and odour remover will work as it contains natural enzymes that completely break down the bacteria that causes the smell in the first place. 1-3 sprays and you're good to go. It's perfectly safe on your gloves and non-toxic. Plus you dont have to wait for your gloves to dry for those that play multiple times a week.

I use Simple Solution as it's un-scented.

[Axxion89 32]

Like I said before, any pet stain and odour remover will work as it contains natural enzymes that completely break down the bacteria that causes the smell in the first place. 1-3 sprays and you're good to go. It's perfectly safe on your gloves and non-toxic. Plus you dont have to wait for your gloves to dry for those that play multiple times a week.

I use Simple Solution as it's un-scented.

I work at a pet store and have tried every single spray and they do jack for me. I found that using isopropyl rubbing alcohol did a lot of work on some of my wort equipment. Its best to use as preventive maintenance because if you try this on a pair of gloves that reak after like 3 years, nothing will return them to odorless, except the boiling water probably.

[rangers1234 0]

I've been using baking soda, and it's been working great for me. I just put in the powder and let the glove dry out completely. So far so good.

[Ital79 0]

Shaving cream.

Coat the whole glove & stuff it like a turkey, toss 'em in microwave (1min or so), and then toss it into the washer. Viola - stink free gloves.

.......

I used to break-in full leather gloves using the above method back in the day. When the leather palms would get hard, I'd do the same thing and it softened everything up again and didn't smell.

[Led Head 0]

a trick i recently learned is if you have hand sanitizer like purell or what ever, put that stuff on your hands and then put your hands in your gloves. this method doesnt work 100% but it helps cut the smell a little.

[mnpucker 33]

Last night I boiled a kettle of water and planned on pouring the boiling water over my boys gloves and elbow pads. As I began I realized I would need more than a few pots of water to get everything clean. So instead I boiled the water and submersed the gloves one by one in the water. The water turned to a tea like color after 1 pair of gloves I submersed the second pair as well but to be safe I emptied the pot and re-filled it to make sure the second pair of gloves got clean water. Worked great, today the boys played and after NO SMELL..

[twolinepass 0]

I will have to try some of these things out, my hands smell for like 2 days after I play.

[keegan 0]

a trick i recently learned is if you have hand sanitizer like purell or what ever, put that stuff on your hands and then put your hands in your gloves. this method doesnt work 100% but it helps cut the smell a little.

This works well because that stuff is mostly alcohol. Just light it on fire and you'll see what I mean. Airing them out is usually the first defense. It's hard to get the smell out after that but alcohol does work, probably because it kills the bacteria causing the smell. Baking soda is a good neutralizer and drier sheets actually work OK.

[tml67 0]

When my gloves need a cleaning, I submerge them in hot water and add some OxyClean & laundry detergent. It does the trick for me.

[Gefiltefish 9]

I guess I just take the "big-dollar" techinique....

1. Use Tacki-Mac grips.

2. Spray glvoes with StinkOut after every use...

3. Put the gloves on a Shock-Doctor blower (with dual-port attachment) on the fan-only setting (no heat) for about 3-hours.

My PPF's get used three times a week and have zero smell at all... Considering that a $35 gallon of StinkOut has lasted me over a year and that my $100 ShockDoctor blower gets use with skates and a bag as well - it is all worth it in the long run.

Hockey smell is about the most objectional smell to me, so I take as many precautions as I can...

[Jarick 5]

Just don't use the shaving cream the night before the game :D I could barely hold on to the stick! Good excuse to get new gloves this weekend :)

The best I can do is to spray with alcohol after each use and dry it out. Eventually it will smell, and then I wash them in hot water with Oxyclean and detergent, then rinse them well and let them dry. The palms get a bit crusty, so I put some shaving cream on them...although next time I might try baseball glove oil.

[uclahockey707 1]

Thank you guys a ton, just used hot water and the washing machine on a pair of gloves I bought for cheap (that smelt like he wore them on his armpits) and it made a world of difference. Smell and look like a million bucks, but the dirty run off water smelt like hockey locker room :)

[troy 12]

With the shaving cream, do you apply directly and then massage in, or spray on a rag and then scrub? And are you guys cleaning just palms or the entirety of the glove?

[GoWings85 0]

Poured three huge pot fulls of boiling water through each glove and the smell was reduced dramatically! Thanks for the tip.

[kenneth 5]

Poured three huge pot fulls of boiling water through each glove and the smell was reduced dramatically! Thanks for the tip.

pour two in my vapor xxx and smell is reduced big time however there are some sweat stains showing on the outside of my cuffs :(, just a warning for others

[scorpionhockey55 0]

trying this now on an old pair of gloves that smell HORRID. will return with results later.

[MissConduct 1]

rubbing alcohol

[scorpionhockey55 0]

well, i ran 3 pots of boiling water through each glove...no success. they are still wet but they still smell horrible. i have them sitting in front of a fan now.

[MLSman 22]

I use the Lysol disinfectant method from the start...never had a smelly glove in my life. Once coming home from play, spray all equipment with Lysol...and set to dry. Never stink...and always dry the next day.

Worked for me on used pro stocks - generously spray Lysol until every part of the glove is moist. Let dry or use a fan to dry out. Following day, wash in cold cycle with laundry detergent...making sure to place items on top of them to keep them in the water (gloves float). Leave outside or use a fan to dry. Dry thoroughly. If smell persists, repeat the process. If after two attempts the smell persists...see a new pair of gloves. I would never put my hands in something that survives that assault.

The key is to dry thoroughly...as stated before. The quicker it dries...the less time it has to use the moisture to allow bacteria to continue to grow.

[scorpionhockey55 0]

well i decided that my gloves smelled worse after pouring boiling water in them...so i decided to just wash them in detergent/oxiclean then i gave them a gooood dose of febreze and now they smell fresh and new. very happy with the results. they cleaned up nicely too.

[saba 0]

Baking soda with OT spray has had mixed results, might have to go the washing machine route. Do your palms not get destroyed? Worried as there are several small rips in my outer nylon and a small one in a Caps RBK/MIA prostock pair I just picked up