Postgame Equipment Handling

[Krev 86]

I put "is aired out at home".

My garage is attached to my house, and I have nailed set up in the wood so I hang everything that I can up, usually my skates upside down and my shoulders and pants. Everything else is put out on top of my bag and hung on various objects like sticks and edges of tables.

[Shayno 1]

There isn't a lot of space in my house, so when I get home, I scatter my gear on my bed and let it air out for a few hours, then pack it back in the bag, leave the bag open and it lives in my room until next time I play. Thus far my parents have never objected to any particular stench. I'm pretty religious about drying out my gear so, it doesn't smell too bad on the whole. I didn't play this past summer, but judging by how difficult it was to get my gloves dry after practicing shooting, I think I'll have to find an alternative this coming summer.

I do the exact same! Gotta get a tree or something though?? Will figure something out?

[halfmoonyote 0]

I'm OCD about the care of my gear. Removing my gear from my bag is the first thing I do when I get home from a game/pickup/shootaround. Gear hangs on a rack I fabricated and welded. Footbeds come out of skates, blade covers removed. Gloves have their own shelf. Socks and jock shorts get washed after every 2nd or 3rd ice time.

The only piece of gear that I have that has any stink to it at all, is a neoprene knee brace.

[TheHerminator22 0]

I hang my stuff to dry and give it a nice dose of fabreze the next day. It keeps my gear smelling nice and fresh

[niXon 4]

Excuse the older pics, the gear is different but the setup is still the same.

This is a small storage area located under the stairs to our basement. I have a hanging tree that all the equipment airs out on after being sprayed down with a water/isoprophyl mix. Skates are tossed on the boot dryer for about an hour with the guards taken off.

[kr580 2]

I use that, with a second fan underneath. All my gear fits on it and it's dry in a couple hours. I had gone for several months without smelly gear before I forgot to take it out of the bag twice in one week. /sad

[Monty22 821]

My routine is to empty out the bag in our unfinished mudroom to air out, but I may start just leaving it in the bag after severing the extensor tendon in my thumb on a skate blade a few months back....

[BobbyG06 0]

I lay my equipment out in my basement, spray it with febreze and let dry (sometimes I use a fan). I wash my jock, shin pad liners, jerseys and socks twice a week, usally 4-5 skates. I can't stand smelly gear so I like to keep my stuff fresh.

[hampshirepuck 2]

Guest room, when you open up the door the smell just punches you in the face

[Jarick 5]

Asking those of you that air your equipment out inside your house/apartment/etc...

Do you find that the smell;

-is the cause of family/company complaints?

-ever completely disappears?, or does it linger?

Would there be any desire (would the juice be worth the squeeze?) to alter your postgame equipment to alleviate these problems?

Therein lies the motivation for the project, love the responses, keep 'em coming.

Smell isn't a complaint (and it's in the living room), but it's never been really bad. The smell doesn't linger after I pack up the gear.

My drying rack:

[elevation 1]

^^^^nice gear!

[Jarick 5]

Thanks! I went on a splurge last year replacing some older stuff and basically getting my dream gear.

That half-wall it's leaning up against divides our kitchen from the living room, so obviously just setting the stuff out to dry keeps the smell under control. The jerseys are hanging off the balcony staircase. Helmet stays in the bag.

And during tourneys or back-to-backs, I just put an oscillating fan in front of them.

[bagsbie 8]

I always try to air my stuff out outside for 30 minutes to a couple of hours if the weather permits. then, I hang it all in my basement in front of a fan for another couple of hours. fan off then and let it hang until the next game/practice. once dry I spray it with antimicrobal fabreese. I keep a couple of NB sneaker balls in the bag as well when the equipment is transported.

[HockeySavants 5]

On the ride home I leave my gear bag unzipped so it gets some sort of ventilation. I found out that keeping the gear not bunched together works best and with the parts that touch the body to remain exposed to ventilation.

In other words don't let the moisture of the sweat build up.

I have an equipment room / sports memorabilia where I have all my equipment stored on racks and hung on the wall.

I also have a shower installed where I can wash all my gear, etc.

I also have the a laundry room next door where shin guards, elbow pads, socks, and my performance suit get washed.

No need to keep them smelly at all.

I wash my gloves by hand and shoulder pads as well.

I spray my skates down with a deodorizer (although I really don't have smelly feet lol), and also give the helmet a wipe down.

I noticed that the sweatiest part of my equipment is actually my shins over anything, I will usually try to wash those at least once a month.

[markstmartin89 0]

This is my set up at my house for my gear.

Gloves

Rest of gear, two bags of gear at bottom full of old hockey stuff.

[mac53 0]

I always leave my back half unzipped when i leave the rink and drive home then when i get home i spread out my equipment on the floor of my room and put on my ceiling fan and i turn on a box fan too.

[Da Beez 0]

I play 4x per week. I dry my skates in the family room because it is warmer than other areas of the house. I air out the rest of my gear in a downstairs bathroom which is dedicated to hockey gear. I run a fan and close the door. My wife complains about using the bathroom but nobody complains about the smell of the gear.

[Too Old 1]

As soon as I get home I have a routine. First up is I take my jersey, hockey & skate socks, skull cap, towel, undergarment, and nut cup out of the mesh laundry bag it's thrown in when I change out at the rink. It goes into the wash with Woolite on a gentle cycle. As it's in there I take my helmet and run it under hot water in the shower and clean it up. It then goes in front of a box fan along with my gloves, elbows, shins, shoulders, pants, and skates. All of which are sprayed with Febreze first. And the Superfeet inserts are pulled out of the skates. When the laundered items are done with the spin cycle they're also put in front of the fan to dry out. Next morning all is nice and dry and smell-free. If you take care of the gear there's no smell to deal with. For those times (rare for me) that I have games close enough that the cleaning time is not sufficient then it helps being a gear whore. I have two of everything except the undergarment and that can be washed/dried in a hurry by itself. Nothing worse than having to wear wet/cold/smelly gear. Some of the guys that you end up next to on the bench could gag a maggot, lol.

[Tikkanen 1]

Take all gear out of the bag when I get home, half is stored on a desk in my garage, rest of stuff on a sports gear organizer I got from Target. I just like to make sure my stuff is up off of the ground to prevent bugs getting in anything. Pants, shin guards, elbow pads and jock are all sprayed with either Febreze anti microbial or Febreze Sport sport spray. Undershirt, hockey socks, skate socks and jersey are all washed after each game. About once a month hockey pants, shin guards, elbow pads and jock are thrown in the HE wash machine that doesn't have a tumbler in the middle so it doesn't ruin my gear (yes, I actually put some thought into buying a new wash machine). Lately I've been taking the Superfeet out of my skates, a lot of water gets in there.

[Justin Liedloff 13]

I don't care how late I get home, the gear always comes out of the car, out of the bag, and is hung to dry. I refuse to wear smelly gear. Fact is, the better you treat your gear (like airing it out) the longer it will last. Here's my setup:

http://liedloffs.com/images/sardines/locker1.jpg

http://liedloffs.com/images/sardines/locker2.jpg

http://liedloffs.com/images/sardines/locker3.jpg

http://liedloffs.com/images/sardines/sticks1.jpg

http://liedloffs.com/images/sardines/sticks2.jpg

[Tondog 12]

You guys open your bags between ice times!?

[Tondog 12]

WOOT!!!

Anyone using one of these? I like this idea a LOT!

http://www.totalhockey.com/Product.aspx?itm_id=3379&div_id=1

[Hermans 9]

WOOT!!!

Anyone using one of these? I like this idea a LOT!

http://www.totalhockey.com/Product.aspx?itm_id=3379&div_id=1

I have the shock doctor bag but this idea could be better as you don't have to have your gear in a bag getting heated up and all that hot moisture contained in a bag.

[HockeySavants 5]

WOOT!!!

Anyone using one of these? I like this idea a LOT!

http://www.totalhockey.com/Product.aspx?itm_id=3379&div_id=1

I can build one of those for a lot less than $139

[goaliemanshark 6]

http://www.febreze.com/en_US/producttype/febreze_extreme_odor_eliminator.do

Anyone tried this? I usually just use anti bacterial febreze...