Best way to air dry glove?

[Jonathon v]

Hey guys I know most big brands and lots of people today tell you in between skates to tie up the glove while it dries and put something in it to stretch it. I only “tie” it up, which I do by putting my blocker on it to let it stay shut, it air dries fine. Anyways on my gnetik 8.0 for the first 7 months I had it, I didn’t air dry it. I know it’s gross but I loved the feel of it closing so easily. Once I started to hate the slimy feeling I air dry it now. For usually over 12 hours or more in between practices/skates example is I get off the ice at 840 on Monday’s, get home at 930 to 10, and air dry till about 4 pm on Tuesday. Anyways the problem is that when it dries it always feels very hard and crusty. I’ve been air drying it every practice for about 5 months now, so idk. Is it because I shouldn’t air dry it by letting it sit in an open room, is it because I didn’t dry it for about 7 months straight. Only reason I’m asking is because I got my brains optik glove today and it feels so damn nice inside I don’t want it to be crusty. Can someone help 

[cwarnar]

I use this

I'll wrap it for 24-48 hours after a skate on my GT Pro.  When I do this I'll open the glove up as much as possible:

Lastly after the glove has dried I'll stretch it open with a wood stick extension

[Chenner29]

The crust is from salt building up in the glove from your sweat.

You can wash out your gear once in a while:

• Run bathtub, lukewarm water.  Put the stopper down.  Mix one scoop gentle detergent and some Oxi-Clean
• Swirl so it gets bubbly.
• Dunk your gloves and agitate the water with your gloves.  You should see the water start to turn an ugly brown.
• Drain and refill until the gloves run clean.
• Air dry, then put a big fan and run it over the gloves to finish drying.
• They should be completely dry in 2-3 days.

[Jonathon v]

7 hours ago, Chenner29 said:

The crust is from salt building up in the glove from your sweat.

You can wash out your gear once in a while:

• Run bathtub, lukewarm water.  Put the stopper down.  Mix one scoop gentle detergent and some Oxi-Clean
• Swirl so it gets bubbly.
• Dunk your gloves and agitate the water with your gloves.  You should see the water start to turn an ugly brown.
• Drain and refill until the gloves run clean.
• Air dry, then put a big fan and run it over the gloves to finish drying.
• They should be completely dry in 2-3 days.

Won’t that ruin the leathers? 

[stackem30]

51 minutes ago, Jonathon v said:

Won’t that ruin the leathers? 

Unlikely — leather tends to get ruined when it dries out too much after getting wet. You wouldn't want to get leather wet, and then dry it out next to a furnace/radiator, or in a dryer — that's when it warps and cracks. If it's allowed to air-dry in a cool/mild environment, you should be alright. Notice that Chenner said "once in a while". Despite what I just said, if you're constantly getting it soaked, it might not respond well.

I'm not a certified expert, but I've always been very into cleaning/conditioning leather boots, and I've learned a lot about what leather can take, and what it can't. Plus, the leather on your gear is synthetic, likely Jenpro ... it's not a real full-grain leather like chromexcel or something. It's meant to stand up to moisture and abuse.

[TheGoalNet]

8 minutes ago, stackem30 said:

Unlikely — leather tends to get ruined when it dries out too much after getting wet. You wouldn't want to get leather wet, and then dry it out next to a furnace/radiator, or in a dryer — that's when it warps and cracks. If it's allowed to air-dry in a cool/mild environment, you should be alright. Notice that Chenner said "once in a while". Despite what I just said, if you're constantly getting it soaked, it might not respond well.

I'm not a certified expert, but I've always been very into cleaning/conditioning leather boots, and I've learned a lot about what leather can take, and what it can't. Plus, the leather on your gear is synthetic, likely Jenpro ... it's not a real full-grain leather like chromexcel or something. It's meant to stand up to moisture and abuse.

@Chenner29 - showed me a pic of him doing this. I fully respect the desire and hygiene aspect of cleaning your stuff. However, I am with @Jonathon v - Submerging a product that's not designed to be submerged are not something I get excited about. Maybe if you have a salt build up, you could use the power sprayers in the kitchen sink? That might knock some stuff off without getting all the padding in the palm foams soaked?

I have the same set up as @cwarnar - Don't need it on the GNetik IV though

[stackem30]

That is fine, but it should be noted that Chenner, myself, and plenty of people have done this with no adverse effects. I'll obviously stop short of saying it's fail-proof — and I more than understand anyone who just doesn't feel comfortable with doing this — but there's plenty of real history/evidence to support the method. We're not speaking out of conjecture, whereas people who are scared to try it are (and again, I totally understand that mindset). My glove (a custom Stomp glove) is 'irreplaceable', and I am scared to death of anything bad happening to it... I've washed it out in a tub and air dried it twice, with no issues.

[SaveByRichter35]

10 hours ago, cwarnar said:

I use this

I'll wrap it for 24-48 hours after a skate on my GT Pro.  When I do this I'll open the glove up as much as possible:

Lastly after the glove has dried I'll stretch it open with a wood stick extension

I actually tend to do the opposite.  I open my glove as much as possible after games so it can air dry over night in front of its fan.  The next morning I spray everything down with an essential oil spray to kill the bacteria and I then store the glove all closed up on the floor with my puck bag on top of it to keep it closed.  My rational is I want as much air as possible to get into the glove to dry all of its nooks and crannies.  I store it closed to keep the break "engaged" I guess you can say.  I feel the glove looses its snappiness if I store it spread open.

[SaveByRichter35]

In regards to the submerging of gear, I used to always do "the plunge" into the pool with my goal shorts and c/a.  I stopped doing that, though, I never had a problem with doing it.  I actually just recently gave my gear a bath but I didn't submerge it.  I just sprayed it all down with the shower head until the water running through the gear was clear again.  

[Jonathon v]

Are you guys sure soaking it in water is ok? I did that with my glove a year ago, before I got my gnetik 8 glove and it stayed wet for months. I didn’t air dry it as much as now, but it was pretty bad, also my coach (older coach, kinda stubborn) every time says it just ruins the leathers. Is this true, for example one method I will never do is the keeps method because I don’t wanna soak it in water just like that

[Chenner29]

2 minutes ago, Jonathon v said:

Are you guys sure soaking it in water is ok? I did that with my glove a year ago, before I got my gnetik 8 glove and it stayed wet for months. I didn’t air dry it as much as now, but it was pretty bad, also my coach (older coach, kinda stubborn) every time says it just ruins the leathers. Is this true, for example one method I will never do is the keeps method because I don’t wanna soak it in water just like that

Does your coach know what happens to ice when it melts?

You need to give it time in the sun so the moisture evaporates, and if you don't have the time (2-3 days) in between to let it fully dry, you shouldn't do it.

[BadAngle41]

If I was in your shoes, I would use @Chenner29's method of cleaning and then moving forward use the drying, wrapping, stretching outlined by @cwarnar.

If you don't have a well ventilated space for drying your gear... maybe pick up a dehumidifier. 

[Jonathon v]

23 minutes ago, Chenner29 said:

Does your coach know what happens to ice when it melts?

You need to give it time in the sun so the moisture evaporates, and if you don't have the time (2-3 days) in between to let it fully dry, you shouldn't do it.

Isn’t leaving it in the sun not a good idea? I have a pretty empty big room I can leave it in to dry, just not 2-3 days. I probably won’t have a break that long till the season is over for at least 1 of my teams

[stackem30]

7 minutes ago, Jonathon v said:

Isn’t leaving it in the sun not a good idea? I have a pretty empty big room I can leave it in to dry, just not 2-3 days. I probably won’t have a break that long till the season is over for at least 1 of my teams

I think that's where I differ from @Chenner29 — leaving it in the sun may not be disastrous, but if the sun is strong that day, I'd worry that's a little too much heat for wet leather.

Leather can take plenty of moisture, as long as it's aired out right after (patting it dry isn't a bad idea, either — if I'm wearing my nice leather boots out in the rain, I'll give them a quick wipe with a towel, and then let them air out far away from a heat source). But when you have wet leather and heat, you can court issues.

If you're less comfortable with a full soak, I would second @SaveByRichter35 and say that running a shower head through your glove works fine. I think you're getting close to splitting hairs with the degree of wetness at that point, but you're not necessarily soaking the exterior of the glove.

Nothing against your coach, but I would expect most people to blindly echo the old "Keep leather away from water!!" adage without really having any advanced knowledge on the subject. Like most things, that's a gross simplification of the matter. It's a more nuanced question, and has a lot to do with the type of leather, the environment it's dried in (hot or cold, airy or balmy), how absorbent the type of leather is, etc. 

[Chenner29]

30 minutes ago, stackem30 said:

I think that's where I differ from @Chenner29 — leaving it in the sun may not be disastrous, but if the sun is strong that day, I'd worry that's a little too much heat for wet leather.

Leather can take plenty of moisture, as long as it's aired out right after (patting it dry isn't a bad idea, either — if I'm wearing my nice leather boots out in the rain, I'll give them a quick wipe with a towel, and then let them air out far away from a heat source). But when you have wet leather and heat, you can court issues. 

If you're less comfortable with a full soak, I would second @SaveByRichter35 and say that running a shower head through your glove works fine. I think you're getting close to splitting hairs with the degree of wetness at that point, but you're not necessarily soaking the exterior of the glove.

Nothing against your coach, but I would expect most people to blindly echo the old "Keep leather away from water!!" adage without really having any advanced knowledge on the subject. Like most things, that's a gross simplification of the matter. It's a more nuanced question, and has a lot to do with the type of leather, the environment it's dried in (hot or cold, airy or balmy), how absorbent the type of leather is, etc. 

IMO wet jenpro can take heat, it is why a product like the Rocket Dryer works well.  I have used the dryer after every skate while my gear is still wet with no problems.

[Mroy31]

I've done similar to what @SaveByRichter35 mentioned, although I did it with a few jugs (like a blender jar or pitcher) full of hot water with a small amount mild detergent and then one just hot water.  Just poured it through the glove openings on each and then left to dry.  I used a dehumidifier that I kept watch on because it just ran without stopping and didn't want it to over dry it.  It breathed a bit of life into my old One100/TotalOne gloves, haven't had to do it with my 2S yet.

A boot/glove dryer would be a good solution in general as well, they usually have a timer and optional heat.

[Jonathon v]

1 hour ago, stackem30 said:

I think that's where I differ from @Chenner29 — leaving it in the sun may not be disastrous, but if the sun is strong that day, I'd worry that's a little too much heat for wet leather.

Leather can take plenty of moisture, as long as it's aired out right after (patting it dry isn't a bad idea, either — if I'm wearing my nice leather boots out in the rain, I'll give them a quick wipe with a towel, and then let them air out far away from a heat source). But when you have wet leather and heat, you can court issues.

If you're less comfortable with a full soak, I would second @SaveByRichter35 and say that running a shower head through your glove works fine. I think you're getting close to splitting hairs with the degree of wetness at that point, but you're not necessarily soaking the exterior of the glove.

Nothing against your coach, but I would expect most people to blindly echo the old "Keep leather away from water!!" adage without really having any advanced knowledge on the subject. Like most things, that's a gross simplification of the matter. It's a more nuanced question, and has a lot to do with the type of leather, the environment it's dried in (hot or cold, airy or balmy), how absorbent the type of leather is, etc. 

So the outside is all jenpro, but the inside is whatever the optik glove has on the inside, should I let it air dry just in a house that’s between 68-75 degrees?

[stackem30]

38 minutes ago, Jonathon v said:

So the outside is all jenpro, but the inside is whatever the optik glove has on the inside, should I let it air dry just in a house that’s between 68-75 degrees?

I think that would be more than safe. That's a mild enough temperature range, and you don't have to worry about UV rays crisping it up.

Edit: 68-75 degrees?? You bastard... we have (awful) baseboard heating, which doesn't heat our house well, and costs an arm and a leg. We've been keeping our house at 60 (I live in Boston).

[TheGoalNet]

6 hours ago, stackem30 said:

That is fine, but it should be noted that Chenner, myself, and plenty of people have done this with no adverse effects. I'll obviously stop short of saying it's fail-proof — and I more than understand anyone who just doesn't feel comfortable with doing this — but there's plenty of real history/evidence to support the method. We're not speaking out of conjecture, whereas people who are scared to try it are (and again, I totally understand that mindset). My glove (a custom Stomp glove) is 'irreplaceable', and I am scared to death of anything bad happening to it... I've washed it out in a tub and air dried it twice, with no issues.

I know it's done ( and you may think I am a dirty goalie for not doing it!), but it's just something I am not comfortable with.

[Max27]

if you dont clean your glove bc you dont want it to get crusty from getting dry, before youre on the ice, just squirt a little bit of water on the palm(s) i do that when it gets crusty on the inside and havent had any issues with it, but i havent really had that issue much at all

[stackem30]

1 hour ago, TheGoalNet said:

I know it's done ( and you may think I am a dirty goalie for not doing it!), but it's just something I am not comfortable with.

I don't! To each their own.

[old but slow]

Serious question to those that don't want to "soak" their catcher; how long will you have said glove before you replace it?

[Jonathon v]

9 minutes ago, old but slow said:

Serious question to those that don't want to "soak" their catcher; how long will you have said glove before you replace it?

Are you asking if it expands the lifetime to not soak it?

[old but slow]

7 minutes ago, Jonathon v said:

Are you asking if it expands the lifetime to not soak it?

No, More just curious. 

[goalieThreeOne]

Soaking the gear gets water in the internal foams. That causes mold. It's not a good idea, because there's no way to open your gear up easily to dry out the innards.