Cleaning gear

[A10airknight]

So how do you guys clean your equipment? I'm especially interested in how to keep this Brown c/a clean.

[SaveByRichter35]

I am crazy with my gear so you may think this is overboard but what I do is try to avoid as much skin contact with my gear as possible.  All the dirt and bacteria and dead skin cells that are on our body get transferred to anything it touches and that is among the biggest causes of equipment smell.  So, I wear Under Armor compression pants(Heat Gear) and *long sleeved* compression shirt(also heat gear).  I also wear sweat bands at my wrists to keep sweat from running down my arms into my gloves.  Armpit sweat and deodorant chemicals in the sweat will also add to all that stench.  If you have a lot of hair dry it a few times throughout the game to keep that sweat from over saturating your mask padding and dripping down into the rest of your gear.  Wring out the sweat band in your mask every period.  That's about as much as you can do during game play.  After game is key, let your shit air out!  I spray all my gear down with HandyAndy's(freshsportsspray@gmail.com if you don't have Facebook) gear spray after every use.  Its a mix of essential oils which kills all the bacteria and does not leave your gear with a slimy residue, it dries nicely.  I set all my gear up in one of my spare bedrooms and have two fans blowing on it and a dehumidifier is also in the room.  You have to let your gear dry out.  If you keep everything packed in the bag it will take longer to dry and that is when all the bacteria will grow and cause everything to smell even worse.  Take good care of your gear and it will last a lot longer.

[parebele]

I use odor eaters shoe insoles in my gloves. Put them in as soon as I'm done playing and don't take them out until I'm ready to go on the ice. Like SBR35, I always air out my gear after a game. I just lay it all out with a ceiling fan running. It's dry by the end of the day. About every 6 months I'll wash my c/a, throat protector, jock and knee pads in the bathtub. I fill it about 4 inches or so and add a little bit of dish soap and then push the c/a up and down and swirl it around as best I can. empty the water, fill it up minus the dish soap, and repeat until the water comes out clear. I'll hang it up to dry and there you go. I've tried the pro cleaning but it left a horrible chemical smell on all my gear. It was so bad I had to keep it outside. So never again.

[bunnyman666]

I stick a cold blow dryer in my skates and gloves, open up everything to air. I do wash gloves every three months. 

[SaveByRichter35]

I  should also add washing your undergarments to the mix as well.  Idk how people wear the same socks and undershirts every skate without washing, jersey too.  How more people don't get staph infections from wearing dirty shit is beyond me.  Some guys on my team are just fucking filthy.  I wash my jersey and all undergarments after every skate.

[bunnyman666]

11 minutes ago, SaveByRichter35 said:

I  should also add washing your undergarments to the mix as well.  Idk how people wear the same socks and undershirts every skate without washing, jersey too.  How more people don't get staff infections from wearing dirty shit is beyond me.  Some guys on my team are just fucking filthy.  I wash my jersey and all undergarments after every skate.

Yes, yes, yes!!!!!

I had the rash that never went away because of dirty equipment. Besides, how the hell could you stand that stench?

[SaveByRichter35]

Just now, bunnyman666 said:

Yes, yes, yes!!!!!

I had the rash that never went away because of dirty equipment. Besides, how the hell could you stand that stench?

Idk how anyone can do it.  Some people are just awful.

[hammbone]

I do all the regular stuff like making sure I air it out and spray it with some type of disinfecting spray but that only takes you so far after several years.

But recently, I've taken my 10yr old chest protector (Vaughn V2) and made a bath for it.

I get a bath going, then take a scoop or two of oxyclean powder and mix it up in a bowl until it dissolves and then dump that in the bath.

Set the C/A in the bath for an hour or so. It's tough to keep it from floating but the arms and inside of the belly pad are in the water.  

The harder part is drying it out. It takes in a lot of water and probably takes 3 days to dry. So I can only do this when my wife is out of town cause there is no way she would be able to handle hockey gear in the house. It drips a ton of water and so I hang it in the kitchen between 2 bar stools with towels underneath and a fan on it. If you had a garage it would be a lot easier.

It's a bit of work but you know what? It works. It doesn't make it smell minty fresh but it definitely makes it smell a lot better. 

[SaveByRichter35]

A good bath goes a long way.  Washing in a front load washer is always an option as well but just be careful when doing so.  Make sure all loose straps are cinched down, tuck arms into the back of the c/a. etc.  NEVER put your gear in a top loading washing machine if it was a high agitator.  Most HE top loaders these days have the low profile ones which should be ok but top loaders are always preferred.  Using a bath tub as Hammbone mentioned is always a safer bet though.

[goalie]

2 hours ago, hammbone said:

I do all the regular stuff like making sure I air it out and spray it with some type of disinfecting spray but that only takes you so far after several years.

But recently, I've taken my 10yr old chest protector (Vaughn V2) and made a bath for it.

I get a bath going, then take a scoop or two of oxyclean powder and mix it up in a bowl until it dissolves and then dump that in the bath.

Set the C/A in the bath for an hour or so. It's tough to keep it from floating but the arms and inside of the belly pad are in the water.  

The harder part is drying it out. It takes in a lot of water and probably takes 3 days to dry. So I can only do this when my wife is out of town cause there is no way she would be able to handle hockey gear in the house. It drips a ton of water and so I hang it in the kitchen between 2 bar stools with towels underneath and a fan on it. If you had a garage it would be a lot easier.

It's a bit of work but you know what? It works. It doesn't make it smell minty fresh but it definitely makes it smell a lot better. 

Alternate to submersing in water is bucket of soapy water, scrub brush and hose it off. Drying time drastically reduced. assuming you have a back yard. Other option is buying new set of gear every year!

[hammbone]

1 hour ago, goalie said:

Alternate to submersing in water is bucket of soapy water, scrub brush and hose it off. Drying time drastically reduced. assuming you have a back yard. Other option is buying new set of gear every year!

Maybe I'll try that over the summer. Wash my car and my gear.

Or just strap it to my roof rack and go through a car wash. 

[SaveByRichter35]

I used to do the pool thing but haven't in a few years lol

[mik]

14 hours ago, SaveByRichter35 said:

I am crazy with my gear so you may think this is overboard but what I do is try to avoid as much skin contact with my gear as possible.  All the dirt and bacteria and dead skin cells that are on our body get transferred to anything it touches and that is among the biggest causes of equipment smell.  So, I wear Under Armor compression pants(Heat Gear) and *long sleeved* compression shirt(also heat gear).  I also wear sweat bands at my wrists to keep sweat from running down my arms into my gloves.  Armpit sweat and deodorant chemicals in the sweat will also add to all that stench.  If you have a lot of hair dry it a few times throughout the game to keep that sweat from over saturating your mask padding and dripping down into the rest of your gear.  Wring out the sweat band in your mask every period.  That's about as much as you can do during game play.  After game is key, let your shit air out!  I spray all my gear down with HandyAndy's(freshsportsspray@gmail.com if you don't have Facebook) gear spray after every use.  Its a mix of essential oils which kills all the bacteria and does not leave your gear with a slimy residue, it dries nicely.  I set all my gear up in one of my spare bedrooms and have two fans blowing on it and a dehumidifier is also in the room.  You have to let your gear dry out.  If you keep everything packed in the bag it will take longer to dry and that is when all the bacteria will grow and cause everything to smell even worse.  Take good care of your gear and it will last a lot longer.

Exactly the same. And it is always necessary to properly ventilate all parts of gear + wash all clothes and jersey after each ice.

I would add that I never put equipment in the locker room on the ground. Maybe it sounds silly, but I realy hate when equipment gets dirty just because of laying on the ground.  If I have a lot of time, I take soap, wather and ultra soft toothbrush for celaning...

 

[bunnyman666]

As silly as it sounds, I also bathe before a game. It was easier when the rink was two miles from my house, for certain. I don't wear anti-perspirant to the rink, and my hair is freshly cleaned. 

I have found it harder to keep my goal equipment stink-free, as there is so much more of it than player equipment. But the key is to VENTILATE! If you leave it in the bag, count on it smelling like a cat litter box crossed with sour mildew and a rotting corpse!

On the subject of sprays- Handy Andy's is the best. Others just don't do it. And Febreeze just combines with the stink and smells even WORSE!

[SaveByRichter35]

4 hours ago, bunnyman666 said:

As silly as it sounds, I also bathe before a game. It was easier when the rink was two miles from my house, for certain. I don't wear anti-perspirant to the rink, and my hair is freshly cleaned. 

I have found it harder to keep my goal equipment stink-free, as there is so much more of it than player equipment. But the key is to VENTILATE! If you leave it in the bag, count on it smelling like a cat litter box crossed with sour mildew and a rotting corpse!

On the subject of sprays- Handy Andy's is the best. Others just don't do it. And Febreeze just combines with the stink and smells even WORSE!

I will do that when I have time as well(and not feeling lazy lol).  Every little bit helps.

[Ghostender]

Agree with all the comments above.

Yes, I can’t understand why people wouldn’t wash their undergarments between games. If you don’t you’re just re-introducing more bacteria (=stink) into your gear. I think some guys think the stink is manly or funny or both – but it ain’t neither (I was recommended in English in high school as you can tell).

It’s a bit of a balance, as your sweat can get into the seams and eventually eat the stitching, but conversely, too many trips in the wash cycle can be just as hard on the equipment. I usually wash stuff twice a year.

I always hang my stuff on a dedicated rack. Because my basement is unfinished, the rack sits away from the wall so no gear is faying up against a wall which promotes better ventilation. I’ve also hear of people using a dog crate cooing fan or a muffin fan salvaged from a PC to aid in circulation.

After some research, I started spraying the CA with a 10- 15% mix of water and rubbing alcohol when I hang it up – good to kill bacteria without hurting the equipment and minimal if any residual odour. I was using vinegar, but liked the more neutral smell of the alcohol. (I don’t like using stuff like Febreeze as it tends to have chemicals to which I am not sure how the fabric and seams in the CA will react.

I used to wash the stuff in the tub but with the new(er) top load washing machines essentially having no spindle, I just fill it up with soapy water (I use the garden hose to top up if the automatic setting won’t go high enough) and then slosh the CA around in the soapy water for a while. Then I put a couple of concrete blocks in a plastic bag (to avoid dirt transfer) and sink the CA under the soapy water for about an hour. Drain the water refill with clear water for rinse, repeat the sinking for an hour and hang on the back porch Usually its dry enough to wear the next day. Using the washing machine has the advantage of, (a) freeing up the tub, (b) making less of a mess on the floor (I “slosh” vigorously and (c) not forcing me to be a hunchback on my knees when washing in a tub (at my age it's a consideration). BTW, if you don’t want to do this in the house, the little plastic wading pools that kids play in are a great substitute for a tub, and doing it in the backyard means it doesn’t matter how much of a flood you cause.

I pull the back plate off my mask and put the mask in a sink full of soapy (dish soap) water and then take a cheap ~ 1” – 2” paintbrush (the ones with the longer bristles) and scrub the inside of the mask especially the foam) and then let it soak for about 15 – 30 minutes. Rinse and hang to dry. I do this once every couple of months. BTW, as with the undergarments, the sweat band is washed after every game.

A final note on the importance of cleanliness: someone had mentioned staph and speaking from near-firsthand experience, it is nasty. My wife had a small scratch on her foot which turned to staph and traveled up over her knee. Once diagnosed (which took about three doctors sad to say) she ended up going to an IV antibiotic clinic every day for a week to clear it up. Believe me; you don’t want to take a week off work that way.

[SaveByRichter35]

I used to do a 2:1 water to rubbing alcohol mix as well.  

Another thing not mentioned yet that I feel should be since we're entering the spring and summer soon is when laying gear outside do not leave it in direct sunlight.  By all means let the warm fresh air get to your gear whenever you can but keep it in some kind of shade.  The sun's uv rays can be damaging to the foams used.

[bunnyman666]

4 minutes ago, SaveByRichter35 said:

I used to do a 2:1 water to rubbing alcohol mix as well.  

Another thing not mentioned yet that I feel should be since we're entering the spring and summer soon is when laying gear outside do not leave it in direct sunlight.  By all means let the warm fresh air get to your gear whenever you can but keep it in some kind of shade.  The sun's uv rays can be damaging to the foams used.

Jenpro gets really F'd up in the sun, as well!

[SaveByRichter35]

Just now, bunnyman666 said:

Jenpro gets really F'd up in the sun, as well!

I did not know that.  So there you go, another reason to keep everything out of direct sun light.

[bunnyman666]

18 minutes ago, SaveByRichter35 said:

I did not know that.  So there you go, another reason to keep everything out of direct sun light.

That's one of the main reasons that high end baseball gloves are still made of leather.

[KootenayKeeper]

This might not be recommended by manufacturers but I washed my gloves in a front load washer along with my Maltese neck guard, jock and jerseys.

The first time I did this a small area of Jenpro weave was abraded through the colour layer on the thumb of the trapper. I patched it with some Padskinz. (Note: Padskinz red weave is nowhere near a match for the red weave used by Vaughn).

Undaunted, this time I put the gloves inside a jersey for the wash and they came out fine.

Like others I soaked my c/a in soapy water followed by a couple of rinses.

And a big yes to washing undergarments and jerseys after every game.

[goalie]

Why is washing undergarments even a question! Do you wear your regular underwear front/back/inside/outside before you wash those?

[SaveByRichter35]

On 4/13/2017 at 5:26 PM, goalie said:

Why is washing undergarments even a question! Do you wear your regular underwear front/back/inside/outside before you wash those?

Not so much underwear, but I have seen guys wear the same damn undershirt and socks over and over and over and over.  Its disgusting.

[Srsieve]

That is just plain nasty.   I was an assistant coach for my Son's team for several years, and I have to say teenagers are the worst when it comes to this.   Many of them would leave their stuff in their bag from skate to skate and it would still be wet when they pulled it out.   The whole locker room stunk so bad I could hardly stand to be in it for 2 minutes.    I got on them every single practice or game to dry out their crap and wash what was washable, but they don't listen.   Dangerous or not, I don't know how they could stand to put that stanky crap on each skate.    Disgusting.  

Like others have said, I wash everything that is easily washable after every skate.  My CCM goalie bag came with a nice mesh bag that is perfect for this.   Everything I am going to wash goes in that bag as I undress. so when I get home, I take that to the laundry room immediately and the stuff goes into the machine.  

I go back out and put my gloves and skates on the boot dryer (built in timer).  I spray some Odo-ban on my C/A, pants and pads.   If it is warm out, I usually hang my gear on my fence for a couple hours before moving them to the garage when I go in for the night.   In the winter, I hang it up in our laundry room.  I installed some hooks above a wall vent and installed the vent up-side down, so the air is directed up at the gear.  I keep the door to the laundry room closed, so it gets pretty warm in there.   It will usually dry out in a couple hours, no problem.  

After a while, the pants & C/A start getting salt stains from sweat, so I every couple weeks I will put them in the machine on delicate (separately).   I wash them with Mr. Clean (w Fabreeze) instead of regular laundry soap because it kills the bacteria, smells great and doesn't get too sudsy.     I used to use regular laundry detergent, but it took forever to rinse the soap out and it never quite got rid of the stink.    Once again, if it is nice, I will hang them on the fence to dry.   I have also dried them in the regular dryer on low when it is too cold to hang outside.   

A guy in my locker room borrowed a jersey from me last night and said, "that is the first time I have ever borrowed a jersey that didn't reek.   Thank your wife for me."  I said, you can thank me, I wash all my own gear after every skate.    

[A10airknight]

Thanks to everyone for the great advice! When I get a garage I will definitely have to try some of the baths out. For now, I've been hand cleaning it but it takes forever...