Cleaning gear

[bunnyman666]

I was in a locker room full of teenagers today and the smell of their gear nearly KILLED me! Gah!

[Srsieve]

Exactly!  You can usually tell when you walk into a rink if there are teenagers playing.  The whole rink will smell like nasty gear.   I read about several high-school athletes getting MRSA or staph infections from wearing nasty gear with open wounds.   I just don't get why they think it is that hard to dry out their crap.    Occasionally my son (16 yrs old) will have a late game and be too lazy to spread out his gear.   A couple weeks ago he had practice the day before we left for Spring Break vacation and left his gear in the bag, with it partially unzipped.  The day after we came home, I cleaned out the garage and moved his bag and almost puked.   I opened it up and everything was still wet 10 days after he played.   Nasty.    Everything went in the machine or was doused with Odoban and left outside to air out.   I should have put the open bag in the front seat of his car so he wouldn't forget to do it the next time.      

[bunnyman666]

10 minutes ago, Srsieve said:

Exactly!  You can usually tell when you walk into a rink if there are teenagers playing.  The whole rink will smell like nasty gear.   I read about several high-school athletes getting MRSA or staph infections from wearing nasty gear with open wounds.   I just don't get why they think it is that hard to dry out their crap.    Occasionally my son (16 yrs old) will have a late game and be too lazy to spread out his gear.   A couple weeks ago he had practice the day before we left for Spring Break vacation and left his gear in the bag, with it partially unzipped.  The day after we came home, I cleaned out the garage and moved his bag and almost puked.   I opened it up and everything was still wet 10 days after he played.   Nasty.    Everything went in the machine or was doused with Odoban and left outside to air out.   I should have put the open bag in the front seat of his car so he wouldn't forget to do it the next time.      

I had the rash that never went away as a teen and the doctor had me throwing half of my stuff away. Then I became a believer. I had to take on three times as many odd jobs to pay for new stuff that year! 

I hate to think with all of the antibiotic resistant crap out there how people could suffer from debilitating and deadly diseases just from not taking twenty minutes to air out their stuff!

[SaveByRichter35]

People are disgusting creatures.

[bunnyman666]

I had a bit of funkiness with my chesty. Not the cat litter combined with vomit and decaying corpse smell, more like a Cumin-esque but not nice smell. Despite never staying in a bag over three hours MAX, it has gotten a bit earthy. Since I am out of the Handy Andy, I did use something I bought in a sports shoppe that wasn't bad. I will find the bottle and share. 

But I prefer Handy Andy's product.

[bunnyman666]

This is the stuff in question. 

Positives? No weird smell like Febreeze that ends up making it ultimately smelling worse. It has a neutral odour.

Negatives? It's not Handy Andy's product.

[jayluv54]

I have a large spray bottle with a mixture of rubbing alcohol, water, and lysol.  My wife uses it as a mold killer for around window sills and such, but it works great for keeping my gear fresh too.  I always hang my stuff up to dry after each use, but once a week I will spray everything down with this mixture.  It evaporates quickly so it won't leave gear wet, it kills bacteria and deodorizes without a lingering scent.  Doesn't damage anything either as far as I can tell, at least not as long as I've owned anything.  We've also used it to clean our microfiber sofas and we have one that is almost 10 years and is still in great shape, so I don't think it damages fabric at all.

[Ghostender]

On 2017-04-18 at 6:17 AM, Srsieve said:

...Exactly!  You can usually tell when you walk into a rink if there are teenagers playing.  The whole rink will smell like nasty gear.   I read about several high-school athletes getting MRSA or staph infections from wearing nasty gear with open wounds.   I just don't get why they think it is that hard to dry out their crap...

I had to pay for pretty well all my gear from the day I started (~14) because it wasn't something my (single-parent) mother could afford (she did chip in for Xmas and birthday presents when possible). Because of that I really learned to appreciate the cost of equipment and why its' so important to take care of it at a young age. (My first pair of Cooper GP 95s were ~ $200 - it's laughable now, but it took a lot of hours of pushing around huge bins of frozen chicken (part-time job at the poultry processing plant) at $3/hr to afford them!)

I suspect there are a lot of youths (not all) who got their gear paid for by mom or dad and never learned that lesson

[SaveByRichter35]

9 hours ago, bunnyman666 said:

I had a bit of funkiness with my chesty. Not the cat litter combined with vomit and decaying corpse smell, more like a Cumin-esque but not nice smell. Despite never staying in a bag over three hours MAX, it has gotten a bit earthy. Since I am out of the Handy Andy, I did use something I bought in a sports shoppe that wasn't bad. I will find the bottle and share. 

But I prefer Handy Andy's product.

He still sells it.  I just got another batch a little more than a month ago.

[SaveByRichter35]

6 hours ago, jayluv54 said:

I have a large spray bottle with a mixture of rubbing alcohol, water, and lysol.  My wife uses it as a mold killer for around window sills and such, but it works great for keeping my gear fresh too.  I always hang my stuff up to dry after each use, but once a week I will spray everything down with this mixture.  It evaporates quickly so it won't leave gear wet, it kills bacteria and deodorizes without a lingering scent.  Doesn't damage anything either as far as I can tell, at least not as long as I've owned anything.  We've also used it to clean our microfiber sofas and we have one that is almost 10 years and is still in great shape, so I don't think it damages fabric at all.

The only problem with using an alcohol mix, which is why I stopped using it, is too much alcohol can dry out and rot some materials such as the foams.

[mik]

14 hours ago, Ghostender said:

I had to pay for pretty well all my gear from the day I started (~14) because it wasn't something my (single-parent) mother could afford (she did chip in for Xmas and birthday presents when possible). Because of that I really learned to appreciate the cost of equipment and why its' so important to take care of it at a young age. (My first pair of Cooper GP 95s were ~ $200 - it's laughable now, but it took a lot of hours of pushing around huge bins of frozen chicken (part-time job at the poultry processing plant) at $3/hr to afford them!)

 

I suspect there are a lot of youths (not all) who got their gear paid for by mom or dad and never learned that lesson

 

Got it the same Ghostender. Started (16) in borrowed gear from my friend and after full season in that old gear, I could buy parts of my own equipment, but only in parts (Christmas and birthday was allways about some piece of gear or money to collect for ). I learned to take care of my equipment a lot (my teammates would say abnormaly ), because it must last me for years.

Nowdays, I´m lucky enough that I can afford to buy Pro level gear by myself, but still take the same care of it.

[Big2]

After every outing I wash all of my sons undergarments and neck guard + please clean the sweat band on his helmet! Equipment is always laid out after every outing on a table in the garage to air dry. And once a year I will was his CA in the washer the CA is put into a mesh bag so it avoids flailing all over the place and is air dried outside! Finally 1-2 a year I clean the inside of his mask with a tooth brush - mainly I rub all-over except the foam part I have to tell you that since I have installed the Maltese gel in his mask the odor with the mask is stronger than the original foam that came with the mask!

[Ghostender]

I look at hanging your stuff up as a three-fold benefit:

First: there’s the obvious benefit of drying your stuff.

Second: you can do a quick check of your gear – missing or broken buckles snaps screws etc, because only one thing sucks more than getting to the rink and having a damaged piece of equipment and that’s...

Third: you can make sure it’s all there. While it’s always funny when a forward or D shows up missing a skate or shoulder pads (and it seems to happen a lot more than I would have imagined), no one is laughing* when your goalie can’t play because he’s can’t find his cup

*Well, at least not your team

[jayluv54]

On 4/19/2017 at 3:56 PM, SaveByRichter35 said:

The only problem with using an alcohol mix, which is why I stopped using it, is too much alcohol can dry out and rot some materials such as the foams.

True, you have to get the mixture right.  I do 2 parts water, which I've never had a problem with.  Like I said, I've been doing this a long time and it works great, but I'm also not one of those guys with a 10 yr old mask with original  foams in it.  Manufacturers recommend changing out the foam every year, which I do.  I also prefer air2gel foam, which may be more resistant to drying out...don't know.

[jayluv54]

On 4/20/2017 at 11:11 AM, Ghostender said:

I look at hanging your stuff up as a three-fold benefit:

 

First: there’s the obvious benefit of drying your stuff.

 

Second: you can do a quick check of your gear – missing or broken buckles snaps screws etc, because only one thing sucks more than getting to the rink and having a damaged piece of equipment and that’s...

 

Third: you can make sure it’s all there. While it’s always funny when a forward or D shows up missing a skate or shoulder pads (and it seems to happen a lot more than I would have imagined), no one is laughing* when your goalie can’t play because he’s can’t find his cup

 

*Well, at least not your team

 

That's what I do.  I hang everything up in the same spot in my garage as soon as I get home and I leave it there until I'm ready to play again.  That way I can quickly look and make sure I didn't forget to pack anything.  The only item I consistently forget because its not hanging with my gear is my water bottle.

[SaveByRichter35]

5 minutes ago, jayluv54 said:

True, you have to get the mixture right.  I do 2 parts water, which I've never had a problem with.  Like I said, I've been doing this a long time and it works great, but I'm also not one of those guys with a 10 yr old mask with original  foams in it.  Manufacturers recommend changing out the foam every year, which I do.  I also prefer air2gel foam, which may be more resistant to drying out...don't know.

Yep, that's what I used to do as well.  2:1 water to alcohol.  I also always used distilled water.

[goalie]

4 hours ago, SaveByRichter35 said:

Yep, that's what I used to do as well.  2:1 water to alcohol.  I also always used distilled water.

I'll bite

What is air2gel foam and where can we buy it?

[SaveByRichter35]

On 4/21/2017 at 4:55 PM, goalie said:

I'll bite

What is air2gel foam and where can we buy it?

I think you meant to quote @jayluv54 not me but I believe he is talking about something similar to Maltese gel.  

[jayluv54]

air2gel is made by Kemmler, they are local to me here in NC and its where Phil used to get his Gel and stuff from.  I know he had issues with them at some point with filling orders or pricing or something, but don't know if he still uses them or if he found another supplier.  Anyway, air2gel is simply a gel infused foam.  Its more protective than EVA or Rubatex because it doesn't fully compress or harden, yet its lighter than straight gel, kind of the best of both worlds.  

They will send you samples if you want to check it out...at least they used too.  Its been a couple years since I've dealt with them because I still have some left from the last sheet I bought. But I've used it to pad my own masks, replaced the foam in my Vaughn combo, added padding to my knee guards, beefed up my chesty, etc...  I highly recommend the product if you like to save money by upgrading your own stuff.  

[goalie]

46 minutes ago, SaveByRichter35 said:

I think you meant to quote @jayluv54 not me but I believe he is talking about something similar to Maltese gel.  

Oops

[goalie]

9 minutes ago, jayluv54 said:

air2gel is made by Kemmler, they are local to me here in NC and its where Phil used to get his Gel and stuff from.  I know he had issues with them at some point with filling orders or pricing or something, but don't know if he still uses them or if he found another supplier.  Anyway, air2gel is simply a gel infused foam.  Its more protective than EVA or Rubatex because it doesn't fully compress or harden, yet its lighter than straight gel, kind of the best of both worlds.  

They will send you samples if you want to check it out...at least they used too.  Its been a couple years since I've dealt with them because I still have some left from the last sheet I bought. But I've used it to pad my own masks, replaced the foam in my Vaughn combo, added padding to my knee guards, beefed up my chesty, etc...  I highly recommend the product if you like to save money by upgrading your own stuff.  

Thanks for the info. I'll check it out.

[Srsieve]

On 4/19/2017 at 6:23 AM, bunnyman666 said:

I had a bit of funkiness with my chesty. Not the cat litter combined with vomit and decaying corpse smell, more like a Cumin-esque but not nice smell. Despite never staying in a bag over three hours MAX, it has gotten a bit earthy. Since I am out of the Handy Andy, I did use something I bought in a sports shoppe that wasn't bad. I will find the bottle and share. 

But I prefer Handy Andy's product.

Have you tried soaking it in a utilty-tub or running it through a front loading machine?   If you do, I highly recommend using Mr. Clean instead of laundry detergent.   Less suds and the stuff comes out smelling great.   

[bunnyman666]

3 hours ago, Srsieve said:

Have you tried soaking it in a utilty-tub or running it through a front loading machine?   If you do, I highly recommend using Mr. Clean instead of laundry detergent.   Less suds and the stuff comes out smelling great.   

I am going to run it in my front loader with the arms detached. Since they lace on, I will remove them. All of that plastic does not need to be in the machine, anyway. 

I use a small amount of Tide and Oxi-Clean. I have not washed it yet. But I will try your recipe!

[Srsieve]

I prefer the blue-ish green colored kind with Fabreeze.  I think it smells much better than the fabreeze in a bottle.    The original lemon works great too.   Just depends on which scent you prefer.   

[A10airknight]

On April 13, 2017 at 11:58 AM, 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.

Good to know. What about extreme heat, such as in a car trunk?