Any suggest for cleaning equipment

[Blocked_again]

I was wondering what is the best way to clean goalie equipment without shelling out a small fortune to get the chest protect and pants cleaned.

[ChloroFiend]

You can just throw that stuff in a washing machine. Make sure any/all velcro straps are closed, and take it to one of those giant ones at a laundromat. Use hot wash/rinse, and lots of detergent. Just let it hang dry.



-Jon Gucinski #16
-<A HREF="http://www.stuorg.iastate.edu/rollerhockey" target="_new">Iowa State Roller Hockey</A>

[Blocked_again]

Thanks man, just don't want to damage anything.

[MBurke]

WHOA WHOA WHOA!!!

Please DO NOT take your equipment to the laundromat. At least, not if it's been made in the past 10 years. Newer goal equipment is made with a lot of high tech foams and other fun padding that doesn't hold up well to the beating that a washing maching and detergents put on it. Although I can promise that that method will have your pads coming out smelling a lot better than they did going in, it will also cause to help your padding in your equipment break down a lot faster. I'll take being safe over smelling nice on the rink any day.

My advice is to get some Febreze and apply it liberally, then let the equipment sit out for a day or two. The key to keeping your equipment smelling semi-fresh is to make sure to air it out thoroughly EVERY time you use it. Once that "hockey smell" gets in, there's no getting it out. Also, don't air it out in direct sunlight. Not only will it fade the equipment, but you'll notice that your equipment feels brittle and extremely hard to move in the next time you use it. If you absolutely must do something to wash it, hose the stuff down and let it dry out that way. By no means should you ever let good padding soak in water, unless you like going out and buying new padding every year or so

Mike Burke
Webmaster
Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association
http://www.ecrha.net

[Rebecca]

Ok, don't laugh. This works GREAT. And surprizingly enough, it doesn't smell bad.

KITTY LITTER!

Put your equipment in a bag of kitty litter or put it out on the lawn and pour kitty litter on it.

I suggest Non-clumping and Dust Free. This is not a joke. It really works. Put your stinky gloves in it for a few days and VIOLA!



Rebecca

[John_S_Osborne]

Alright, kitty litter?! Are you serious?

I hear that getting your new equipment Scotchguarded can prevent the hockey smell from seeping in, although I've never tried it personally.

This is coming from a kid who leaves his equipment in his trunk... all the time. My trunk is my locker room. So, I tend to stink all the time. I've turned more than a few refs heads (and players when I ref myself).



- John S. Osborne
Secretary, Drexel U. Roller Hockey Club
LAL Director, ECRHA

[xport_urself]

soaking it in cold or luke warm water, and then leaving in the shade works well with my gear but then im not a goalie...

[showstoppr67]

I agree with the poster above (I believe "Mark Burke"). As soon as I get home from my game, I take ALL my stuff out of my bag and hang it up. I've had some pieces of equipment for 4-5 yrs (shinguards,skates) and they really don't have that hockey smell we all know about. I've never used any type of air-freshener or anything. The only thing I throw in the wash machine is my jersies, shin sleeves, and my personal favorite--the jockstrap. Any even after washing, I just let that stuff air dry. Don't want the dryer to shrink anything!

[dumbpuck]

This is a bit peripheral to the discussion about cleaning hockey equipment (BTW, this is a very good topic, I'm glad someone asked it), but should be helpful to people who are trying not to stink up the joint, in a manner of speaking.
Odor Eaters foot powder is highly recommended for not just skates, but for almost all items in your hockey bag. I was told by a teammate that Odor Eaters is somehow superior to other brands of foot powder/baby powder, what have you. I'm not sure exactly what the magic ingredient is, I assumed that all this stuff was 99.99% talc or baking powder or other generic dust of one sort or another.
But my teammate assures me that it's a big notch above. He got his information from somebody that repairs hockey equipment for a living.
The same person recommended Murphy's Oil Soap for practically all washable items, and that included gloves with leather palms.
Apparently, it's bacteria that causes organic materials like leathers to break down. I was always under the impression that the palms of my gloves lasted for only a year due to wear. Apparently not.
But my main point is that Odor Eaters applied generously to everything in your equipment bag will be beneficial.
I support the view that Febreze is also helpful.
It might also help if your teammates weren't a bunch of fat stinky pigs, but I guess that's one of those hands that life deals you.
I play with some people who are genuine leaders in all offensive categories, if you know what I mean. It's too bad not everybody is going to read this topic.