The RinkFor the not so ready for prime-time players, coaches, referees, and the people that have to live with them. Discuss experiences in local leagues, coaching tips, equipment, and training.
i do, i love it, i don't have a lot of space to dry out my gear so the gear never leaves the bag unless i play. posted more details on it above
Do you use the regular one or the suped up blow dryer? One of the posters in this thread mentioned that this is a pretty heavy bag, do you feel the same way?
Sort of. Like I said, I periodically wash my gear in the tub, or at least some of it.
Protective gear like elbow pads, shin pads, and shoulders I wash in the tub with a bit of detergent and bleach every few months. The bleach kills the smell.
Helmet, skates, and pants I never wash. Sometimes I spray a little Lysol. I used to wash my pants but my Tacklas don't smell at all so why risk breaking down the foam padding?
Undergarments get washed in the machine after every use. I used to use Under Armour type shirts but now I just use cotton muscle shirts. Cheaper and feels the same to me. Note muscle shirts because T-shirts feel DISGUSTING during games.
Jerseys I only wash when they smell because the washer and dryer can wear them down and remove stitching. My old silk screened jerseys I'd wash after every game but with real jerseys I turn them inside out and wash on gentle and then hang to dry.
Mouthguard I soak in denture cleaner every so often. Minty fresh!
Why would I wash my equipment? It keeps my wife out of the one corner of the basement, making that section of the basement a great place to stash gifts for her or hockey/golf gear that I don't want her to know I bought.
Seriously though I'll have to try some of these suggestions.
You may be joking, but I encountered this a TON in ice locker rooms. Guys wouldn't even take their stuff out after games.
I haven't had this happen to me as much in roller, but maybe those guys are playing outside enough that it kills some of the smells.
I'm dead serious. But I do take my gear out after every single skate and air it out in my garage, and I wash my unis, etc. My gear doesn't smell half as bad as some of my teammates. I'd swear I've seen their bags move on their own sometimes.
I've read various ways to keep hockey equipment clean, the most prominent being to fill up a bathtub with hot water and bleach and soaking the equipment in the tub then hanging it out to dry. Has anyone tried this? And is hockey equipment waterproof, specifically the gloves? (gloves always smell the worst)
It works. Not 100%, but it works. Just make sure to fully submerge your equipment and let it soak. Gloves take the longest to dry. For me about 2 days inside.
It works well, but I would recommend thoroughly rinsing the gear before drying it if you've used any chemicals during the cleaning. You don't want that on your skin.
One more thing, I recently invested in a dehumidifier and it is AMAZING for drying my gear. I have a small mud room and I lay my gear out after I play and I crank the dehumidifer and close the door to the room. It sucks all the moisture out, it's actually a disgusting amount of liquid that comes out. It works great for drying gear after playing and after washing gear as well. Especially for the gloves. Sometimes when I had hockey two nights in a row, my gloves would still be wet the second night even if I left them out to dry for 24 hours. Now, with the dehumidifier, though, they're guaranteed to be bone-dry by the next morning.
you're supposed to be able to wash most stuff in a frontloading washing machine (ala laundromat style) which is how I clean my shoulder and elbow pads. When I played roller I would also wash my girdle in there too. Gloves and other stuff I felt were too delicate so I never did anything with them, but it should still work.
With my goalie gear, I'd never do this...especially since those washers are a bit small and goalie gear is a bit more expensive. When my pants needed washing, I just hosed it down and scrubbed them out for a bit. A lot of work, but it did the trick.
I've read various ways to keep hockey equipment clean
I know this is a late response but the easiest way to KEEP gear clean is to hang dry, preferably with fans, after each use. I lay my gear out on a metal rack with two 20" floor fans underneath and it dries my soaking wet gear in an hour. I went 6 months without ANY smell whatsoever by keeping things dry.
Mixed up some hot water, detergent, and bleach in a bucket, then used a scrub brush to wash this nasty crap off my elbows, shins, and shoulders. Rinsed in hot water in the shower and let it air dry outside.
Sprayed the skates with Lysol (they are starting to smell) and will have to probably do that regularly.
Also going to spray my gloves and pants but neither smell all that much.
Seems like anything that touches bare skin gets nasty but if there's a layer underneath it's not so bad.
