How to wash hockey equipment at home in the washing machine to keep your gear clean, fresh, and bacteria-free, all season long.
Rink-stink. You know it well. It’s the stench of smelly hockey gear. It’s seeping out of your kid’s hockey bag as we speak and it’s penetrated the membranes of your nose too many times to count.
The Don’t come near me ’til you’ve washed your hands! stink. The Don’t bring that hockey bag into the house! stink. The nose-offending, toe-curling, rotten-cheese stink that our hockey-playing kids and husbands find oddly comforting.
<Gag>
Well, I’ve got good news. You can wash the stink out of your smelly hockey equipment and bag, and it’s easy.
Yes. Easy.
How do you do it? Well, you probably didn’t know this, but you can wash your kids’ hockey equipment in the washer. Like, WASH wash. In the washing machine, any old time you want.
Some people actually wash their hockey gear in the bathtub or dishwasher, but um… the bathtub? Wouldn’t be a drippy process? I mean, how do you wring out a chest protector and hockey pants?
And the dishwasher? I think I’d prefer to wash my kids’ smelly, grimy, sweat-drenched hockey equipment in the appliance designed for washing smelly, grimy, sweat-drenched garments than in the appliance designed to wash my dishes.
Just sayin’.
Why should you wash your hockey equipment?
Although your hockey player may be oblivious or even somewhat “attached” to the <cough> aroma wafting up from under their jersey, smelly hockey gear and garments shouldn’t be ignored.
That hockey stink is a sign of bigger problems brewing.
The odour in your kid’s hockey gear is caused bacteria which is the by-product of the sweat that’s permeated their equipment.
Not only does it smell disgusting, if left unattended, the equipment and hockey bag will become a breeding-ground, and eventually, mould and mildew will set in. Bacteria and mould on equipment can lead to rashes and infections, and break down the fibres in the gear, causing it to deteriorate.
For your convenience, this post contains afilliate links.
What’s the best way to get rid of the stink in your hockey equipment:
The easiest way to keep bacteria from flourishing is to air out the hockey bag when you get home from the rink.
After every game or practice, open up that bag, and lay the equipment out on the garage floor to dry. Or get one of these space saving drying racks to hang all of your gear on.
My boys empty their hockey bags beside the dehumidifier, which help wick the moisture out of the equipment and shorten the drying time.
At least once a week, my guys spread their equipment out on the back deck so the sun’s UV rays can kill the bacteria.
However, the most effective way I’ve found to remove bacteria and odour from their hockey equipment is to wash the it in the washing machine.
How to wash hockey equipment in a washing machine:
You can wash everything except helmets and skates in a warm-water load in your washing machine: chest protector, elbow pads, shin-guards, jock, pants, socks, neck-guard and even the gloves. Depending on the size of your washer and your kids’ equipment, you may need to divide the gear into 2 or 3 loads.
What about washing goalie gear?
My older son is a goalie. I do not wash his blocker and trapper. Those gloves are his prized possession, and I would never mess with those. Same goes for his pads, not that they would fit into the washing machine anyway.
Front-loading or Top-loading?
Front-loading machines work best for washing hockey gear because they tumble the equipment.
Top loading machines work well but I’ll give you a tip to keep the equipment from floating to the top of the drum: once the drum has filled with water, let the equipment soak in it for 15 minutes before starting the wash-cycle. This will saturate the gear and weight it down.
Detergent and laundry booster:
I use my homemade laundry detergent when washing our hockey gear. I love it, and use it for all of our laundry needs. It’s natural and gentle, but it powerful enough to remove tough stains and odours. You can use your regular brand though, as long as it does not contain bleaching agents. They can be hard on the fabric/materials in the equipment.
Because hockey equipment is extra smelly, I add an additional half-cup each of Borax Laundry Booster and Arm & Hammer Washing Soda to the load. Go ahead and do this regardless of the type of detergent you’re using.
Softener/Rinse Agent:
Regular white vinegar is my fabric softener of choice when doing laundry and especially when washing our hockey gear. Vinegar neutralizes odours naturally instead of masking them with fragrances, and it’s great for removing detergent residues from your laundry. Bonus: it won’t leave a chemical coating on your equipment like commercial softeners will.
Drying your hockey equipment:
The jock, socks, jersey and neck-guard can go into the dryer on low heat, but the rest should air-dry. I like to hang our equipment on the clothesline on a breezy, sunny day. If you don’t have a clothesline, you can lay it all out on the patio in the sunshine, flipping it occasionally, or hang it on a drying rack.
How to dry hockey gloves:
Never heat-dry your hockey gloves in the dryer. Allow them to dry slowly and naturally to prevent the leather from cracking.
Washing your hockey helmet:
As I’ve mentioned, do not wash your helmet in the washing machine. You can follow the simple steps listed here to wash your helmet.
Removing the odour from hockey skates:
You can’t wash your skates, but there are ways to keep the odour under control. You can remove the insoles after every game and stuff the skates with newspaper to absorb odour and moisture. Or, you can tuck these deodorizers into the skates to do the same.
The skates are probably the least of your worries though. It’s the gear – particularly the gloves – that smell the worst, and thankfully, you now have a solution for dealing with those!
Now, grab that hockey bag, and head to the laundry room. Before you know it, that stinking heap of hockey equipment will be clean and bacteria-free, and smell as fresh as a daisy!
You may also like: What To Do When Your Child Wants to Quit an Extracurricular Sport or Activity
Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
Sandi Purdell-Lewis
My guys seem to like the soak and swish in the tub method for the big stuff, and the washing machine for the littler bits and pieces. My laundry racks seem to disappear to the basement to be covered in gear in front of our pellet stove all winter. It beats the hockey stink!
Julius
have all sorts of athletic gear made with synthetic fabric that retain smells even after washing. I also have my running shoes, cycling helmets, and a wetsuit that have similar issues. I use a BlueWave cleaner which works really fast (One Cycle is 5 minutes) and with very little set up. Just put the items in, and the odor and funk is destroyed. Problem solved. Loving my BlueWave.
Joe
I’ve got a little hooligan whom loves to boast that she smells like a boy when she comes off the ice!
Thank-goodness for your tips on how to wash out the stink, I’m gathering everything up right now!
happyhooligans
Haha! So funny! And how timely your comment is, Joe! I JUST finished sewing name bars onto all of the jerseys for my 13 year old. And they HADN”T been washed first. Ewwww!! I’m more familiar than ever with that “boy smell” now!
Lauren
Admittedly I do kind of love that smell of stinky hockey gear! It reminds me of games, stories, music, and laughs in the locker room! Plus the excitement of getting out on the ice! But after my last game a few days ago, I was driving home and got a whiff of my hands. WOW they smelled nasty!! I like the smell on my stuff — not on my hands!! So I decided it was time to give my stuff a good wash. A lot of guys on my team like the bathtub method as well, but the washing machine method is so much easier. Though I think they like seeing the water turn brown when they throw their gear in! They also swear by Napisan Oxyaction (or the US equivalent), which does make the whites look a lot brighter. But I’ve washed my stuff well without it, using just normal detergent. The washing soda idea is great though! I soak my helmet in a large sink with lots of my homemade soap dissolved in for a few hours, then wipe it down with a sponge. I air dry all of my stuff.
Jordan
Have you tried an ozone disinfecting machine? We use Sani Sport . I know the ozone actually gets into the equipment – I wonder if a washing machine gets in deep…
James Antinozzi
hey Jackie,
Great tips here for sure! Nice to see someone educating people on the danger of that hockey stench! Washing gear helps for sure, but it takes a long time to dry. Check out our all-natural machine on our website. It’s a dry process using ozone, which kills MRSA and other antibiotic-resistant superbugs. It only takes 30 min to 1 hour, and you can even do skates and helmets. 150 locations for hockey moms all over North America.
Art
Only $14,000. What a deal. I’ll take 2.
James
Hey Art,
The average consumer doesn’t need to buy a machine, that’s for businesses. It only costs $30 to clean your gear. You can find the nearest place on our locations page.
Elena
Recently I found out that Listerine is the secret ingredient for getting your hockey gloves smelling good.
happyhooligans
Interesting! Makes sense – it kills bacteria!
patrick
I liked your article, but I think it’s a little naive to say that your detergent is chemical-free. Nothing is chemical free. Oxygen is a chemical. Water is a chemical. The glucose in plants and amylase in your spit are chemicals. All matter in the universe is made up of chemicals. Any chemical in certain doses and modes if exposure can be potentially harmful. Any chemical manufactured for human use or consumption has undergone tests for years, sometimes decades before they make it to the shelves, but that’s not to say that they can’t still be “bad” for you in certain doses.
happyhooligans
Good point. It would’ve been more accurate to describe the detergent as being “free of ‘nasty’ chemicals”. Thanks for the heads up.
Howard hannon
Great ,what a relief,the smell was horrid One question if ur playing hockey 2-3 times a week,how many times should u put the equipment in the washing machine. ,I used purex wth oxy ,used vinegar as softener and 1/3 cup of oxy. Once a week, every 2 weeks or once a month
Thanks hockey Dad
happyhooligans
I wouldn’t want to over-do it as it may cause wear and tear. I generally do my boys’ a couple times per season, our season is 6 months long, and our winters are freezing here, so we store the gear in the garage during the week, which tends to freeze and somewhat de-stink the stuff.
Howard hannon
Is once a month too much,he plays 12 months a year,2-3 times a week,yes we are in Montreal so it is freezing In winter ,I will make sure he leaves his bag in garage ,he used to bring his bag downstairs in the basement ,his equipment smells so good now ,before u could die from the smell. Could u put the helmut in a front load machine on gentle wash. What do u think. Thanks again,my wife is so happy she wanted to throw his eguipment in the garbage. Thanks again
Ann Robertson
Guess it will work just fine for football and lacrosse gear too! 😉
Ken
I found ozone to be topical at best. Although it is effective on the surface, that is where it ends. Think about debris build up and how do you remove that build up in catchers, under the skate insoles, what about the hockey bag itself? It is a petri dish of microbial communities. Testing has shown that to eliminate the 13 primary contaminates on protective sports equipment, with layered and wicking facbrics you need to have both a process and a formula coupled with a cold water treatment followed by a room temperature drying system.
RBK, Easton, Bauer and all of the rest, including the CSA on the hygienic processing of helmets, will tell you that the debris and microbial build up needs to be scrubbed and extracted otherwise it can readily be reactivated.
athleticclean.com has been the ONLY company we have used since eSporta was proven to not eliminate contaminates as they claimed and that the ozone, as soon as we wore our gear next time, did nothing as the smell came back. Knowing that the smell is bacteria and other microbial growth eating the sweat and build up and then excrete it back on the equipment, we can definitively state that IF it starts up again right away that it wasn’t eliminated in the first place. Once we found them we have never looked back for our complete group. We have it done four times seasonally, they pick up and return the next day or on our timeline. We did extensive study as we had to. We had a room full of infection and couldn’t understand. They came in, lab tested our issues, found the problem and solved it. Talk about going beyond.
As a FYI-my brand new Maytag has a warranty clause that it is not made for protective sports equipment. Yes, trying to keep your gear clean yourself is commendable, however, I would let the pros do it. Hey they even repair everything and bring the skates back sharpened according to our hollow! Can’t beat that!
christine petrucci
as a mom of a squirt goalie we use the Equipment Ranger – it dries the gear with a very powerful blower and there is a place for every piece of equipment. My son was also always forgetting something at home – so now if there is something left on the unit he knows it still has to go into the bag! (and vice versa bç if there is an open space he knows he left something in his bag….
EquipmentRanger.com
Samantha
Thank you for the cleaning tips! Next sunny day here in mass I will be doing this to both my kids equipment! They probably won’t be too happy since they like the smell! Didn’t know about washing the gloves!
happyhooligans
You are welcome, Samantha. And I know what you mean about them liking the smell. Ugh!
Andrew
Some good ideas but some bad ones. First, the sun. Most ice hockey gear, being made with various nylons, isn’t designed to withstand regular UV exposure. In lots of cases this would cause the material to discolor and/ or breakdown prematurely. Sunlight is generally worse than a small amount of bleach in the cleaning mixture.
As for using a top loader to fully wash gear; don’t ever let it get past soak cycle. Straps and loose bits of gear get caught in the agitator and can mess things up pretty badly.
I am absolutely looking forward to trying your cleaning agent recipe!
happyhooligans
Your comment about the sun is an interesting one. So many people lay their gear out on a cold, sunny winter day to de-stink it. I think if you were to leave it on the line for days, multiple times per year, you might see some deterioration, in all the years I’ve been washing and line drying my boys’ equipment (2 or 3 times per year) I haven’t seen a problem. Thanks for the tips about the top loader. Hope you enjoy the detergent!
pablonegro
I learned from a fencer that washing in ammonia breaks down the salts in sweat–it it what they wash their lames in. I tried it on hockey gear alternating with laundry soap every other wash; it’s magic. I didn’t wash the gloves in it–not sure how it reacts with the the leather in the palms.
Ken
Hi…I too learned about that but with hockey equipment, due to the compression foam, resins and adhesives used not to mention metal clasps and the like will have their integrity broken down when too much ammonia is used. A natural oxidization takes place.
If you cannot get to the pros at Athletic Clean, then the best thing is get Zeolyte into your hockey bag all the time. Release the rock in the sun and it recharges when it discharges the trapped air that it absorbs. Another trick is to be sure you take your gear out to dry after every game. Kill the feeding ground for harmful contaminates such as MRSA and Staccybotrys. Finally, NEVER use heat when drying. That breaches the integrity of the gear 100%. DO NOT even use hot water, its a myth. Use cold water on your gear, put in some elbow grease and get in there then hang it out to dry in a room temperature area.
At least you are all thinking in the right direction, hygiene in protective sports equipment. It is something we need to teach young and old—-for sure the OLD! (That includes me folks!)
happyhooligans
Thanks for all the helpful insight, Ken!
Faye
Why is it wives and mums that wash the equipment? I’m a female hockey player married to a hockey player so not every little wifey is holed up at home scrubbing her husbands stinking kit. That being said, if you have any tips on washing a rancid goalie kit I’d love to hear them. My husband can’t fit his gear in the machine!
happyhooligans
You make a good point, Faye! 🙂 My husband doesn’t play, so I was writing about how I was my sons’ equipment. I imagine if my hubby played, I’d be having him handle his own. lol As for your husbands gear, you can ask at a sport shop about where you can take it to be cleaned. There are professional services that can sanitize the gear. Good luck! I feel your pain. 🙂
Ken
Hi Faye,
First, get a phosphate free surfactant and use that in conjunction with an antiseptic such as Dettol (by one cap per load only or per mixing cup of soap and mix thoroughly). That is important to maintain all the clarino materials’ integrity found all throughout goalie gear (and player gear too).
Start with stuffing newspapers into the blocker and catcher and skates. This is going to start to wick the moisture that is in there with the microbes onto the carbon of the ink and will assist you in cleaning it all up! Remove all the pads you can out of all the gear and mark it’s location if you need to or photograph it so you can remember how in the world it all came out!
Use a scrubber with an arm on it by dipping the bristled end into the soap. Scrub up and into all areas. Use a bottle cleaner for the glove fingers to be sure to disturb all the debris in there. By thoroughly rinsing in cold water you will be good. Do this (I would expect) at least two or three times to be sure you have reached it all. By missing some, it just gets reactivated as soon as you wear the gear again and start to warm up and your nose will let you know!
With the pads, toss them all into your non-agitated washing machine. If you don’t have one, then go to the laundry mat and use a front loader. Use a good portion of your soap in these units (don’t over do it) but make sure you sud it up well. Then do a double rinse to be sure all the soapy residue is gone as it will make you very itchy if it is not.
Skates and helmet need to be done by hand in the sink with your scrubbers. Take the insoles out, unlaces the skates completely and you’re ready. Scrub the helmet everywhere inside. Remove any headbands that are velcro’ed on and scrub that too. Scrub the chin cup especially. Very important and also the cage if there is one. Scrub the insoles with the brush as well as the laces. DO NOT PUT THE LACES IN THE MACHINE! They will wind all around everything and tightly and it is next to impossible to get it undone. But scrub the laces too. Scrub the skates with your scrubber inside all the way to where the toes go by bending back the tongue and throwing in lots of muscle to be sure you are disturbing the dirt and getting it loosened and out.
With the hockey bag itself, be sure to use cold water (be it in the tub if it is a wheeled goalie or player bag) with your soap and antiseptic. The bag houses all that noxious stuff so you KNOW it has to have some of that microbial growth on it. SCRUB IT LIKE CRAZY — RINSE THEN SCRUB IT LIKE A MAD PERSON ONCE MORE TO BE SURE! Hang to dry by bungee cords or whatever you have to suspend it so all water goes downward and out of the bag. Otherwise, tomorrow, (like I did), you will have skate pockets full of water and end compartments with water.
AIr dry now. do not use a machine to ‘tumble dry’ or any of that. As it dries be sure to flex the palms of your gloves and any other pieces with cotton, leather, clarino or any headbands. This will stop them from hardening as they dry and from becoming very course.
Once all dry (the next day at least so give yourself 24 hours to do it), reassemble all your pads back where they went. Make sure you put your hands into your gloves again too.Flex them around just to warm the gloves a bit to reshape to your hand. Shouldn’t take but a couple laps around the ice and you’re ready to go.
Studies have shown what grows on our gear, how to combat it with the pros I linked you to here, but lets face it, maybe Athletic Clean/Hockey Clean isn’t in your area what I have provided is approved by those same pros as I DO have them in my area and I do use their services and it is unreal! It is proactive how they do it so when you start to sweat it is combating that microbial growth it is amazing, but still, do it it home if you don’t have the pros as it makes a difference to your health and those you play with 100!
Folks the bottom line here is to have a hygienic mindset and you all clearly do. I’ve seen many players over the years get infection, one loose a baby finger, another had a chest infection directly due to the mould growth on their gear. With that said, keep your olfactory sensory keen and smell for when you start to notice it and when you do, get those newspapers going (in and out of the gloves and skates after every skate) and pull it out after a day to de-moisturize skates and glove and even helmet.
Best to you all! Lets keep it clean out there in every way we can and play this game we all love so much!
happyhooligans
Thanks for popping in again, Ken. Love all your insight and advice. Great point about the hockey bag. I never even think to wash ours. Pretty scary to think of the infections that can be caused by moldy gear! Yikes!
Christine
Check out the. EquipmentRanger.com
A forced air sports drying and organization system. If you can get the gear dry quickly the mold griejbg becomes less of an issue!! Developed for our goalie son! Helps cut down on The stink!!
Ken
Christine,
Provided there is no heat in the application then all the manufacturers would support it. As soon as heat is used, even though it may not be visible, it can breach the integrity of the compression foams and pvc in the gear. If it is cycle air, like if you put something on tumble dry in your dryer, then it will work. I know the Rocket System out of Montreal caused some gear to melt, deform and even in on instance catch fire.
So as long as you are cognizant, then yes, by keeping the feeding ground for microbes at bay you eliminate one of the two elements needed for them to grow. Moist area is one of them and of course the sweat is what the microbes eat. Eliminate one, as you are suggesting, then you have started to quell the growth no question.
Ken
Ken
The HappyHooligans is a great read as often as I am notified of new blogs and updates on this one in particular being close to what we went through.
Yes, the bag is the petri dish that houses all the 13 primary contaminates found.
Keep up the chatter about hygiene in hockey folks, it will save lives in the long run truly!
John Sweeny
We have also used the dishwasher to clean some of our son’s gear. The water jets and heat is good for getting into the equipment and because there is no “agitation” it does’t affect the shape of the equipment. In terms of any cleaning solution vinegar works well. Not sure about the long term impact but the higher heat is useful to help kill the bacteria. Besides, in general the equipment is being replaced quite regularly anyhow because of growth, equipment improvements, breakdown etc. In between cleanings drying it after each use is best just hanging it on a rack works. A little Febreeze must be the Antibacterial version spray can also help to keep the odour down. He wears “under armour coverage which keeps the equipment from direct contact with skin. I guess a spray bottle with vinegar and water to mist it may work too.
Kelly
Hi all! Just wanted to share my knowledge about a product I found to be great–especially for hockey gloves/goalie blockers/catchers.
This is organic…it smells a little like gun oil/leather but I find it keeps my gloves smelling good and the leather soft. I decided to use it on all my goalie equipment. I do soak it once in a while in the tub and rinse with warm water and antibacterial dawn dish washing liquid. It seems gentle on the equipment. I always lay out my equipment immediately after returning from a game and spray everything. Gloves/blockers/catchers go on a drying rack with a fan blowing into them. Bag gets a lysol spray down. Seems to be working…thought I would share–especially for gloves–the lysol was drying out the leather bad!
Caroline
This seems like great cleaning advice and I will try it, but your opening is not inclusive of those of us who ARE the hockey player and are female. Perhaps you could update or adjust your mindset to realize that there are female hockey players out there. 🙂
happyhooligans
I’m not sure why you’ve interpreted my article as being targeted to male hockey players, Caroline. The hockey players that I make reference to are “kids”, and I’ve suggested that “hockey moms” (of either gender of course), may find the article helpful. I suppose if you want to fairly critique the article, I should’ve said “hockey mom or dad”, but quite honestly, when I’m writing from a mom’s point of view, I just write from my heart, and don’t have time for all the political correctness.
happyhooligans
And to clarify further, if you’re upset by my suggesting that only husbands play hockey (and not wives), that is not true. I just assume that if the wife plays hockey, she likely doesn’t find the odour offensive (see my comment about hockey players having a fondness to the smell of their gear). No need to take anything personally or to start a gender debate where one doesn’t exist. 🙂
Rickpack
Not that many.
Lisa Doucet
Thanks for the tips ! I’m compiling a list of how to maintain various sports’ equipment for my website and found your article while doing some complimentary research. Hope you don’t mind if I link to it in my article ? Keep the good tips a-comin’ 🙂
Claire
I’m just curious as to how I could possibly wash my goalie body armour. Is it possible to put it into the washing machine?
happyhooligans
If the one piece will fit into the drum of your machine, yes, that’s how I wash my son’s.
cmlegend
I use my jaccuzi (extra chlorine) to wash my gear… works very well
Lori P
Always looking for good ways to clean stinky equipment. I wash my son’s equipment in the washer and dry it in front of a fan. I have also been putting his helmet in the DISHWASHER!! It works great. I recommend that the dishwasher is empty!!
happyhooligans
That is just brilliant! Truly!
Frank
We just got a “Rocket” equipment dryer from Hockey Giant that works well, but washing the equipment occasionally will help with the appalling reek. Good to know it can be done. But why direct his post at “Hockey Moms”? We hockey dads and hockey husbands have to deal with this, too. Enough with the sexism, heterosexism and gender assumptions — it’s the 21st century, after all.
happyhooligans
Good to know about The Rocket, Frank. Thanks! As for the “hockey-mom” thing, I guess it’s because this is my personal blog, and I simply write from my “mom” point of view. If I were a “branded business” or a corporation, my posts would be written from a more professional, politically correct stand-point. I’m not. As I said, I’m just a mom sharing her ideas on the web. Being offended by something you read is a personal choice. I’m sorry you chose to feel offended and excluded by my post.
Mary Beth
Have you ever washed a goalie’s blocker and glove in the washer? I fee like it probably isn’t a good idea – but wanted to check and see if you have done it.
happyhooligans
My older son is a goalie, Mary, but I won’t wash his blocker or trapper. I’m afraid I might wreck them.
Mabel
Try Odor-Aid disinfectant. The clerk at Play-it-again Sports treats used equipment with it and it works well for gloves and skates.
Rickpack
Hydroxyl > ozone.
Ozone will destroy rubber.
Mabel
Hydroxyl is the term used for an oxygen-hydrogen (-OH) side group on another chemical. Peroxide is O2 with a single bond found either as a radical (no other atoms attached) or between other side chains (e.g. H2O2). Peroxide is the chemical moiety found in cleaners like Oxy-clean. Ozone is O3 and is generally not found in household products as it is highly unstable and takes a large amount of energy to produce (http://www.mikeblaber.org/oldwine/chm1045/notes/Bonding/Resonan/Bond07.htm).
Mabel
I put everything except the helmet, skates, and plastic part of the jock in our front loader with tide and borax. Works like a charm. Also I picked up a spray called Odor-Aid for interim treatments of the boy’s gloves and skates. It is great stuff – you spray the inside of the piece until very damp and let dry overnight. For reference the guy who manages the local Play-it-again Sports, a guy who deals in used equipment for a living, asked if my son had a medical issue because his skates were the worst thing he’d ever smelled…
Building washing Auckland
To clean it, you can use a mixture of a cup of chlorine bleach and a gallon of water. Leave it on the seal for about five minutes before wiping it off. It is suggested to wipe down the rubber seal after every use.
Jennifer
I thought I could wash equipment, but other parents didn’t. I didn’t because of their feedback. They didn’t want to ruin the equipment. My son just joined hockey. I listened to the feedback because these are parents with kids in hockey for a few years or more. Thank you for your tips. I’m totally going to let other parents know. Thank you.
happyhooligans
Yep. I’ve been washing my boys’ equipment for years!
Lorrin @ embracetheperfectmess.com
This is great! I’ve got 3 boys that play hockey. The older they get, the worse it smells. I haven’t ever tried to put it in the washer though. I should probably give it a try now that the season and tryouts for next year are over. God bless you being a goalie mom. That would never fly in this house. My anxiety would be through the roof. LOL!
happyhooligans
Yay! I’m glad you found this post, Lorrin! And yes, being a goalie mom can definitely be stressful at times! I’m much more relaxed watching my younger son’s games. Haha!
Karen Ross
Thank you, thank you, thank you for these instructions on washing hockey gear. I’m in Southern California, so no ice hockey for us yet (the nearest indoor ice rinks are 30+ minutes away). But my kids have recently taken up Street Hockey. Oh my goodness! It has been so much fun for us. BUT good grief! The STENCH!!! Wow!!! My son plays baseball and I hasn’t ever come home with himself and his gear dripping with sweat quite like this. Thank you for the instructions to wash the hockey gear! 🙂
Jon
How would you recommend drying gear if it’s well below freezing outside?
Jackie Currie
I wouldn’t wash the gear if it was going to be well below freezing for a stretch. I would lay it out on the deck or hang it on the clothesline for a full day. The freezing temps will kill a lot of the bacteria and refresh the gear. I mean, if you had several days in between games, I suppose you could hang it in the laundry room, but I would want to have set up a good fan and possibly a portable heater going to get it good and dry. I personally would just go for airing it out outside and wait for a mild spell before actually washing it.