The main problem with using hockey equipment is its rapid soaking in sweat and the resulting unpleasant odor. The constant humid environment inside the sports uniform promotes the development of bacteria, fungi, and even mold if it is not cared for properly. From this article you will learn how to wash hockey jerseys, and the rest of the sports equipment, with what regularity it is best to do, how to get rid of the unpleasant smell of sweat.
Note that a full-fledged cleaning of equipment is better to trust specialized firms, as it is impossible to carry out a quality disinfection of uniforms on their own. It should be done as soon as there is a rather pungent unpleasant smell from sweat. But to carry out regular care of the uniform, including its drying, washing, upgrading individual elements can be done at home. Where to start?
Hand Washing Hockey Equipment
After each training session, the uniform should be thoroughly dried. For this purpose, it is placed in a well-ventilated room. The equipment must not be dried on a radiator or near other sources of artificial heat.
Periodic washing of athletic uniforms should be done. If done manually, the bathtub is filled with water at about 40 degrees and the main elements of the outfit are cleaned with brushes, powder. This includes helmet, shorts, jersey, bandage, socks, gloves.
However, pay attention to the material from which the gloves are made. How do you wash hockey gloves if their “palms” are made of genuine leather? The rule applies here, which applies to all leather things – do not particularly long soak in water, and dry on radiators. Therefore, they should be quickly rinsed in water with powder and then left to dry at room temperature.
It should be noted that the hand washing process is very time consuming. Is it possible to wash hockey uniforms in a machine, which is an easier way?
Machine washing hockey uniforms
First, the uniform is disassembled into its individual elements. The plastic protective parts are disconnected, as well as the textile parts, which are attached to the tracksuit with Velcro, which makes them easier to remove. Fabric parts can be washed in the machine. It is recommended to wipe the plastic with a cloth soaked in a special disinfectant solution.
When machine washing, it is advisable to observe the following rules:
- The temperature of the water should not be high, its sufficient level is thirty degrees;
- It is better to use a liquid cleaner for delicate fabrics, but the popular powder and soap is better to use when washing by hand;
- actively use bags and other assistive devices for the machine;
- Rinsing should be abundant with the use of additional modes.
How to wash hockey jerseys, and what is the most effective way to clean their individual elements, the following section will tell you.
Washing the Hard Parts of Hockey Uniforms
These include – helmet, bibs and elbow pads, pads, and skates.
The unpleasant thing about using a helmet is that it gets soaked in sweat during training, which leads to a rapid onset of an unpleasant odor. It is better to remove the inner soft lining of the helmet and wash it in the machine. But the outer hard surface of plastic is treated with a cloth soaked in hydrogen peroxide or vinegar. Such solutions are doubly useful – they neutralize bacteria and freshen the helmet from the inside. After the wet treatment, you should wipe everything thoroughly with a dry cloth to prevent rusting on the protective mounts of the athlete’s head gear.
How to wash hockey skates, can you do it? It is recommended that you limit your care to cleaning the blades, wiping the outside of the boots themselves with a damp rag, and decontaminating the inside.
Dry them indoors at room temperature after each use, without the use of batteries, as this will ruin the outer protective coating. The blades and boots are wiped down with a damp cloth. The inside of them may be treated with an alcohol solution to get rid of the sweat smell.
After the blades are completely dry, they are inspected for chips and bends. Once the inspection is complete, they should be wiped down with a special cream to improve their gliding characteristics on ice.
Washing the remaining hard parts of the outfit comes down to hand cleaning using a bathtub, warm water, powder and rinse.
How to wash hockey equipment, its soft parts properly? Find out in the next section.
Washing the soft parts of hockey uniforms
These include – underpants, tights, bodysuits, underwear.
The baulk, if its size allows, can be washed in the machine. If it is large, take a rag, make a soap solution, and scrub all dirty areas by hand. The material of many sports bags is rubberized, and easily allows for such manipulations.
Underwear and briefs have a complex structure that includes a variety of protective inserts. However, this does not prevent them from being washed like normal clothes in the machine. The program should be set very gentle on the parameters. The best mode is a delicate washing. Do not forget to fasten the zipper of the underpants.
Special attention should be paid to hockey mittens. They, as practice shows, are subjected to intense perspiration. How to wash hockey gloves and get the bad smell out of them? In some cases it will be enough just to dry them in the sun or indoors. Gloves should not be washed in a machine. Engage the usual hand-cleaning, which we told you about at the beginning of the article. Use special disinfectant solutions to eliminate bacteria by spraying them on the inside of the gloves.
From time to time, cleaning your equipment should be entrusted to professionals. How to wash hockey jerseys using ozone cleaning will be explained in the following section.
Entrusting the laundry to companies.
Usually, companies providing services for washing sports equipment, use in their work Canadian equipment, the principle of action of which is based on the disinfection and cleaning of things with the help of ozone splitting. The advantage of this method is the effective destruction of unpleasant odors. In the process of purification is complete removal of many types of bacteria. No chemical, thermal or physical effects are applied to the mold, which greatly increases its service life.
This ozone treatment of sportswear is very quick. The most maximum time interval is forty minutes. Therefore, it is useful to periodically use the services of companies that perform this type of cleaning.
To summarize, you can say that washing hockey equipment is possible both in a washing machine and manually. The main thing is to do it regularly, do not forget to dry sports items after each use, use special solutions for decontamination.
