Deodorize stinky gear
Q. I play soccer and football. I sometimes wear my cleats six days a week. Is there any way to rid my equipment (cleats, shin guards, shoulder pads, etc.) of that everlasting smell of fresh body odor?
— Raffi the Odorous, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
A. Dear Stinky…uh, I mean Raffi. I’m actually a pretty athletic guy too — and, as it goes with the territory, equally stinky. So I hear you on the smelly gear.
There are a couple of things you can do. First, never leave your pads and cleats cooped up in your gear bag after practice. When you do that, tiny microbes grow on your gear, and the smell can be lethal. So, the first step to eliminating odors is properly drying out your stuff. As soon as you get home from practice, set your pads out to dry. Hang them. Put them on a drying rack. Whatever. If your cleats are wet, stuff them with old newspaper.
Once everything is dry, get a spray bottle of Febreze Antimicrobial ($5-$6; febreze.com). Give it all a good spray. Febreze does a good job of neutralizing odors and killing the microbes that cause smells. It’s a temporary fix — and definitely not a cure-all — but that should help cut down on your stench. Good luck!
Baking soda helps but the odor is still there.
Has anyone tried cat litter to absorb wetness and odor?
Washing machine and dryer machine work for me.
Thanks so much
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I played soccer 2 hours in the pouring rain yesterday and my cleats smelled reall bad before that to. But now they smell even worse. What should I do? Put newspaper in them then a few hours later put baking soda in them. Then in the morning spray them with febreze.
We run a dehumidifier every evening so when my boys are done for the day they lay their guards and cleats in front of the exhaust side. My oldest boy plays or practices 6 out of 7 days so they get abused. His guards don’t smell and his cleats look bad but they too have no smell! I spray them once a week with Lysol or Febreeze just as a preventative.