How to Deep Clean Your Riding Gear

If you grew up playing hockey, this is all old hat to you. To some, the familiar smell of a dressing room is as much a part of the game as perfecting your chirp, the cellies that accompany a bar-down beauty*, or a couple of cold ones sometime after midnight in a desolate rink somewhere when it's -25 outside. In April.

Ahhh, that intoxicating whiff indicating a space used by thousand of players over the years to dress, undress, celebrate and commiserate...that's bacteria (among other things) and, until recently, it may have seemed like hockey players had a monopoly on that kind of odiferous malfeasance. Then came mountain biking and our gear, which is similar in use and stench to hockey gear. Many of us never thought to clean it, beyond a casual spritz with the hose after a muddy day. But little by little, a wrinkled nose here and there turned to disgust and outright objection, and soon those funky pads, helmets, gloves, and shoes were banished from the house. And still many of us refused to properly clean them. At one point a buddy of mine (obviously once a hockey player) wore all of his riding gear into the shower (helmet, body armour, gloves, leg pads, and shoes) and went through his whole routine, shampoo, conditioner, soap, and all. By the time his gear was dry, it smelled worse than when he went in.

The last straw is usually the first shuttle or gondola ride of the season. A dressing room is one thing, but that is a cavernous space compared to the backseat of a Tacoma. Worst of all, that smell isn't just surface stink. What's causing that smell is bacteria, sweat, and body oils. You really need to clean it every now and then, and not just for the sake of everyone within 20 feet of you.

*Highly specific hockey lingo - for a further education, refer to all things Letterkenny.

Here's the text and instructions according to our friends at Mahalo My Dude. We'll definitely be trying this one out and reporting back.

What’s really inside your clean gear? You ever smell your clothes and gear after it’s been in the wash and it’s still dank AF? And it seems darn near impossible to get it smelling fresh again? Follow these steps, your gear will be FRESH and FREE from a gnarly build up of bacteria, sweat, oils, laundry detergent. It's time to strip with Andrew and Brodie!

Soak your gear in HOT water with the following ingredients 4-6 hours stirring once each hour. Make sure you separate your lights & darks. This can be used for pretty much any kind of clothing, sheets, gear, blankets, etc...

1 CUP Powdered Tide (Or any powdered detergent)
1/2 CUP Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (or) Baking Soda
1/4 CUP Borax

Filmed and edited by Andrew Santos (http://instagram.com/andrewcsantos)
Starring Brodie Younger (https://www.instagram.com/datbrodz/)