How to Clean Stinky Lacrosse Pads

January 08, 2019 | Odorklenz laundry, Remove mildew smell, Remove odors from workout clothes, Uncategorized

Any type of sport you play is bound to produce excessive amounts of sweat, which leads to less than stellar smelling gear and apparel. When you are playing a sport, you are going to run into dirt, mud, and sometimes even blood that can leave a lasting mark on your gear. What is LacrosseAlthough many sports gear is produced to stand the test of time against the hardest, most abrasive items their resilience in retaining odor is just as strong as the material it is constructed of. Lacrosse is known for being a very aggressive sport that can leave a beating on the expensive gear that is utilized when playing the sport. Often times big gear like pads, gloves, cleats, and helmets are hard to clean using the traditional washing methods – which can mean your dirty gear is likely not getting cleaned after every use. When you do not clean your gear after every use a combination of sweat and bacteria will settle on the material and create an odor that can knock out your fiercest opponent with one whiff. How can you give your lacrosse gear a thorough cleaning that will expel the odors instantly from the gear? Find out the key tips and tricks to kicking odors out of your lacrosse gear for good!

What is Lacrosse

Lacrosse is a very popular American sport that was originally developed and played by North American Indians. It has since been adapted and played all over the world, even being played in the Olympic Sports. The sport consists of a lacrosse ball and lacrosse sticks as players throw and catch the ball in a long-handled stick with a L-shaped curve and a piece of shallow netting at the end. Players use the head of the lacrosse stick to carry, pass, catch, and shoot the ball into the goal. Lacrosse has been described as a combination between football’s toughness, basketball’s high-powered offense, hockey’s stick action, and pure speed that puts lacrosse in its own league. The sport is usually played between two teams with each team having ten players at a time of the field. The lacrosse game is played over four quarters, each consisting of 15 minutes.

Lacrosse OdorsWhat Equipment Do You Need for Lacrosse

Lacrosse utilizes several different pieces of equipment and gear for players to wear. Due to the fact that lacrosse is a very aggressive and tough sport, there is a need for excess amounts of protective gear to shield players for injury and potential risks to health and safety. The key pieces of equipment that every lacrosse player should have and be wearing while they play includes the following;
  • The Crosse: The essential item in the sport of lacrosse is the crosse. It is made of wood, laminated wood, or synthetic material, and contains a shaped net at the end of the stick. The net includes a pocket for the ball to sit into while players are catching, passing, and running with the ball.
  • The Ball: The lacrosse ball must be made of a solid rubber and is usually white, yellow, or orange. These balls must be up to par with the NOCSAE (National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment) standards and include verbiage on the ball that backs this approval.
  • Helmet: Lacrosse players are required to wear a protective equipment helmet that is equipped with a face mask, chin pad, and a cupped four-point chin strap that fastens to all four hookups. All helmets must meet NOCAE standards.
  • Gloves: All players are strictly required to wear protective gloves. Lacrosse gloves help by protecting from injury.
  • Pads: All players, except the goalie, has to wear shoulder pads. Other pads that players must wear include arm pads, rib pads, and a protective cup for all players. The goalie also is required to wear a throat protector and chest protector.

Smelly Lax Gear ProblemsSmelly Lax Gear Problems

Lax gear can collect a wide array of odors very easily, as sweat, dirt, and bacteria gather on the lax sport gear. What usually makes the smell ten times worse on lacrosse equipment is a combination of lack of cleaning (usually because it is pretty difficult to clean and deodorize bulky gear) and the fact that many players leave their gear inside their sports bags, allowing bacteria and mold to grow on the padding.

Guide to Deodorizing Lacrosse Gear

What can you do when your lacrosse gear is so rancid smelling that you don’t even want to put it on when practice or game time comes around again? Well, we have the ultimate guide to deodorizing and cleaning the funky smells, bacteria, and sweat from your lax gear and padding. Read below for our complete guide to deodorizing lacrosse gear.

How to Wash Lax Pads

Lacrosse gear includes a large number of pads that all harbor and retain pungent odors while out on the field. The padding, however, cannot be easily washed which can leave the gear packed with odorous smells, bacteria, and even mold on the padding material. The first thing to do is to never ever leave your sweaty pads in your lacrosse bag. This can lead to an exacerbation of odor issues, some that will become How to Wash Lax Padsnearly impossible to remove from the padding material. The process of washing and deodorizing knee pads and other padding can be accomplished by means of two methods, the methods include;
  1. Taking your gear and running it through the washing machine on a gentle cycle with a little tiny bit of detergent. But before you do this be sure that the padding says machine washable.
  2. Or, by utilizing the OdorKlenz Sport Powder. The OdorKlenz Sport Powder is a quick and effective method to eliminating odors on sporting gear such as pads. The simple application allows for the player to directly disperse the powder onto the paddings and let it sink into the material and eradicate the odor.

How to Wash Goalie Gloves & Clean Lacrosse Helmet

Gloves and helmets are also a major source of odor for lacrosse gear. Both your hands and your head sweat (for some people these are key spots for sweat to accumulate) and can become absorbed into the material of the gear. Gloves and helmets, depending on the material of them, cannot be washed in a washing machine as the material can become destroyed – particularly leather and plastic. If you are looking to wash your gloves and deodorize them, you can do a mixture of detergent with water and dip a washcloth into the solution to wipe them down which will hopefully help to remove the odors. However, if you are wanting to easily and conveniently expel the odors from your goalie gloves and lacrosse helmet you can use an odor eliminating powder to easily apply onto the gear to clean it. Lacrosse gear can be full of tough, pungent odors that will be hard to eliminate – especially on gear that is not machine washable. By implementing this guide and the strategies we have put in place you can rapidly return your pads back to their original odor!