Ah, Sports…we love you and the mastery, camaraderie and team spirit you help our kids build. We also appreciate your early weekend games, dinner-time practices, cut-throat parents and the eye-watering, gag-inducing STINK you leave in our kids’ sports gear.
You might assume there is no chemical powerful enough to get rid of that stench and that you have to go the toxic hazmat route to really kill it off. But who wants hazmat-grade chemicals touching their kid’s skin? We know…the prospect of riding around in a hot car with hockey, soccer, football or lacrosse gear might make it seem totally appropriate to use the toxic stuff just for athletic stench. But you actually do have the option of a natural deodorizer that’s as effective as bleach, yet without any harmful chemicals.
Turning Salt, Water & Vinegar into a Natural Deodorizer
You might not have heard of hypochlorous acid before, but it’s a natural deodorizer that leaves bleach and ammonia on the bench when it comes to stopping odor in athletic gear. Hypochlorous acid is a substance created when you use electricity to change the chemical composition of salt, water and vinegar. It’s as effective as bleach and stops the odor in sports gear in just 30 seconds.
So how do you make hypochlorous acid yourself? Force of Nature is a small appliance that sits right on your countertop and uses electricity to transform salt, water and vinegar into a cleaner and hypochlorous acid, a powerful deodorizer. Armed with hypochlorous acid and a few important tips, you can eliminate that awful stink from your kids’ sports gear – for good.
Athletic Clothing & Uniforms
Sweat, the natural oils your body produces and dead skin all contribute to the rank odor that afflicts athletic clothes. Spandex and Lycra, which make athletic clothes more comfortable because they stretch and repel sweat, repel water too, which means that the fibers don’t get thoroughly rinsed in the wash. There are 4 big things you can do to eliminate the stink in clothing:
- Put AWAY the fabric softener – You may think the nice fragrance will help, but in reality it’s making the problem worse! Fabric softeners leave a coating on the fibers used in athletic clothing that prevents them from getting completely clean – so yes, they actually lock in the stink. Plus fabric softeners can damage the fibers in stretchy athletic clothing.
- Use LESS detergent – Your instinct is probably to put extra detergent into your loads of stinky athletic clothes, but resist the urge! It’s making that stench worse. Your washer is set to handle a standard level of detergent, so any more than that causes a residue that won’t get rinsed out. Instead it builds up in your clothing which creates an ideal environment for fungus and mildew, which of course smell.
- Use low dryer heat – High heat might dry your clothes faster, but it also cooks in any lingering smells. Another reason to use low heat is that often technical workout fabrics are plastic-based, which means they don’t hold up well in high heat.
- Before you throw them in the hamper or wash, spray down those smelly clothes (as long as they’re washable!) with a natural deodorizer like Force of Nature. It will stop the stench that your detergent can’t handle.
Stinky Shoes, Cleats & Skates
The worst thing you can do is leave these in dank gym bags or trunks. You may have tried dryer sheets, but now you probably know why those don’t work. For the first time deodorizing shoes or skates, spray with a natural deodorizer like Force of Nature until it’s soaked and wait for 2 minutes. Then on-going, spray into the shoes after each wearing, wait 30 seconds and feel free to let your kids bring those shoes back into the house.
Rancid Gloves
Ever heard of “hockey hands”? If you have, sorry for eliciting your gag reflex. If not and your kids play a sport with gloves, you have already experienced the terror of hands that smell despite multiple washings! The first treatment, spray them with Force of Nature until they’re soaked, then wait 2 minutes. On-going just spray those gloves after each wearing with Force of Nature and we promise that stench will be GONE. It won’t harm or discolor leather.
Stinky Pads & Guards
You thought you made it out of the diaper stage and the child smells couldn’t get worse, didn’t you? That was until you picked up the gang after soccer practice and had a pile of shinguards in the car, right? Pads and guards suffer from the same affliction as all the other stinky sports gear. Spray these down with a natural deodorizer like Force of Nature. The first time, spray until it’s soaked for 2 minutes. On-going just spray after each use. It eliminates the odor despite having no harmful chemicals in it and won’t irritate skin.
Smelly Gym Bags
We know it’s tempting, but you should never use a gym bag as storage for sports gear, because you’re just inviting in stench. Gym bags won’t fit in most washing machines, so that usually isn’t an option. But never fear – you can spray that bag regularly with Force of Nature to stop that awful stench.
Stinky Helmets
Helmets, padding and straps are notoriously stinky and impossible to wash. Take a bike helmet – once you remove those pads, you can’t be sure they’ll stick back on again. Scalp oils and sweat sitting in a helmet for days can mean only one thing: rancid stench! Spray them after each use with Force of Nature and the hypochlorous acid stops that nasty odor in its tracks. The first time you use it, spray it until it’s soaked and wait for 2 minutes.
A Natural Deodorizer For Sports Stink: Learn More
So now you know about the crazy-effective odor killer called hypochlorous acid. Besides being as effective as bleach, it won’t remove color or damage equipment material or performance fabrics. To learn more about how Force of Nature turns just salt, water and vinegar in this potent odor slayer, click here.
