Cleaning your pads
Everyday care
After every session I spray my pads, helmet and the inside of my skates with a liquid based sports deodoriser sold at my local Sports Direct store. This helps to reduce the time between having to clean my kit (which I like as I can do a lot of derby so don't always have time for it to dry between sessions if I give it a full wash). I have also used athletes foot deodoriser which also worked well and can be easily bought in the supermarket.
I know many people leave their kit in their bag or car until the next session, I can tell which people these are by skating near them! I'm sure there will be some people like that in your league. However, I have found my methods are successful at preventing the derby smell emerging if stuck to relatively rigidly.
After every session I spray my pads, helmet and the inside of my skates with a liquid based sports deodoriser sold at my local Sports Direct store. This helps to reduce the time between having to clean my kit (which I like as I can do a lot of derby so don't always have time for it to dry between sessions if I give it a full wash). I have also used athletes foot deodoriser which also worked well and can be easily bought in the supermarket.
I know many people leave their kit in their bag or car until the next session, I can tell which people these are by skating near them! I'm sure there will be some people like that in your league. However, I have found my methods are successful at preventing the derby smell emerging if stuck to relatively rigidly.
I leave the kit in the bath for a few hours (usually until the water goes a lovely shade of brown or grey) which it will if you sweat a lot. After that I let out the water, rinse each of the pads and then refill the bath with just water and leave to soak for a further hour. Following this, I either hang my pads up outside on the line if it is a sunny day or I get inventive around the house in ways that limit my non derby housemates getting annoyed at me. One thing I have been known to do is hang them on the rungs of the kitchen chairs with newspaper underneath to catch any dripping water...
TIP - I advise that if you live with other derby people, although washing your kit together seems like a great idea, don't. Or at least don't use the same bath water. This, as I have learnt, can cause your kit to smell worse afterwards if their kit smells worse or they wash their kit less frequently than you.
TIP - I advise that if you live with other derby people, although washing your kit together seems like a great idea, don't. Or at least don't use the same bath water. This, as I have learnt, can cause your kit to smell worse afterwards if their kit smells worse or they wash their kit less frequently than you.