How to clean smelly bike gear after it has got wet
 

In Thailand and Malaysia it seems to rain a lot. so my gear has gone through a number of soaking-nearly dry-soakings and now stinks.

The Clima Air-flow boots have the most dreadful smell - like cats piss
And my leather summer gloves have that general mouldy leather smell


So what is the best way to get rid of the smell?

I have heard putting them in a freezer can kill the bacteria off - anyone done this?

If I want to clean the inside of my helmet I use Baby Shampoo - as it contains no chemicals and seems to work well - rinsing under a hot shower. Has anyone tried doing this with leather products e.g. boots and gloves.


Surgical spirit and bleach are mentioned in this posting http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...977#post117048 but that is about cleaning clothes not leather products.


In the UK I have seen some sports shoe shops have a machine that looks like a microwave with a blue light that is suspose to rid training shoes of the smell but can not find one of those machines here in Kuala Lumpur - do they work with leather?


I really don't want to buy new just to get rid of the smell, which comes back whenever they get wet again, any tips any one?


ps. Don't put your leather gear in the microwave - I tried it with a heavy duty wet weather glove it came out looking like ET's hand: [IMG]www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n4/n22164.jpg[/IMG]

I do this with my boots periodically. It helps, but don't let your roommates see you do this....and clear out any foods which might absorb odors before the boots freeze solidly. I also do this with telemark ski boots (if there's anything which smells worse than these, including dead sea mammals in tropical sun, I haven't yet had the pleasure) and it works pretty well. Have tried all sorts of other solutions without much luck--even enzyme treatments claimed to be specific to the task.

FWIW, bleach kills bacteria very efficiently, even at low concentrations. And I presume that the "blue light" is UV, which is supposed to be at least equally effective. So's nuclear radiation, if you happen to have access to reactors, medical supplies, or tactical armaments.

Killing the bacteria presumed responsible is only part of the battle, however. Those bacteria are living off the oils, salts, dead skin cells and whatever else is in your sweat; if you can't find a way to clean all that stuff out of your boots, fresh bacteria will re-colonize quickly, and you'll be back where you started.

In trying to clean out the accumulated gunk on which bacteria feed I've tried all sorts of things, from soaps and detergents to solvents. Don't know that anything has worked for long.

If you find a real solution, I'm interested in hearing about it.

Mark

Micropure works okay.

I think the only way is to dry it thoroughly, them burn it. :rofl:

What is Micropure? A soap? A fabric? A bleach?

Micropure is tablets (or powder) that kills the bacteria. It’s meant used for purifying drinking water. As you probably know smell is caused by bacteria.
I always carry Micropure anyway to ensure that I can drink local water.

For my boots I put 2 tablets in each boot and fill it with water for a few hours. Same goes for the helmet. I’ve found that this works better then using a fridge and I never carry a fridge…

cleaning boots... this works
 

to clean the smell out of boots, take a sponge that has some bleach diluted 50/50 with water, wipe around the inside and outside........ let dry for an hour and then repeat.

Then take a small piece of damp ( as in thoroughly wetted, then wrung out, like a face cloth would be) towel, and wipe out. repeat previous action 2 or 3 times, rinsing the towel ( I use an OLD face cloth) after each 'wipe'

this does it for me and I tend to have really 'cheesy' feet.

another tip is..... honestly, please do not laugh.......... CROCS.

if you are not actually riding... then wear crocs. they are warm with socks, and barefoot they are washable.

u use mine for showering (gives me chance to wash em.....) and as slippers, i used to think they were 'Gay' or 'Stupid' till I my wife bought me a pair... I wore em just to please her.... but then got to really like em.

I reccommend em 100% as they weigh nothing........

That is the second vote for bleach, I did try Dettol and Luz soap powder: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink soaking in hot water for 30mins, the other day but dont think it really worked.

What are 'crocs'?

Anyone know where to purchase MicroPure in Malaysia or the UK (will any one be selling it at Ripley?)

One of my friends recommended me to use those effervecent tablets that clean false teeth. Apparently it worked very well on her MC bags and removed cat pee smell when nothing else would. Not sure it would work on leather though.
I never personally tried it yet but why not? Also similar are the tablets you buy to clean platic bottles. More expensive stuff though but does the same stuff.

Let us know how you get on with that!

Cheers,

To stop musty mouldy type smells on wet riding gear I soak my riding gear in a bathtub full of water with a tube of steradent tablets or similar then drip dry (no rinse). Not sure how well it would work against boot feet but the sterilising stuff in steradent (denture soak tablets) seems to stay in the fabric for a while and doesn't damage it.

I use the nikwax stuff - they've got a load of gels and cleaners and all sorts.

If I don't actually want to wash stuff - like boots - I spray in Febreze or a.n.other fabric 'freshener' - you can get ones with bacteria killing stuff in them now too. Seems to do the trick!

m

the bacteria that causes the pong feeding off your dead skin is only killed off in the deep freeze, a regular domestic freezer will help but not get cold enough to do a sure job. i use the industrial freezer at work at -18c. the best thing to do if you have time is to let the items totally dry out first.
it will probably only last till your next soaking!

i have cleaned my helmet in the bath before (fnaar fnaar!) with baby shampoo and a (old) toothbrush, its very therapeutic.
removeable linings are a great invention.

I carry these for cleaning my camelbak bladder so will give them ago - don't particularly want to carry bottles of bleach, dettol or an industrial deep freezer (though if I find one I might pop the stuff in - how long for? a day?)

Another tip I have been told is:

which I might try if the sterilizing tablets fail.

Oh and yes I agree with Baby Shampoo for cleaning the inside of my helmet - amazing the amount of dirty water that runs out. :eek3: