snowboard boot cleaning

It’s hard to find a way to have more fun in winter, so nothing better than spending your weekends on the slopes, snowboarding and skiing. The problem is that when you get home, exhausted but happy, the temptation is to just store the gear in the garage and go get a hot drink. You think you’ll get up early and fix it in the morning, but you forget and the next time you see the gear is next weekend and you pack it in the car to hit the tracks. Therefore, the ski equipment will remain cold and wet for a few more days.

After a few weeks of this type of treatment, you’ll probably notice that your boots start to smell a bit ripe. That’s because all the cold and wet has caused bacteria to grow on the fabric portions of the boot liners, and they love giving off that very noticeable odor.

to do

To get rid of the odor, you need to get rid of the bacteria, so you’ll need to do the following:

clean boots

• Remove the boot liners and put them in a warm room or office to dry. This step will only kill a proportion of the bacteria.
• Fill a sink or bucket with warm water and add a cup of white vinegar and a small amount of washing powder.
• Soak the liners in the mixture for at least 30 minutes. The vinegar will kill most of the remaining bacteria, and the detergent will take care of the sweat and dirt that future bacteria will feed on.
• While the liners are soaking, use a sponge soaked in the same solution to clean the rest of the boots.
• Once the liners have soaked through, rinse them well with clean water. Don’t worry if they still smell of vinegar after rinsing, that smell will go away when they dry.
• Reshape the liners and lay them on a towel to dry completely in a warm room.

Keep bacteria at bay

Cleaning will have taken care of most of the bacteria, so the liners will now smell much sweeter. The next step is to try to prevent the bacteria from taking hold again:

• Spray the liners with an odor spray like Febreeze or Odor Eater. Office cleaning suppliers are often a good source for these types of products.
• Make an insert that you can use between sessions on the tracks. Baking soda and coffee grounds are ideal for this. Fill an old pair of socks with a mixture of soda and coffee, tie them together to make a bag, and put them in your boots when not in use.

Prevention

The best solution is to thoroughly dry the boots after each use.

• Get into the habit of taking your boots into a warm, dry room and removing the lining to air out, rather than storing them wet.
• Once dry, spray the liners with an odor control spray and place them in the sock bags described above.

These simple cleaning tips will make your boots that much more enjoyable to put on and wear, and who knows, other people might even want to join you on the slopes again!