How To Deodorize Soccer Shin Guards

Pele, the legendary Brazilian footballer, once described soccer as “The Beautiful Game”.

Want to know what’s not so beautiful about soccer? A soccer bag full of smelly, sweaty equipment after a long week of practices and games. The smelliest offender on the list? It’s most likely your soccer shin guards.

Soccer shin guards are an essential piece of equipment and spend the majority of time trapped inside your socks soaking up sweat and dirt. If not properly cleaned, they can become a breeding ground for bacteria and bad odors.

Cleaning your soccer equipment should be an important part of your post-game routine. Here are a few easy steps you can take to keep your soccer shin guards smelling fresh and clean all season long:

Step 1. Let Your Shin Guards Breathe

Instead of tossing your soccer shin guards in your bag immediately after practices or games, leave them out somewhere with great airflow and give them some time to dry out.

Allowing your shin guards to sit in a closed gym bag or car trunk will not allow them to fully dry and makes them more prone to bacteria and other germs that cause unpleasant smells and potential health concerns.

Step 2. Spray Your Shin Guards Down with Vapor Fresh

Once you've found a good spot for your shin guards to air out, spray them down generously with Vapor Fresh Cleaning Spray.

Vapor Fresh is a safe and effective line of cleaning products for sports and fitness equipment like soccer shin guards. It's the leading choice of athletes, teams and gyms nationwide for a number of reasons:

Vapor Fresh is plant based, non-irritating & non-toxic

Vapor Fresh is completely free of alcohol, quats, bleach and artificial fragrances.  Instead it derives its cleaning power from four plant based essential oils.

This plant based cleaning power allows Vapor Fresh to eliminate odors and replace them with subtle fresh scents without the use of harsh, irritating and dangerous chemicals found in nearly all other cleaning products.

Vapor Fresh was created specifically to eliminate sports equipment odors

Vapor Fresh is strong enough to eliminate even the toughest sports odors.

Many articles and resources will suggest that you clean your soccer shin guards and other sports equipment with household cleaners. Those products contain harsh cleaning agents designed to clean hard surfaces like countertops and bathroom tile, not sports equipment.

Vapor Fresh Spray is specifically designed to clean and deodorize sports gear in a safe and effective way. Removing sweat odors is a difficult task, but Vapor Fresh is designed to penetrate deep into sports gear, eliminating the odor at its source without leaving your gear sticky, rough or uncomfortable.

Vapor Fresh won’t irritate your skin

Your soccer shin guards come in direct contact with your skin and we developed Vapor Fresh with exactly that in mind.

Whether it be cleaning your helmet or deodorizing your gloves, most sports equipment is worn very close to our bodies, so whatever cleaning products we use to clean them will also be in close contact with our body.

By leaving out the harsh ingredients, we ensured that Vapor Fresh would keep your equipment looking and smelling clean without irritating your eyes, skin or lungs.

Vapor Fresh won’t ruin your equipment

Sports equipment can be expensive and we want yours to last. That’s why we formulated Vapor Fresh without any ingredients that will wear down or corrode your gear like many household cleaners would.

Step 3. Allow to Air Dry and You’re Good to Go!

After you’ve given your soccer shin guards a generous spray of Vapor Fresh, allow them to dry completely in a clean, well-ventilated space. Don’t throw them back in your dark, zipped-up soccer bag where things tend to stay moist and attract germs that cause unpleasant odors.

It's important to allow your shin guards to dry naturally and avoid trying to speed up the drying process by using external heat sources like a hair dryer or clothes dryer. These types of heat sources can be harmful to your equipment and cause materials to warp and break down.

Can I wash my soccer shin guards in the washing machine?

Yes, you can wash your soccer shin guards in the washing machine, but we do not recommend you do it frequently. Putting soccer shin guards in the washing machine puts a lot of stress on the materials.

Think of the washing machine as the occasional deep-cleaning option for your soccer shin guards. Rely on Vapor Fresh to keep them in top shape after every practice and game.

The Best Cleaning Spray for Your Soccer Shin Guards is Vapor Fresh

If you follow these steps you’ll be all set to look, feel and play your best the next time you step on the soccer field. And we hope you get to experience how Vapor Fresh is the best cleaning spray for your soccer gear!

Now get out there and put one in the back of the net!