Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wash with Lysol laundry sanitizer liquid. The one with the black cap. Works for all sports clothes too.

I love this stuff. When I can't find the one with the black cap, the other version is okay too.
But in between washings, I use febreze when the bag starts to get smelly. I am not a big chemical person, but you have to pull out the big guns for this teen sports stuff.

+1 and Hex brand sanitizing spray

You should wash the bag regularly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Guys, get the boot/shoe dryer. It’s so useful. I don’t know how I did without it. It means you can wash any kind of shoe, bag, hat, gloves, whatever and have it dry within a couple hours. Lunch bags. Backpacks.

Last night at 9pm I realized bugspray had leaked all over the camp backpack. I washed it in the laundry sink, sort of shook out as much water as I could, and stuck it over the shoe dryer, which has like a 90 min timer. Bone dry in the morning.

+1, I think ours is called Dry Guy. Has been much more useful than I expected.

Even if you don’t have a shoe dryer, putting a fan on your wet stuff makes it dry much, much faster. I guess I knew that but once I had one permanently set up in the laundry room, I use it all the time for sweaters and all kinds of things.

Anonymous wrote:Guys, get the boot/shoe dryer. It’s so useful. I don’t know how I did without it. It means you can wash any kind of shoe, bag, hat, gloves, whatever and have it dry within a couple hours. Lunch bags. Backpacks.

Last night at 9pm I realized bugspray had leaked all over the camp backpack. I washed it in the laundry sink, sort of shook out as much water as I could, and stuck it over the shoe dryer, which has like a 90 min timer. Bone dry in the morning.

+1, I think ours is called Dry Guy. Has been much more useful than I expected.

Try this stuff---it's for wetsuits and dive gear, but it works on other smelly sports stuff as well:

https://www.amazon.com/NRS-Sink-Stink-Gear-Deodorizer/dp/B001UICFGI

Guys, get the boot/shoe dryer. It’s so useful. I don’t know how I did without it. It means you can wash any kind of shoe, bag, hat, gloves, whatever and have it dry within a couple hours. Lunch bags. Backpacks.

Last night at 9pm I realized bugspray had leaked all over the camp backpack. I washed it in the laundry sink, sort of shook out as much water as I could, and stuck it over the shoe dryer, which has like a 90 min timer. Bone dry in the morning.

Alcohol wipes and air it out in the sun.

The cleats are the worst offenders. I asked DS to keep them out of his bag to dry each night and they still stink. I bought a boot dryer and it seems to make the stench worse while powered on but at least they dry. I keep hearing about the salt bag so I’m trying that next evwn though it’s pricey. Aside from cleats, we just make sure wet clothes aren’t left in the bag and store it unzipped.

Yeah. It's really awful. The culprits for us are usually the cleats for my DD's soccer bag.

I bought shoes inserts filled with cedar chips that work well. Stuff those in there and get them in front of a fan and they are usually good to go in about 24 hours.

A boot dryer is even better, but we haven't stepped up and bought one.

For something really awful, we will rotate cleats.

We have never had problems with sports bag odor despite 2 teen boys who play soccer, basketball, swim etc. The reason? We live in an arid climate and everything dries quickly. Unzipping and airing out is not enough if you live in a place with high humidity. A pair of cleats that takes 60 min to completely air dry in an arid climate can take 12 hours to completely air dry in a humid climate. During those 12 hours, the bacteria proliferate and create odor. Spraying them with disinfectant or vinegar will kill the surface bacteria, but will not kill the ones below the surface - you would have to soak the cleats, which means your kid would need two or three pairs to rotate.

Also, side note, but studies have shown that people who use a lot of cleaning spray products have impaired lung function from all the inhalation of droplets, so cutting back on spray products is probably wise for all of us.

Use uv light and/or heat to kill the bacteria. We use boot heaters for ski boots, and I’ll throw mittens on there as well. Charcoal absorbs odors but doesn’t kill bacteria. If you don’t have room for a boot warmer, run the bag through the clothes dryer for a few minutes to get it thoroughly dried out.

Have you considered washing the bag itself, LOL?

I wash my kids sports backpacks at the end of every season. Similar to how I wash their school backpacks at the end of every semester.

I air it out after most practices and keep a deodorant ball thing in there. It helps, but it still stinks. It's the worst in the winter when it's too cold to store it in the garage.

Make sure you're using shoe driers and a wet bag for all sweaty clothes. Also, get a bag that can be washed and dried.

A vinegar/water spray will help too. Or rubbing alcohol. Spray it down, wipe it down, spray it again and then put it in the sun.

The charcoal odor bags work very well in our closets by the shoes, so putting one in her bag would most likely also work. Just toss it in the sun outside for a bit to "recharge".

I leave DS’s sport bag unzipped ( we never zip but it depends on style of bag), wipe with antibacterial wipe everyone after use, wash clothes and it’s been fine.