How To Clean Plastic Soccer Shin Guards

Learning how to clean plastic soccer shin guards regularly will assist in keeping them in top condition and extend their useful life. Regular cleaning of plastic soccer shin guards will also help extinguish odors and reduce the chance of fungal or mold growth. For cleaning all plastic shin guards, follow these simple steps.

To clean plastic soccer shin guards, you will need:

• shin guards
• kitchen sink
  

1. Ensure the plastic soccer shin guards are dry (do not clean plastic shin guards immediately after a game or practice), plug the kitchen sink drain and place the dry plastic shin guards in the sink. Then place something heavy on plastic shin guards to keep them from floating (recommend saucepan).
2. Sprinkle a combination of mild detergent and baking soda in the saucepan. This is the best and cheapest combination to clean plastic shin guards. Slowly turn on the tap and fill the saucepan first with hot water. Allow the hot water to overflow the saucepan and run until the plastic shin guards are submerged ensuring the majority of the detergent and baking soda has flowed out of the saucepan.
3. Allow plastic soccer shin guards to soak for approximately fifteen minutes. This will give the water some time to cool and the baking soda to work it’s magic.
4. Remove the saucepan, pouring the rest of the water into the sink. The plastic shin guards should float to the top. Remove them from the sink, rinse and set the plastic shin guards aside.
5. Once dry it is a good practice to spray them with a disinfectant to kill any chance of mold or fungal build-up, which will ruin plastic soccer shin guards.

This method is much easier then tossing the plastic shin guards in a washing machine and will eliminate any chance of scratches or damage during the spin cycle. With this method, you will have the shin guards looking sparkling with little to no lingering odor.