Cleaning & caring for umpire equipment

[JEL]

Originally Posted by CLBuffalo

I could not find a thread on this.

Just wondering how other umpires clean and care for their equipment.

What do you do when you have a day or more between games?

What do you do when you are doing a tournament, have done a plate and base and only have a 1 game break before doing another plate and base?

I know there are some who have enough shirts and pants to do several games a day. I think most of us don't have several pairs of shoes (plate and/or base), leg guards, chest protectors, masks, etc.

If you don't umpire all year how do you store your equipment?

I clean the gear with laundry detergent and a brush, then hose down.
In tournies, a liberal usage of Fabreze, or something similar helps. If changing facilities are the car, I leave stuff on top of car to dry/air out. Shoes get a brushing if dusty, if muddy use a spray bottle of water and paper towels, then the liquid polish will dry between games.

For storage (only store about a month or so) I just clean everything and hang up in a closet that is dedicated solely to umpire gear.