Self-Storage for Your Summer Sports Equipment

Oh, October sports! Baseball is in the playoffs. Football season is well underway. Hockey and basketball seasons are just kicking off. And you and your family can sense it all: you can practically smell the ice; you can almost feel the powder. But before you get your skates and skis out of storage, you’ll need to first prep and protect your summer sports equipment for its time in storage during the winter months.

That’s right: baseball gloves, golf clubs, surf boards, canoes, and water skis are all seeing their last few moments in the summer sun, and need to be put away in storage. At Box Me Up, we’ve put together our best tips for how best to protect your summer sports equipment for storage. 

Tip 1: Clean it all

The first thing to accomplish is a thorough cleaning all of your sports equipment. If you open up your equipment in spring and didn’t clean it in advance, then you are likely walking into an absolute disaster.

A smelly, mouldy disaster that may in fact cost you the price of replacement equipment.

You want to avoid that, so here’s our best tips on how to clean certain pieces of summer sports equipment. 

Jerseys and base layers

The easiest and most obvious pieces of equipment to clean are your jerseys, ski suits, undergarments, socks, and other laundry machine-friendly items. These should probably be being washed regularly throughout the summer anyways, so you know what to do. 

Protective equipment

On the other hand, the protective equipment you use while playing summer sports can be much more difficult to clean. Shoulder pads, shin pads, baseball gloves, and the like are items that cannot go in the laundry machine (without damaging them – or damaging the laundry machine!), but definitely need to be cleaned.

A damp cloth and a bit of dish soap can often to do the trick for most equipment. Make sure you wipe the equipment thoroughly, in and out, wiping away any dirt or grime that may deteriorate the materials over extended periods of time.

Items made with leather though, such as a baseball glove, require a little more effort, as the soapy water will damage the leather. So for leather equipment, use a soft brush or your hand to wipe away any excess dirt. Then, use a decent amount of leather cleaner and a soft cloth to clear off the remaining dirt from the leather surface. Finally, apply a conservative amount of leather conditioner, working it into the leather well, to keep the glove in good condition while in storage.

Before putting any sports equipment into storage though, make sure that they are completely dry, as any dampness can lead to mould growth. For equipment made with metal, such as golf clubs, you should wipe them dry with a towel. 

Water sports equipment

Equipment for water sports, like scuba gear, surf boards, and water skis, require their own special attention.

Scuba gear and water skis can be hosed down, making sure to rinse away all salt, sand, and microscopic marine life. They then need to be air-dried thoroughly, and stored in a breathable bag (i.e., not plastic), away from UV light.

Surf boards require even more attention. Like other water equipment, surf boards need to be hosed down of any salt, sand, or marine life. But their coat of wax should also be replaced before storing the board for the winter.

First, leave the surf board in the hot sun for 20-30 minutes. This will ease the wax’s bind to the board, and allow you to clear the wax from it much more easily. We recommend using WD-40, once you’ve cleared the main portion, to clear the final, stubborn bits of wax stuck to the board. The WD-40 has the additional benefit of helping to clear away any remaining dirt and grime on the board as well.

Allow the board to dry completely before applying a fresh coat of wax. There’s nothing like pulling your board back out next year with a fresh coat on it. As with scuba gear and water skis, store surf boards in a breathable bag and away from UV light. 

Canoes and Kayaks

Canoes and kayaks need to be hosed down, inside and out, to remove any build-ups of dirt and debris. A brush should then be used to scrub away additional dirt and, most importantly, if your boat is a salt water boat, then any salt. Salt can be particularly damaging to your canoe or kayak if it is allowed to sit for long periods of time, so ensure you have cleaned your boat thoroughly.

For a canoe’s gunwales, apply gunwale guard oil, and a UV protection to vinyl gunwales. Allow the boat to dry, and then flip the boat upside down when putting it away in winter storage. 

Tip 2: Keep it maintained

Always be looking out for any damage your equipment may have incurred during the summer as you are cleaning it. Any repairs or replacements should be taken care of now so that you are not rushing to remedy the problem at the beginning of next year – just before the first practice.

Inspect all the grips to your golf clubs, and replace any that are too worn before putting the clubs in storage. Fill the air to any soccer balls or volleyballs. Repair or replace broken padding.

The added advantage here is that there are typically discounts and savings on equipment and their repairs at the end of a sport’s season rather than at its start, so take advantage of those savings now that it is the end of the season. 

Tip 3: Find the right storage space

The best way to add space to your home is always with self-storage. Canoes, kayaks, baseball bats, golf clubs, helmets, shin pads, soccer balls, jerseys, bicycles, and everything that comes with an active summer can all disappear in a storage unit for the winter.

And out of it?

Your ice skates and snowboards, shoulder pads and snow pants: they can all be retrieved from their summer home as your summer sports equipment goes in. 

Keep your storage organized

Make sure to organize your storage to make it easy for all of your family to utilize it properly. So, before storing it, separate the equipment by sport and/or player. We suggest using large, plastic bins to keep the contents away from moisture.

Clear bins have the advantage of seeing whose equipment or which sport’s equipment is in which bin. Alternatively, you can colour-coordinate the bins, designating a particular colour to an individual or to a sport. In either case though, always add labels for ease of access in the future.

Keep your summer sports equipment stored in a cooler area, and certainly avoid any heat. Heat can warp or damage gear, and will increase the likelihood of mould growth.

With your summer sports equipment safely away in self-storage for the winter, you can now get back to focusing on tying up your skates and board boots!

For all your self-storage and mobile storage needs in Eastern Ontario, find the best solutions at Box Me Up. Keep your eye on our blog for more tips and tricks for everything storage, and speak with one of our experts today if you have any further questions about storing your sports equipment or anything self-storage related.