My brother did this with his lacrosse gloves, but same thing.
Step One.
Gather your gear that you want to wash. Put it in the washer.
Step Two.
Set everything. For example, the temperature of the water. I personally used Small load size, Warm Wash, Cold Rinse, Extra Rinse off and Hand wash Off. I set the cycle to a normal, regular cycle.
Step Three.
If your washer has a fabric softener dispenser, add half of a cap of fabric softener. You’ll need to pour in some laundry detergent. I used about a 1/4th of a cap. Make sure you cover most of the surface you want to clean with the detergent.
Step Four.
Close the top of the washer, and start the cycle you set.
Step Five.
Once the washer indicates that the cycle is done (usually by some sort of noise. If no noise is heard, look at the dial to see if it’s at the end of the cycle), take the equipment out.
Step Six.
Tie the equipment up somehow. It will be hung outside. Hang it on anything where the equipment will be in direct sunlight. Leave it in the direct sunlight for about 10-15 minutes.
Step Seven.
This step is needed ONLY if the equipment is not dry. Bring the equipment inside and place it in front of a fan for 10-15 minutes.
There you have it! Clean, good-smelling equipment! It’ll soften up your gloves a little bit, making them more flexible. If you do this to gloves as I did, the next morning you may need to work them a little bit. You may possibly need to do this to other equipment as well, but I have yet to try it.
Warning! I have not tried this on equipment other than gloves, use this cleaning method at your own risk!
Although, I think it’ll be fine for any body pads. Please, do not attempt washing your helmet in the washer. For one, it’ll be noisy and you may be punished per your parents, two, it’d be pretty hard to fit a helmet into a washer. If you attempt washing your helmet, and it works, let me know. See the warning above.