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There are many different types of knee pads are available. These can range from extreme sports to wrestling and even golf. The truth is there are as many different types of knee pads as there are Sports that use them. Knee pads all have one thing in common though – they all need to be taken care of in order to make sure that they do their job as well as possible.
In sports like basketball and volleyball knee pads generally protect the knees from hard impacts. The knee pad sleeve which fits over the knee is usually made of a soft material — normally neoprene. Neoprene has the perfect combination of flexibility, insulation and durability.
Depending on the roughness of the sport you will see that knee pads can come in hard-shell and soft-shell varieties. Basketball knee pads are quite different than hockey knee pads for example. The hard shell variety normally will have a plastic outer casing a few millimeters thick and provide added protection against blows. The soft-shell version will just have a slightly thicker than usual layer of material, and can be worn easily underneath pants without giving away the fact that pads are being used.
The soft knee pad material absorbs a lot of sweat. This cannot be helped because the skin needs to breathe and when it cannot it sweats. A result of this is that when taking off pads, they are usually soaked through.
Many people just take the knee pads out of their kit bag and then leave them until the next time they want to play sports. When they take the knee pads back out of their kit bag, they come across damp, sweaty and foul smelling pads.
Leaving the knee pads like this seriously shortens their usable lifespan. The best thing to do when trying to look after your pads is to soak them in warm water as soon as you get them home. Many knee pads these days have washing instructions on a label inside them. Usually you will see that they can be washed at 30°. This is an excellent idea, and to be honest, your pads should be washed after every use to prolong their lifespan. Through this one simple technique, taking care of your knee pads should not be a chore and in one fell swoop, the lifespan of your knee pads will have been increased by a very large amount!
