How to Clean Your Football Boots

Football boots are meant to get dirty. Mud on the soleplate, black marks from 3G, grass around the studs and whatever has been living at the bottom of your kit bag since Saturday are all part of actually wearing them.

Knowing how to clean football boots properly is mostly about making sure all of that does not stay there.

For most pairs, I stick to hand cleaning. Knock off the loose mud, use lukewarm water with a soft brush or cloth, clean the soleplate and upper without soaking the boot, then leave everything to dry naturally away from direct heat.

I spend more time around football boots than is probably healthy, and I would much rather be trying on another pair than standing over the sink cleaning the last one. Still, leaving mud to dry into an upper or wet boots zipped inside a bag is a pretty good way of making an expensive pair feel old quickly.

The exact approach changes slightly depending on what is on your feet. A thin synthetic Mercurial does not want treating exactly like a soft leather Copa or Morelia, while exposed knit needs a lighter touch than a solid coated upper.

That is where being slightly Football Boot Obsessed comes in useful.

What Do You Need to Clean Football Boots?

You do not need much.

For most of my boots, I use a soft shoe brush, an old toothbrush for the smaller gaps, a microfibre cloth, lukewarm water and a small amount of mild soap or footwear cleaner when the dirt needs a bit more help.

That covers most jobs.

I avoid hard brushes and strong household cleaners. Modern football boots can use very thin coatings, exposed fibres, bonded sections and soft leather, so there is little point getting the mud off if you damage the upper underneath it.

How to Clean Football Boots Quickly

If I come home with a properly muddy pair, I try to deal with them before everything has dried solid.

Start underneath. Gently knock the boots together outside to get rid of loose mud, then brush anything still packed around the studs and soleplate.

Next, loosen the laces properly and remove the insoles if they come out easily. You do not need to completely dismantle your boots after every game, but opening them up makes both cleaning and drying much easier.

Use cold or lukewarm water with a damp cloth or soft brush to clean the upper. Add a little mild soap or footwear cleaner for stubborn dirt rather than simply scrubbing harder.

I normally hold the boot at an angle so the water runs away from the opening. If I am cleaning the heel, I want that water going back towards the soleplate, not disappearing inside and soaking the lining.

Once the outside is clean, wipe away any excess water and leave the boots to dry naturally.

That is basically it. Mud off, upper clean, soleplate clean, then dry them properly.

How to Clean Muddy Football Boots

Mud is much easier to deal with before it becomes part of the boot.

Start with the biggest chunks around the studs and soleplate. A soft brush normally does the job, with an old toothbrush useful for tighter areas around smaller studs and grooves.

Once most of the dry dirt is gone, move onto the upper with a damp cloth or soft brush.

For stubborn marks, I would rather give the area another gentle pass with a little cleaner than attack it harder. Modern uppers can be incredibly thin, and the outer finish is normally taking the full force of your scrubbing.

There is another small habit worth changing here too. Loosen your laces before taking muddy boots off rather than standing on the heel and forcing your foot out.

The heel structure has already done 90 minutes of work. It does not need you folding it in half afterwards.

How to Clean Football Boot Studs and Soleplates

The soleplate deserves a proper look once the mud is off.

Brush between the studs, around the edges of the plate and along the join between the upper and outsole. Packed mud can hide wear, cracks and the early stages of separation.

On moulded FG and AG football boots, I check individual studs for obvious damage and look for excessive wear around the plate.

SG boots need a little more attention. Once everything is clean, check that screw-in studs are secure and that the threads are clear of mud before the next match.

It is also worth remembering where those studs are supposed to be used. Walking across concrete or tarmac in your match boots is a very efficient way of grinding them down. If you are unsure which plate belongs where, our football boot ground type guide covers FG, AG, SG, TF and IC properly.

How to Clean Synthetic and Knitted Football Boots

Most modern football boots use some combination of synthetic, knit, woven fibres or coatings.

A solid synthetic upper can normally handle straightforward cleaning with a soft brush and damp cloth. Exposed knit wants a lighter touch.

If mud or rubber crumb has worked into a knitted section, I take a little longer and work it out gently rather than scrubbing the fibres until the boot starts looking fuzzy.

Coated knit is usually more forgiving because there is a protective layer over the textile underneath, but I still would not use a stiff brush.

Football boots keep getting lighter, thinner and more complex. Cleaning them like the old school shoes you used to batter with a brush does not make much sense anymore.

How to Clean Leather Football Boots

Leather football boots need a little more care, especially if they spend a lot of time on wet grass.

Start by brushing away loose mud, then clean the leather with a damp cloth, lukewarm water and a small amount of mild soap if needed. I avoid soaking the upper and leave the boots to dry naturally before doing anything else.

Once the leather is completely dry, check how it actually feels. If it is starting to feel firm or dry, a small amount of suitable leather conditioner or dubbin can help keep smooth genuine leather supple. You do not need to use it every time you clean your boots, and more definitely is not better. A thin layer worked gently into the leather is enough, then buff away any excess.

Be more careful with modern leather football boots because very few are leather from heel to toe. On mixed-material boots, keep conditioner or dubbin on the genuine leather sections and away from synthetic panels, knitted collars, grip elements, laces and the soleplate. I would not use dubbin on synthetic leather, suede or nubuck either.

That softer leather feel is probably why you bought the boots in the first place. Clean them gently, let them dry properly and condition them when they actually need it rather than covering them in product after every muddy game.

Can You Put Football Boots in the Washing Machine?

Mine stay out.

You will see football boots thrown into washing machines online, and some materials might survive a cold, gentle cycle, but I do not see much reason to take the risk. A washing machine means prolonged exposure to water, detergent and movement around a boot made from glued, bonded and carefully shaped parts.

Hand cleaning gives you control over exactly where the water goes and how much pressure you use. Laces are different and can often be cleaned separately, depending on their care instructions. Insoles vary more by construction.

The football boots themselves are staying by the sink.

How to Dry Football Boots After Cleaning

Cleaning football boots properly also means drying them properly.

Take removable insoles out and leave them to dry separately. Open the boots up and put them somewhere ventilated at room temperature. If a pair is particularly wet, I use newspaper or kitchen roll inside to help pull moisture from the lining. Once the paper gets soaked, replace it.

What I do not use is direct heat.

No radiator, hairdryer or tumble dryer. Strong heat can affect adhesives, stiffen materials and distort parts of a football boot.

It is tempting when training is tomorrow night, but cooking a £200 pair beside the radiator because you need them dry for Thursday has never felt like much of a plan.

How Often Should You Clean Football Boots?

I do not deep-clean every pair every time I wear them.

If I have played on a dry 3G and the boots are basically clean, they probably need little more than airing out and brushing away the rubber crumb.

If I have just come off a muddy grass pitch and half of it is still attached to the soleplate, I deal with that sooner.

The aim is not to keep football boots permanently spotless. It is to stop mud, water and dirt sitting on them for days when a quick clean would have taken a couple of minutes.

That is especially true through winter when the same pair might be doing Tuesday training, Thursday training and a Saturday match.

How to Keep Football Boots Clean for Longer

Some marks are unavoidable. Personally, I think football boots should look like they have played football.

Using the right soleplate for the surface helps. So does changing out of your match boots before walking across the car park, getting heavy mud off reasonably quickly and making sure the boots are dry before they go back into storage.

Keep the boot bag reasonably clean as well. There is not much point hand-cleaning a pair and then putting them straight back into something full of old mud, rubber crumb and damp socks.

If the bigger problem is what happens when you open that bag rather than what the boots look like, that is a slightly different job. Moisture, insoles and drying become the priority.

The Best Way to Clean Football Boots

If you want the short answer to how to clean football boots, hand cleaning still wins.

Get rid of the loose mud first, then clean the soleplate and upper with a soft brush or cloth and lukewarm water. Use a little mild soap or footwear cleaner when you need it, treat leather and exposed knit more gently, avoid soaking the inside and let everything dry naturally afterwards.

You do not need to keep football boots looking fresh out of the box. Mine certainly do not.

The boots I care about are generally the ones living in boot bags, picking up grass and rubber crumb in the boot of my car and getting pulled out again for another match. Looking after them properly is less about keeping them shiny and more about making sure the pair I liked last Saturday still feels good when I lace it up next Saturday.

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