How To Stop Your Football Boots From Smelling

The smell usually arrives before the boots do. Unzip a kit bag after a wet game or a midweek 3G session and you know exactly what has been left in there: damp boots, wet socks, grass, rubber crumb and several hours with nowhere for any of it to breathe.

I’ve spent more time around football boots than is probably sensible, and the best way I’ve found to stop football boots smelling is also the least exciting. Get them dry.

Sweat and water sit around the lining and insole, bacteria build up and the smell follows. Take your boots out of the bag when you get home, remove the insoles, clean off the worst of the dirt and give everything time to dry before you play again.

For this one, I wanted to show the boots as they actually live. Not the shiny pairs fresh out of the warehouse, perfectly laced and untouched, but the ones that get thrown into boot bags, kicked around the changing room and left in the boot of my car after training. The boots in these photos are mine, and a few of them have done a very good job of making the car smell like an away changing room.

How to Stop Football Boots Smelling After You Play

Most of the work happens in the first hour after you get home.

Take the boots out of the bag rather than leaving them zipped up until the next session. If the insoles come out, remove them and let them dry separately. Knock off loose mud, open the boots up and leave them somewhere with decent airflow.

After a properly wet game, I’ll put newspaper or kitchen roll inside to pull some of the moisture out of the lining. If it gets soaked, change it.

That is the bit I would sort before worrying about sprays, tea bags or whatever hack is doing the rounds online. A deodoriser can help a dry pair. It cannot do much for boots that are still damp underneath.

Why Do Football Boots Smell?

Football boots usually smell because moisture stays trapped inside them for too long.

Sweat works into the lining and insole while you play, then rain, wet grass or a soaked pitch adds more from the outside. Put the boots straight into a zipped bag afterwards, leave that bag in the car overnight, and you have created a pretty good environment for the smell to settle in.

I have done that enough times to know exactly what the car smells like the next morning.

The insole normally takes the worst of it because it sits underneath your foot for the whole session. If you only check one part of a smelly pair, start there.

Price makes no difference either. Leave an Elite pair wet at the bottom of your kit bag and it will smell just as bad as anything else. Premium upper, same smell.

How to Clean Smelly Football Boots

If your football boots already smell, I would clean them before trying to cover the odour with another scent.

Knock off loose mud first, then use a soft brush or damp cloth over the upper. If they need more work, a little mild soap and lukewarm water is normally enough. I clean removable insoles separately rather than soaking the whole boot.

Go easier on soft leather and thinner uppers. Scrubbing harder does not automatically mean cleaner boots, and once you start damaging the finish you have created another problem for yourself.

I also keep football boots out of the washing machine. Modern boots use thin materials, bonded layers and adhesives, so a full wash cycle is far more punishment than they need. Hand cleaning takes a bit longer, but you stay in control of how wet the boot gets.

How to Dry Football Boots Properly

Drying is where most smelly football boots are either saved or ignored until the next session.

Take the insoles out, loosen the boots up and leave them somewhere with airflow. A fan can help if you play several times a week, particularly through winter when Tuesday training, Thursday training and a Saturday match can leave very little time for a pair to dry properly.

Caption: Same boots, better idea. Insoles out, opened up and actually allowed to dry.

What I avoid is strong heat. Radiators, hairdryers and tumble dryers can affect glue and materials, which is not worth the risk just because you need the boots ready again quickly.

If a pair is soaking wet, paper inside the boot and patience are still better than cooking them beside the radiator.

How to Get the Smell Out of Football Boots

Once the smell is already there, I start with the insole.

Take it out, clean it and let it dry separately. If it is heavily worn and still smells afterwards, replacing it can make more sense than repeatedly trying to rescue it. The insole gets more direct contact with your foot than almost any other part of the boot, so it can hold onto smell long after the upper looks clean.

Once everything is dry, a football boot deodoriser, odour pouch or moisture absorber can help between sessions.

Dry tea bags are probably the home remedy I hear about most. They can absorb some moisture and plenty of players swear by them for lighter smells. Just make sure they are actually dry. Nobody needs a used PG Tips bag rolling around inside a pair of Mercurials.

Bicarbonate of soda can help with odour as well, but loose powder gets everywhere, so personally I would rather use a proper deodoriser or moisture absorber.

The freezer trick comes up a lot too. I wouldn’t bother. If the boots smell, clean them, dry them properly and sort the insole first.

Can You Put Football Boots in the Washing Machine?

I wouldn’t.

A washing machine means prolonged soaking, detergent and plenty of movement around a boot that has been built from thin uppers, glued components and shaped materials.

The tumble dryer is an even easier one to avoid because of the heat involved.

If I like a pair enough to keep wearing them, I’m hand cleaning them.

Do Football Socks Make Your Boots Smell?

Your boots might not be doing all of the damage.

Football socks and grip socks hold plenty of sweat during a session, so wash and dry them rather than stuffing them into the boots for the journey home.

Damp grip socks inside damp boots inside a zipped kit bag is about as efficient an odour-making setup as football can provide. Leave that lot in the car overnight and you will know about it before you have even sat down.

The bag itself is worth cleaning occasionally too. There is not much point freshening up your boots and then putting them straight back into something that has been carrying wet kit for half a season.

The Best Way to Stop Football Boots Smelling

If you are searching for how to stop football boots smelling, the answer is mostly about what happens after you take them off.

Get them out of the bag, remove the insoles and let both dry properly. Clean the boots when they need it, wash your socks, and use deodorisers or moisture absorbers as extras rather than trying to cover up damp.

I own and wear enough football boots for the boot of my car to regularly look like a small boot room, which is probably why this subject felt worth doing properly. These are the pairs that actually get played in, chucked in a bag and dragged through a season, not the untouched ones sitting under warehouse lights.

Looking after them is nowhere near as interesting as choosing the next pair, but it does make a difference if you want the ones you already have to last.

If yours are worn beyond the point where a clean and fresh insole will save them, browse the latest football boots at Pro:Direct Soccer.