TeamSport90 Grass Roots Football Forum - How to clean and care for your football boots

So, the match has ended; kit has been discarded and thrown into a sodden, muddy pile into the middle of the changing room and your filthy, wet football boots are slung into a carrier bag, only to surface a week later, caked in mud, smelling of damp and mould. Not only does it look unprofessional - they often feel very uncomfortable when you wear them!

Here is a pictorial guide (click a picture to zoom) on how to take care of your football boots after a match. It only takes 15 minutes, but those 15 minutes will greatly increase the life expectancy of those boots. The boots in the picture are Adidas 7406’s and have worn them since I bought them in 2006 - playing sometimes up to 3 games a weekend, plus training! These instructions generally refer to leather football boots, but some will apply to the new fandangled plastic uppers too; I will reference the differences as we go along!

Immediately after the game
Take your boots off by loosening the laces. This may sound pretty basic, but you will be amazed at how many players just force them off, breaking down the supportive heel structure as they do so. Loosening the laces will allow the boots to retain their natural shape.

Avoid stamping your boots together, against a wall, or floor to loosen the mud between the stud pattern - this will damage your studs, and if they are screw-ins it may make them difficult to remove, or may even snap the studs, causing the stud to snap off leaving the stud-thread still in the boot! Use a stiff brush to loosen and remove the mud. Use a damp cloth to remove the excess mud from the boot surface. This will make it easier to properly clean your boots.

Allow them to dry naturally- do not dry over a heat source such as a radiator, as this will cause the boot to dry out too much and crack.

Cleaning your boots

Gather all your materials together. You will need:

A damp cloth
A dry cloth
A stiff brush
A toothbrush
Can of WD40
Dubbin or similar
Newspaper
A mug of coffee

Start with the stiff brush and remove the remaining traces of mud from the uppers and the stud plate. If you have synthetic boots, use the brush only on the stud plate.

Use the toothbrush to remove mud from any grooves in the boot, particularly around the sole where the boot meets the stud plate, throughout the stud pattern and around the laces.

Take a damp cloth and wipe over the surface of the boot and stud plate, removing any other traces of mud.

Fill the boots with newspaper; this helps to retain the boots natural shape and will also help dry the insides and soak up any excess moisture.

Loosen the studs on your boots - this will stop them rusting and will make them easier to replace. Remember to tighten up the screw before playing, but never overtighten, as this can lose the stud thread into your stud plate.

Periodically, remove the stud completely and clean the stud hole; spray WD40 or other oil into the hole to help keep the stud thread clean and well oiled.

Finally, take your dubbin or similar and massage well into the leather of your boot. You must never use this on synthetic boots, as it may take off the protective patina on the boots. Look for special synthetic cleaner/ protector. Let the dubbin soak into the leather, before buffing with a dry cloth.

And there you go- a pair of clean, almost good as new, football boots! PS: the mug of coffee was for drinking. The mug should now be empty!

Do not put the boots straight into a bag – leave them hanging somewhere to dry and to air naturally. I have thrown all my tools out and built a custom made boot rack in my garage!