How to Clean Soccer Cleats: 5 Maintenance Tips to Protect Your Gear

We know what it's like to open the gym bag and be hit by a wave of locker room stink. Or worse, you lace them up, and your expensive uppers split open because they dried out. Your soccer cleats are not just shoes - they are tools. Today’s cleats are engineering wonders, but caked mud, turf pellets, and sweat are literal “boot killers.” Grime buildup kills your touch, rots the materials, ruins your traction. You need a quick routine that protects your gear and your money to make your cleats last. Cleaning Soccer Cleats After Matches Pulling stiff, damp soccer cleats out of a bag on Tuesday that have marinated since Saturday is a nightmare. You’ll immediately notice the stale odor of trapped moisture, and you might even see the soleplate beginning to split away from the upper at the toe. Leaving cleats trapped in zipped duffels causes this "delamination", where the wet glue rots and structural components fail. Take action immediately post-match: Clap studs: Bang outsoles together to clear mud from detailed traction patterns so you don't slip on pivots. Remove pellets: Shake out abrasive black rubber turf crumbs that wedge into seams and cause blisters. Ventilate: Put your boots into a Ventilated Mesh Boot Bag. Avoid using plastic bags; they breed bacteria and destroy structural glues. The 24-Hour Rule: Avoid wearing match cleats for back-to-back training days. Having a backup pair of turf shoes gives your premium boots the 24 to 48 hours they need to dry completely and retain their original shape. How to Remove Smell From Soccer Cleats That toxic locker-room funk happens when bacteria feast on trapped sweat, skin flakes, and pitch moisture inside the dark synthetic fabrics. If you leave them unaddressed, the smell will permanently bake into the fibers, turning your gym bag into a hazard zone. To kill the odor at its source, mix a 50/50 solution of water and white vinegar in a spray bottle and lightly mist the interior after every game; the vinegar eliminates the bacteria without damaging the textiles. For daily maintenance, immediately slide moisture-absorbing Deodorizer Inserts or cedar sneaker balls inside to pull out residual dampness. Deep Cleaning: Restoring Your Upper When dust packs into the grip areas of your boots, you lose that sharp, connected feel. Keep ignoring it, and that gritty layer chews away at those tiny details on your boots that make all the difference. Scrubbing with your laces just shoves more grit into the eyelets, tearing up the fabric along the way. Start by pulling out the laces and insoles. Grab a stiff brush and knock off any dried mud. Mix some lukewarm water with just a drop of mild soap (avoid strong detergents). Use a soft brush and clean the upper with gentle circular movements to clean the upper. Pat the upper with a damp microfiber cloth. Don’t submerge your cleats, or you’ll mess up the way they lock down around your foot. Material Science: Treating Your Boots Right What is worse than your fancy pair of leather boots getting so stiff that you feel like you are walking on concrete blocks, because your shoes got soaking wet during the match? Or your knitted uppers are becoming dull and dirty looking because your shoes have dried out? In this case, your shoes will no longer be elastic, leading to blisters and skin irritation during your next 90 minutes of play. Boot Type Key Care Tool Top Care Rule Natural Leather Leather Balsam Never use heat; moisturize to prevent cracking. Synthetics & Knits Soft Toothbrush Lift dirt out of the weave early to avoid stains. Drying Soccer Cleats The Right Way Putting wet soccer cleats on a hot radiator or drying them with a hairdryer will cause the material to shrink unevenly, so you're left with stiff paddings that rub on your foot and give you nasty blisters. To dry your cleats, pack them tightly with crumpled newspaper or paper towels. They naturally soak up moisture and protect the cleat's shape. Place them in a cool room with a fan blowing so they dry out slowly in a cool area. For soft ground (SG) cleats, moisture gets even riskier because it can rust the metal parts. While they’re drying, unscrew the studs, dry out the threads, and smear a little petroleum jelly on them. That stops rust and keeps your studs from getting stuck for good. How to Store Soccer Cleats Off-Season When it's time to switch up the seasonal gear from summer or winter cleats, it's a real dilemma: where do you store off-season soccer cleats? Leaving your soccer cleats in a cold, damp basement or a hot attic will leave you with brittle, faded cleats with baked-in sweat odors. Plus, the internal padding will be completely dried out, leaving you with a collapsed and flat sensation instead of the familiar cushioned comfort. So before the new season hits, do a deep clean of your cleats as we've explained above and let them dry out. Next, stuff them tightly with paper towels so they don't lose their shape. Place them inside a breathable mesh bag or a cardboard shoe box in a climate-controlled closet to keep the materials flexible for next season. FAQs About How to Clean Soccer Cleats How do I get rid of the locker room smell on my cleats? Funk comes from bacteria feeding on sweat and moisture. Spray a 50/50 water and white vinegar mix inside after cleaning, or use Deodorizer Inserts. And don't forget to take your damp socks out of the cleats as soon as the game ends. Can I wash my soccer cleats in a washing machine if it's a "delicate" cycle? No. The excess water soaks up the internal foam, so it will shift layers and ruin the tight-lock design. Plus, machine washing cycles will change the placement and shape of the hard plastic bottom layer, so you will end up with a deformed cleat. Hand-washing is by far the best option to wash your soccer cleats. How do I stop my leather boots from getting "crusty" after a rainy game? When water evaporates, the natural oils of the soccer cleat's leather materials go with it. This makes the fibers dry and stiff to the touch. To avoid this, never place your soccer cleats under direct heat. To maintain their natural flexibility and softness, put a thin layer of leather cream on them as soon as they dry out.