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As a softball player, having shoes with a proper grip is vital for your performance in the field. That is why keeping your cleats clean after a game is more important than you might think. When cleats are dirty, that means they might be muddy, or with small stones or debris stuck in between the spikes, the grip might be affected and thus, your support would not be that good anymore. To be honest, properly cleaning cleats can be somehow challenging, especially if you have never done it before. In order to help you fix that issue, we bring you a guide with some of the best tips and tricks to clean your cleats, so you can bring back their shine using the less effort as possible, and most importantly, not damaging them!
The first tip we give you is that you should clean your cleats after every game, this means every time your cleats get dirty, you should try to make an effort to at least dry-clean them. It is not necessary, and not recommended, to fully clean your cleats constantly, but it is very important to make sure they are not completely dirty. Keeping your cleats clean will ensure that they last longer, as well as ensuring the efficacy of them. The last is especially true for cleats with metal spikes since, when they are stored and kept dirty, rustiness might go unnoticed and spikes can break.
Dry cleaning:
While the cleats are dry you are going to try to get as much dirt out of them as possible, you can do this by clapping them together to get the excess mud and dirt out. If this does not remove the larger chunks of mud and dirt, you can use the back of an old toothbrush and carefully use it to push it in between the spikes to get it out; this also works to remove small stones or debris that is stuck.
Soaking:
This step is very helpful; it will make the rest of the cleaning way easier and faster. You just have to soak in your cleats in lukewarm water for about 6 minutes. Do not leave your cleats soaking for more than 7 minutes. This would save you some scrubbing time, as it dissolves some of the dirt. Make sure to remove the laces of your cleats and leave them soaking separately, you can your laces easily after some soaking with soap and water.
Cleaning:
After the soaking, you can start to scrub the cleats with a brush. Be careful when scrubbing and if some dirt seems to be hard to remove, dunk the cleats in warm water after scrubbing that would certainly help. Keep repeating this process until they are clean enough.
Rinsing:
Make sure that you rinse the cleats properly, both on the inside and outside.
Dying and polishing
Making sure that your cleats dry properly is a very important part of this process, when cleats do not dry enough they can get smelly and give room for microorganisms to start a life in your shoes. To begin with, the drying, you are going to use a dry cloth and make sure to dry the outside as much as possible. For the inside, you can use a kitchen towel, some newspaper, or a cloth, you put in the inside and leave there for no longer than a few seconds, so it can soak the excess moisture. Next, you can place the cleats and the laces to dry on an area with good ventilation. Try to avoid direct sunlight, as it might dry your shoes faster but it can also reduce the durability of some models.
Lastly, for the shoe area, you can use different products to polish, make sure that these are polishing products designed for athletic shoes.
How to clean white softball cleats?
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In the specific case of white cleats, you can follow the same process, only that you can add two more steps to assure that the color shines again. One of the things you can do is use a tide pen to remove those hard stains from the shoe. Another good recommendation would be to use a damp cloth, soaked on the water with some Zote soap, this soap is a great ally against those hard stains. In addition, for caring for white softball cleats, you can put some more effort into the process of scrubbing and dunking in warm water. However, you have to make sure that you can change the water in which you dunk the cleats once or twice as it might be too dirty and stain your cleats. Ultimately, keeping your cleats clean is important if you want to keep using them for longer on the field.
