6 tips to make your cleats last longer

Our cleats are severely tested when playing Ultimate Frisbee. They undergo strong mechanical stress, in hard conditions. Here are some few tips and maintaining routines to make your best game shoes last longer.

This page gives general advises. Read these articles to find more specific information on how to:

Tip #1: Clean them well!

If your cleats are cloggy, they not only lose SWAG; training after training, the mud will enter the pores of the shoe fabric and decrease their performance in terms of breathability, flexibility, and – in the end – durability.

To clean your shoes, simply use a wet towel or sponge to remove the mud. Do not put your cleats into the washing machine, as it would moisten the inner foams of the cleats and facilitate the growth of bacteria.

Do NOT use solvents to clean your cleats and do NOT put your cleats into the washing machine. This will moisten the inner foams and help the growth of bacteria.

Tip #2: Let your cleats dry

Let your cleats to dry naturally by placing them in a dry and well-ventilated area. Remove the insoles and let these dry separately. Insoles usually retain a lot of water. If your cleats are very wet you can also put some balled up newspaper paper into them to help absorb out the moisture.

For many of us, just taking our cleats out of our bags after practice is a good first step in the right direction.

Even more importantly: do not actively dry your cleats by putting them in the dryer, on a radiator, or blasting them with a hairdryer. As with all cleats, active drying methods are quite bad for cleats and will cause the materials to break more quickly.

The best way is to let them dry naturally in a dry and well-ventilated area. If the shoes are very wet, use newspaper instead of heat (radiator or direct sun).

Tip #3: Aerate your feet between two games

Your shoes will appreciate it. If the field is particularly wet, change your socks—you’ll feel like a new person!

Tip #4: Don’t walk on asphalt

Work them hard, but do not walk on concrete in your cleats. This will damage the studs and will make them less effective. Also, since they don’t provide any grip on concrete, you’re more likely to slip and fall.

Don’t wear your cleats like flip-flops. The reinforced heel counter plays an integral role in the functionality of your cleats, wearing your cleats like flip-flops will damage the heel and decrease functionality of the cleats overall. Taking your cleats off between games is also really good for your feet. Pop on a change of socks and you and your cleats will both feel brand new.

Tip #5: Use shoe disinfectant or talc to kill bacteria

You can find shoe disinfectant in sports shops or talc in drug stores to limit the spread of bacteria. Use it once in a while.

You can also buy some for your friend that has smelly feet. It’s not the most diplomatic way to say it, but it’s rather effective…

Tip #6: Maintain their leather

If you have leather cleats, maintain them once in a while by applying grease with a cloth.

Player Tip

A player shared this tip with me: if all your shoes are smelly, it might be due to your sweat, which helps the spread of bacteria. To solve this problem, try the following steps:

Buy a new pair you’ll use throughout the process.
Put talc into all your shoes.
Place your shoes in a bag, add more talc, close the bag, and shake it.
Repeat every few days, adding talc, for one to two weeks.
Wash your feet with a disinfectant like Betadine every day during the entire process.

The objective is to break the cycle of bacteria going from your feet to your shoes, and from your shoes back to your feet.

Do you have your own tip? Share it with other players in the comments!