How to Clean Smelly Cleats

Cleats will get smelly after long hours of practice outside and in hot temperatures.

After a long day of practice, stinky sports cleats can ruin the smell of any room in your home, allowing an unpleasant atmosphere to take over and invade your space. Cleaning and ridding the smell of stinky cleats requires a bit of time, but it does not take more than using traditional cleaning and household supplies to do the trick.

Things You'll Need

• Athletic socks
• Cat litter
• Baking soda
• Anti-fungal spray

Instructions

1. Allow your cleats to dry thoroughly by placing them outside in the sun for the day to help get rid of some of the odor.

2. Fill two athletic socks entirely with cat litter to replicate a foot and tie the sock end in a knot to secure the litter in place.

3. Set the litter-filled socks into the cleats as if they were your feet, fitting them snug inside of the shoe to absorb any additional odors inside the cleats. Allow the socks with litter to stay in your cleats for a few hours or overnight.

Tips & Warnings

• After your cleats have dried in the sun you can also pour a bit of baking soda into each individual cleat to help absorb more of the odors.

• Use anti-fungal spray frequently on dried-out cleats to help keep odors at bay while keeping bacteria and fungus from growing and spreading.

References

• Daily Puppy: How to De-Odorize Soccer Cleats
• Boys Life: Deodorize Stinky Gear