HowTo: Take Care Of Your Soccer Shoes

It is especially important to take care of your soccer shoes in the winter time.

A good pair of boots can improve your touch and feel for the ball resulting in more success in passing & receiving. It gives you better foot support for maintaining a high speed of play and just makes things nice for your feet. So spend some time to take care of your shoes to make them perform better & last longer. Your feet and your parents will thank you.

Here's a quick run down of some of the key soccer shoe care tips:

Shoe Care Tips

• Clean your shoes after practice so the dirt doesn't damage the leather and the shoes will last longer. Dirt can bring moisture out of the leather and ruin them - make them over dry and begin to crack. The best thing is warm water and a washcloth.
  
• If really wet, say after a rain storm when the field is soaked, place newspaper inside the shoe to soak up the water so the shoes aren't over stretched and lose shape.
• Polish your shoes after they dry out - this will preserve the leather and make them last. If your shoe is too dry it could stiffen and crack.
  
• A shoe care product like leather food or mink oil will also help soften and condition the leather of the shoe. Use Manchester OR Chelsea Leather Food. Both are available at Kombat! Leather Food & Mink Oil also make your shoes a little water resistant.
• Store shoes in a breathable bag - nothing sealed but one with holes.

Shoe Care Don'ts

• Don't put shoes in front of heater or in the dryer - may crack the leather if they get too try.
• Don't wear your shoes on the cement or a hard surface. This will wear down the cleats and is also dangerous. You could slip and fall.

• Don't use sealing type products like wax or silicone based products to polish shoes.
• Don't use soaps or cleaning products. Water and a washcloth should do the trick.
• Don't seal them in a plastic bag where the shoes can't dry out. Even when the field isn't wet your shoes will soak up your own sweat. After playing they need to be aired out - don't just leave them trapped in your bag until the next training session.

Benefits of Good Leather Boots:

• Light weight
• Molds to your foot
• Better feel and touch

Negatives of Good Leather Boots:

• Less durable and won't last as long

A good pair of soccer shoes nowadays can cost over a hundred dollars, that's why it's even more important to take care of them. If you do take care of them they can last for a number of years, if you don't, you'll have to discard what might become a favoriate pair of shoes earlier than you wanted.