One of the most important items you’ll ever own as a hiker is your footwear! My hiking boots have become apart of me, and I try to treat them as such. This means cleaning them after every adventure I go on!
Today I want to chat about why to clean your boots and how to clean your boots.
Why We Need To Clean Our Boots:
Cleaning your footwear after hikes is the most effective way to prolonging their life. Footwear comes in different materials, so it’s best to research what works best for your specific footwear. Universally, dirt and moisture breaks down boots the fastest (other than the kilometres you put on them of course).
Have you ever seen a brush at a trailhead to clean your boots? Those are there to help stop the spread of invasive species and other foreign materials that could be on your shoes. Use them before and after your hike! Even more effective than those trailhead brushes is actually cleaning your boots at home thoroughly. Let’s get into how to do it!
How To Clean Your Boots:
*I recommend researching the materials of your footwear to better help clean, upkeep and waterproof them
Step 1: Remove Shoelaces
I recommend putting your shoelaces in the washing machine or washing with a bit of laundry detergent in the sink by hand.
Step 2: Rinse and Use a Brush
Rinse your footwear with water to loosen up dirt, rocks, mud, etc. Then grab a brush; I like to use firm bristled brushes to clean my boots- I got one from the dollarstore, but there are actual boot brushes or you can use an old toothbrush. Start on the upper part of your boots, then the bottoms.
Step 3: Add Dish Soap
Yep, you heard me. Dish soap. Try finding a gentle dish soap (don’t use hand soap as it can dry out certain materials like leather) and scrub it in with the brush, again starting at the top and then do the bottoms. Rinse the soap off.
Step 4: Dry
I air dry my boots or put them in front of a vent. If the insides are really wet, I stuff them with old newspapers to help get more moisture out. I find drying insoles and laces separately also helps, and immediately after I’ve washed them I ring the tongue out.
This is where you can waterproof your boots if you choose!
But I gotta know…were your boots dirtier than you thought? When I clean my boots, I am surprised every time at how much dirt comes out from the inside! Seeing this over and over is what got me to start cleaning my other footwear.
Hope this post was helpful for you! Keep those boots squeaky clean.
Until next time,
Kate 🥾
yourmatiekatie 