Dan Parker demonstrates how to clean your golf clubs, shoes and grips to help maximise their lifespan and reinvigorate them.
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00:00Clean clubs, clean grips, clean shoes, clean golf. That's how I like to think
00:03about it. Anyway, in this video I'm going to talk you through just how to keep your
00:07golf clubs and your golf shoes as clean as possible. I'll give you some do's and
00:11don'ts and some tips and tricks of this undervalued post-round routine.
00:15Okay, so before we start getting into the main clean here, I think one tip I want you to go
00:26away with is how you can keep your clubs clean on the course. One thing I like to do is with a
00:30fairly big towel like this is wet one side of it with some water, only a little bit like a corner
00:36of it. You can see I've done it here. Keep one side dry and then after every shot, dab them off with
00:41the wet side, dry them with the dry side. It keeps them nice and clean, especially on a muddy day.
00:46But every now and again they're going to get horrible and muddy. You might have forgot to
00:48clean them during the round or it was just that horrible out there. They're going to need a full
00:53service. So let's go through that now. What do you need? Well, a bucket or a sink full of lukewarm
00:59soapy water, not hot, not cold, lukewarm. A scrubbing brush of some kind. I like to use a little sort of
01:05dish one here. Again, clean, brand new there. A slightly more coarse one for grips. We'll come
01:11on to that in a minute. And then some sort of groove clean. I've got a pretty useful tool here for that.
01:17So that's all you're going to really need. What I like to do is in that soapy, lukewarm water,
01:24is just soak the clubs for a little bit. About 10 minutes. Just your irons and wedges. I won't
01:28worry about soaking any rescues or fairway woods. That just helps loosen the dirt a little bit as
01:34they're in there. So I've only done four for this time. But once they're nice and wet, take your
01:41light scrubbing brush. Like I said, this is a bit more of a dish scourer, but it's not too coarse.
01:45And just work your way gently over the iron. These are pretty clean already actually, to be fair,
01:51but you know, it's always good to give them once over. And just work over the side, the grooves,
01:56the back. Now what I want to do is because these grooves have got particularly dirty, is just work
02:02it over with the groove clean. You can see because it's damp, all that mud's already coming out. That's
02:08the benefit of soaking them for 10 minutes. It should make your life a heck of a lot easier. So that's out of
02:14there. One more brush down there because the mud's come out. And then most importantly, dry them.
02:20Never, ever, ever, ever leave a wet golf club. They'll start, little specks of rust will start
02:26to appear. And that is the last thing that you want. So dry them with your towel and then leave
02:31them to rest. They'll dry nicely at room temperature really. Don't leave them anywhere cold and make sure
02:36they're dry. Grips. Now, again, these are pretty new and they're pretty clean, but it's the same process
02:42for the grips. I'm just going to use a slightly coarser brush for this one. So you can get it nice
02:46and wet. Get the coarser brush nice and wet. Again, this lukewarm soapy water does wonders. And
02:52just work your way up and down the grip. Don't have to be too aggressive with it. Keep it nice and gentle.
02:58And that should take any, you know, sweat, sun cream, mud, any of that stuff that kind of comes out of
03:04there really easily and give them a really good dry. This is what gives grips new life again,
03:09actually. It's given them just a really good scrub. I'd recommend using a cleaner towel than I
03:13have. That's poor from me. Clean utensils equal clean golf clubs. So that's the grips done now.
03:20Now you've got pretty much a brand new shiny looking club head and grip. One last tip I've got for grips,
03:26if they're really toward the end of their lifespan, you want to try and drag another six months or a
03:32year out of them. It's a little bit of sandpaper. Now, I'd keep this really light and make sure the
03:38sandpaper isn't too coarse. But if you rub this sandpaper really gently over the top of your grip,
03:46it'll just take away any really loose rubber or any shiny rubber and should give them a new lease
03:52of life really. So give them that thing with the sandpaper. Make sure to give them a really good scrub
03:57as well. And it should bring them back to life. I just recommend being careful with this and not going
04:03too crazy with the sandpaper. But I think it's a really useful tip if the grips are right on the
04:07end of their life. And you don't fancy replacing them just yet. It's to give them a good bit of
04:12sandpaper, a good clean and a good scrub. It's easy as that. Work your way through the set.
04:17Fairway Woods, Drivers, Hybrids. I wouldn't bother soaking them. They don't really need quite as much dirt
04:22coming out of the grooves as your irons and wedges do. Just dip it in the water and use the fine
04:28sponge to give it a once over. One thing to remember when you're doing your hybrids, Fairway Woods,
04:33Drivers is there's a lot more sort of cavities in them, you know, where the adjustability might lie
04:38or where some screws are. So if you get any mud like this, I've clearly had a right hack at this.
04:43Get a T-peg in there and it tends to fly out. Give it a little once over. So remember that with your
04:48Fairway Woods, Hybrids and Drivers. Always dry the head. Even more important on these and your putter
04:54so they don't go in that head cover wet and start to rust.
04:57Okay, let's talk about golf shoes. And much like golf clubs, it's always best to look after these
05:02just after you've finished. It's the easiest time to get all the mud off. So once I finish playing,
05:06I'll use again a clean sponge or a sort of dish cloth that's been slightly dampened with warm water
05:12just to run over, especially with white shoes, synthetic or leather ones, just to run over the
05:17tops of them, get any excess mud off, and then they should stay cleaner for longer then. The more
05:24persistent bits that tend to sit on this outsole, it's worth giving them a really good scrub, a little
05:29bit more focus maybe when you get back home. But the quicker you do it, the cleaner these are going
05:34to look for longer. Now mesh shoes are a little bit tricky. You can see an old pair we've got here
05:39where the white starts to fade and any sort of stains that get into them can often hang around
05:44for a while. Again, best to look after them as soon as you've finished. But a couple of tips and tricks
05:49for these is washing them for a start. You can wash mesh golf shoes on a very light gentle wash,
05:56remove the laces, remove any insoles if they can come out as well and put them through on a really
06:01light wash. Before you do that though, you can give them a focused scrub with a brush like this. You
06:06could give a little go with something like some pre-wash stain remover that I've got here, just dab it
06:12onto the areas that look like they'll be a little bit tougher to bring out. Or if you get an old toothbrush
06:17and some laundry detergent, you can very gently work on the slightly more stubborn areas. So work
06:24on that with your mesh shoes if you get some really persistent dirt in there. I've tried it before,
06:28as long as you keep a gentle wash, you're fine. Now whenever you're drying golf shoes, always avoid
06:34drying them by a very hot radiator. That can melt the glue that puts these outsoles together and the
06:40shoe can often get a bit sort of, I don't know, just a bit horrible there. Room temperature is absolutely
06:44fine. A little tip for drying them as well, especially in these mesh shoes, is to pop a little
06:49bit of newspaper, scrunch up newspaper inside. That'll firstly absorb any loose water that's got into
06:55the sole of the shoe and it will help keep their shape as well as they dry. So never buy a radiator
07:01and use a little bit of newspaper. The outsoles, these are spikeless, but if you make sure to spray them
07:07off after every round, one of those air sprayer thingies you'll probably get by the locker room,
07:12that's always great. And with spike shoes, a great way to sort of rejuvenate their life and give them
07:17another couple of years is to replace the spikes. It's something not a lot of us, I think, take
07:21advantage of. 20 or 25 quid, spike remove them yourself. They'll give them a whole new lease of
07:26life and you'll really feel that grip. So some really easy and straightforward ways to keep these
07:31beautiful shoes nice and clean. So there you have it, my tips and tricks on how to keep your golf clubs,
07:37golf grips and shoes as clean as possible. Now it's really important we do this as much as we can,
07:43you know, performance from your golf club when they're clean, less flyers, more spin especially
07:48with the grooves in your wedges and keeping your grips nice and tacky should improve that feel when
07:54you're swinging the club. And with your shoes, keeping those outsoles as clear of mud and dirt as
08:00possible should give you better grip. Now, if you've got any tips and tricks about how you clean
08:05your golf clubs, you know, some things passed down from people, some old wives tales on how to keep
08:09these things looking shiny, let me know. I'd love to hear from you and try them out for myself.
08:14But for now, from Northamptonshire County Golf Club, thank you for joining me. I'll see you next time.