Can You Put Golf Shoes in the Dryer?

Caught in a sudden downpour on the back nine? We’ve all been there. You get back to the clubhouse or your car with golf shoes that feel more like water balloons. The immediate, tempting thought is to toss them in the dryer for a quick fix before your next round. So, can you put golf shoes in the dryer? This article will tell you exactly why you shouldn't and walk you through the proper, coach-approved methods to safely dry them, protecting your investment and your game.

The Straight Answer: A Hard No on the Dryer

Let's get this out of the way immediately. Under no circumstances should you put your golf shoes in a clothes dryer. It might seem like a fast and easy solution, but the intense, direct heat and the tumbling action found in a standard dryer are the two worst enemies of a modern golf shoe. Doing so is the fastest way to ruin a perfectly good, and often expensive, pair.

Think of your golf shoes as a highly engineered piece of equipment, just like your driver or putter. They are constructed from multiple specialized materials glued and stitched together to provide comfort, stability, and waterproof performance. A dryer systematically attacks every single I of these components.

• It Melts the Glue: Your shoes are held together by powerful adhesives. The heat from a dryer will soften and melt this glue, causing the sole to separate from the upper, and other parts to delaminate. Once that structural bond is broken, it’s nearly impossible to fix reliably.
• It Warps Synthetic Materials: Most modern golf shoes use a blend of synthetic leathers, textiles, and plastics. High heat can cause these materials to shrink, warp, or become brittle and crack. The precise fit you rely on for stability during your swing will be completely lost.
• It Damages Waterproof Membranes: If you have waterproof golf shoes, they contain a delicate inner lining or membrane (like Gore-Tex). The heat of a dryer can damage this membrane, compromising its ability to keep water out. Your waterproof shoes will suddenly become anything but.
• It Destroys the Cushioning: The midsole of your shoe, usually made of EVA foam or a similar material, provides cushioning and support. Dryer heat can compress and harden this foam, destroying its shock-absorbing properties and making your shoes incredibly uncomfortable.
• It Can Damage Your Dryer: The clunky, heavy nature of golf shoes, especially those with hard plastic spikes, can damage the inside of your dryer drum as they bang around. At the very least, it creates a terrible racket.

Think of it from a coaching perspective: you want every piece of your equipment to be consistent and reliable. Subjecting your shoes to a dryer introduces a level of damage and unpredictability that you simply don't want to bring to the course.

The Propproved Method for Drying Golf Shoes

So, you’re standing over your soaked shoes and the dryer is off-limits. What’s the right way to bring them back to life? It’s all about patience and allowing air circulation to do the work, not heat. This process not only dries them safely but also helps them last longer and perform better.

Step 1: Prep and Clean the Shoes

You can't dry shoes properly if they're caked in muck. A good cleaning is always the first step after a wet, muddy round.

First, bang the shoes together outside to dislodge any large clumps of mud, grass, and dirt. Then, take a cloth or soft-bristled brush dipped in a mild solution of soap and water and gently scrub the outside of the shoes. Pay attention to the grooves and seams. For the soles, use a brush to clean out dirt from around the spikes.

Once they’re clean, the most important part of the prep work is this: remove the laces and the insoles. Laces can trap water, and insoles are like thick sponges. Removing them allows both the insoles and the inside of the shoe cavity to dry much more efficiently and completely. You can clean the insoles and laces separately with the same soap and water mix and set them aside to air dry flat.

Step 2: The Best Ways to Air-Dry Your Golf Shoes

With the shoes prepped, it's time to get the moisture out. Never place them near a radiator, fireplace, or space heater - direct heat is the enemy, remember? Instead, choose one of these safer, field-tested methods.

Method 1: The Newspaper Technique (Old School, Still Works)

This is a classic for a reason. Newspaper is highly absorbent and works wonders at wicking moisture from the inside out.

• Take sheets of newspaper (avoid pages with heavy, saturated color ink if you have light-colored shoes, as it can transfer) and loosely crumple them into balls.
• Stuff the crumpled newspaper firmly into your shoes, aring all the way into the toe area. You want it to be packed, but not so tight that air can't move.
• Place the shoes in a well-ventilated, dry area away from direct sunlight.
• This is the part many people forget: you need to change the newspaper. After a few hours, the paper will be damp. Remove it, and stuff the shoes with fresh, dry newspaper. You may need to do this 2-3 times over 24 hours depending on how wet the shoes were to begin with.

Method 2: The Fan Method (My Personal Favorite)

If you want to speed things up a bit, leveraging a simple room fan is incredibly effective. It's not about heat, it's about constant air circulation.

• Find a standard box fan or oscillating fan.
• Place a towel on the floor in front of it to catch any drips.
- Open up the shoes as much as possible, pulling the tongue forward.
• Position the shoes so the open cavity is facing the fan's airflow. You can lean them against a wall or use the now-removed laces to tie them to the fan’s grill (if it's a box fan) so they're suspended and get maximum air exposure.
• Let the fan run on a low or medium setting for several hours. This method can dry a pair of soaked shoes overnight completely.

Method 3: Cedar Shoe Trees and Dedicated Dryers

For the committed golfer, a couple of gear upgrades can make drying shoes foolproof.

• Cedar Shoe Trees: While mostly known for helping dress shoes keep their shape, unfinished cedar shoe trees are also excellent at absorbing moisture and odor. After an initial drying with a towel, inserting cedar shoe trees will draw out dampness while making sure your shoes maintain their original form. This is especially good for more traditional leather golf shoes.
• Boot and Shoe Dryers: You can purchase specializeed to dry footwear. These devices work by circulating very low, room-temperature or slightly warm air (not hot air) up into the shoe shafts. They are perfectly safe for all materials and are a fantastic investment if you play frequently in a damp.

What About Spikeless Golf Shoes?

It's tempting to think that spikeless golf shoes, which often look and feel more like athletic sneakers, can handle the dryer. The answer is still no. The same rules apply.

Spikeless shoes are made with the same EVA foam midsoles, specialized upper materials, and heat-sensitive glues as their spiked counterparts. The only difference is the design of the outsole. Tossing them in the dryer will cause the same warping, glue-melting, and cushioning-destroying damage. Treat your spikeless shoes with the same care and use the air-drying methods described above.

Final Thoughts

In short, never use a clothes dryer for your golf shoes. The intense heat and tumbling action will break down the materials, ruin the fit, and shorten their lifespan drastically. Your best plan of attack is to always air-dry them after a proper cleaning, using simple but effective methods like stuffing them with newspaper or placing them in front of a fan.

Taking care of your equipment is a simple step toward more consistent golf, and that includes making smart decisions when you get off the course. When you need to make smarter decisions *on* the course, especially when dealing with tricky lies from a wet, muddy round, Caddie AI is there to help. I provide instant, expert-level strategy so you're never left guessing. If you're stuck in the rough or facing a tough shot, you can snap a photo, send it over, and get simple, clear advice on how to play it, helping turn a potential disaster into a great recovery.