How to Dry Golf Shoes

Nothing ruins a a good walk - or a good score - quite like soggy golf shoes. Whether you were caught in a surprise downpour or slogged through a waterlogged course, arriving home with soaked shoes can be a real downer. This guide will walk you through exactly how to dry your golf shoes the right way, preserving their shape, performance, and lifespan without any guesswork.

The Golden Rules: What NOT to Do When Drying Golf Shoes

Before we get into the correct methods, it's incredibly important to cover what you should never do. A moment of impatience can permanently damage a brand new pair of expensive shoes. Think of these as the cardinal sins of shoe care.

❌ Avoid Direct Heat at All Costs

This is the most common and most destructive mistake. Exposing your golf shoes to high, direct heat sources is a recipe for disaster. This includes:

• Hair Dryers: The concentrated, intense heat can crack synthetic materials and shrink and harden leather, making it brittle.
• Clothes Dryers: The combination of high heat and constant tumbling is a surefire way to destroy your shoes. The heat will melt adhesives, warp the sole, and crack the upper material. The tumbling action will also damage the shoe's structure. Plain and simple: just don’t do it.
• Radiators or Baseboard Heaters: Placing your shoes directly on or too close to a radiator will bake one side while leaving the other cool and damp. This uneven drying causes glue to fail and the materials to warp out of shape.
• Fireplaces or Campfires: This might seem obvious, but it’s worth saying. The intense and unpredictable heat from an open flame can melt, singe, and destroy your shoes in minutes.

Why is direct heat so bad? Golf shoes are a sophisticated combination of leather, synthetics, waterproof membranes, and specialized glues that hold everything together. High heat causes these materials to change properties - leather becomes stiff and cracks, glues melt causing sole separation, and waterproof linings can delaminate. You'll ruin the fit, the function, and the look of your shoes permanently.

The Pre-Drying Prep: A Clean Start is a Fast Start

You wouldn't wax a dirty car, and you shouldn't dry a muddy shoe. Taking a few minutes to clean your shoes before you start the drying process will not only speed things up but also keep them in better condition for your next round.

Step 1: Get Rid of the Gunk

First, knock the soles of your shoes together to dislodge any big clumps of mud, grass, and dirt. Use a soft brush or a damp cloth to wipe down the uppers and the soles. Getting that layer of mud off allows air to actually reach the shoe’s material, which is necessary for effective drying.

Step 2: Open Them Up for Airflow

Maximum airflow is your best friend when drying shoes. To achieve this, you need to open them up as much as possible.

• Remove the Insoles: Take the insoles completely out of the shoes. They are essentially giant sponges and will stay damp for days if left inside. Drying them separately cuts the overall drying time in half. Just lay them flat in a well-ventilated area.
• Loosen and Remove the Laces: At the very least, loosen the laces all the way down. For best results, remove them entirely. This allows you to pull the tongue of the shoe up and away, opening up the shoe's interior to circulating air. You can wash the laces and let them air dry separately.

Once your shoes are clean and opened up, you're ready to start the actual drying process.

The Best And Safest Ways to Dry Your Golf Shoes

Now for the main event. These methods are safe, effective, and use materials you probably already have at home. The key principles here are absorption and air circulation.

Method 1: The Classic Newspaper Trick

This is the go-to method for a reason: it’s incredibly effective and costs nothing. Newspaper is highly absorbent and perfect for wicking moisture from the inside of your shoes.

How to Do It:

1. Grab Your Paper: Find some standard, non-glossy newspaper. Avoid the slick, colorful advertisement pages, as they aren't very absorbent.
2. Crumple and Stuff: Ball up sheets of newspaper and stuff them firmly into each shoe. Make sure the paper gets all the way into the toe box area. Don't pack it so tightly that air can't move, but it should be snug enough to make contact with all interior surfaces.
3. Wrap the Outside: For an extra boost, you can wrap the outside of the shoes in a few sheets of newspaper or a towel and secure it with a rubber band.
4. Wait and swap: Place the shoes in a dry, well-ventilated area away from direct sunlight. The magic of this method is in swapping out the paper. After 2-3 hours, the newspaper inside will be noticeably damp. Remove it, and stuff the shoes with fresh, dry newspaper. Repeat this process until the shoes are mostly dry. The more often you swap the paper, the faster your shoes will dry. This can dry a soaked pair of golf shoes overnight.

Method 2: Use a Towel or Paper Towels

No newspaper on hand? No problem. A small, dry towel or a generous amount of paper towels works on the same principle of absorption.

How to Do It:

Stuff a small, absorbent microfiber towel or several sturdy paper towels into each shoe, just as you would with newspaper. Towels are a bit bulkier, so they work great. The key is to ensure the material fills the shoe. Like with newspaper, swap it out for a dry one after a few hours to speed up the process.

Method 3: The Power of Circulating Air

After you’ve stuffed your shoes, you can supercharge the drying process with gentle, cool air circulation. This helps evaporate the moisture that the newspaper or towel is wicking away.

How to Do It:

1. Use a Fan: Place your stuffed shoes in front of a standard room fan. Position the fan so it’s blowing cool air directly into the shoe opening. You can even use the (now removed) laces to hang the shoes from a chair or hanger in front of the fan for 360-degree airflow.
2. Use a Refrigerator Vent: This sounds strange, but it works surprisingly well. The area by the floor-level vent on your refrigerator often pushes out slightly warm, dry air. It’s a very gentle, consistent airflow that works well for overnight drying. Just place the shoes on a mat a few inches away from the vent.

The Best Investment: A Boot and Shoe Dryer

If you're an avid golfer who frequently plays in wet conditions, a dedicated boot and shoe dryer is one of the best investments you can make. These devices are designed to dry footwear safely and efficiently.

How They Work:

They use upright "posts" to hold your shoes upside down. The dryer then gently circulates slightly warmed air (not hot!) throughout the entire interior of the shoe. It’s faster than air drying alone but completely safe for the glue and materials. Many models can dry a fully soaked pair of shoes in just a few hours. This gadget takes all the work and waiting out of the process.

Finishing Touches: Conditioning and Deodorizing

Once your shoes are completely dry, a couple of final steps will keep them looking, feeling, and smelling fresh.

• Condition Leather: If your shoes have leather components, a good soaking can strip them of their natural oils, leaving them feeling stiff. Apply a quality leather conditioner with a soft cloth to restore moisture and flexibility.
• Deodorize: To prevent odors from developing, sprinkle a bit of baking soda inside the dry shoes and let it sit for a few hours before shaking it out. Alternatively, placing cedar shoe trees inside your shoes when you’re not wearing them is a fantastic way to maintain shape and absorb any lingering moisture and odor.
• Re-Waterproof: The factory waterproof treatment can wear down over time, especially after a deep cleaning. Consider re-applying a waterproofing spray suitable for your shoe's material (check the manufacturer's recommendation) to build that barrier back up for your next round.

Final Thoughts

Drying your golf shoes properly is simple - it just takes a little patience. Remember to clean them first, then use absorption and gentle air circulation for the best results. The one non-negotiable rule is to avoid direct heat, as that's the only way to truly ruin a perfectly good pair of shoes.

By taking care of the little things, like properly drying your shoes, you set yourself up for better play on the course. When it comes to the bigger things, like figuring out the right club selection or getting a simple strategy for a tricky lie, instant coaching can transform your game. That’s where an on-demand golf expert in your pocket becomes so valuable. Our AI-powered golf coach, Caddie AI, provides that kind of 24/7 expert feedback and course management advice, so you can play with more confidence and turn those difficult situations into opportunities.