Cleaning your golf clubs is an essential part of your golf game.
It is well known that one of the best way to clean your clubs is soaking them in a big bucket of water with a splash of dish soap.
What may not be obvious is how long you should soak your clubs, the preferred water temperature, and if soaking your clubs too long could lead to damage.
If you are asking yourself these questions and feel lost, don’t worry. We have done the research and have the answers.
In the article below, we are going to cover best practices when soaking your clubs in water. We have a lot to cover so let’s get started.
Can You Soak Golf Clubs In Water?
Yes. If you’re looking to give your clubs a spruce up after a round, then soaking them in water is a perfectly acceptable thing to do. In fact, it’s what lots of golfers do and have been doing for decades.
Nowadays, there are of course more fancy and elaborate ways of cleaning your clubs.
There are special club-cleaning kits that you can buy, while some people use a power/pressure washer to get their clubs looking nice and shiny.
These methods are fine and yield solid results, but the problem is that they’re just not as cheap as the good old fashioned bucket of water.
If you’re on a budget or just don’t want to spend unnecessarily then this is certainly the option for you.
Soaking your clubs in water for just a short amount of time can be really effective, especially if you’re willing to follow up with a few minutes of scrubbing and rinsing off.
Be sure to focus on the club head, particularly the face, as this is the part of the club that is likely to need cleaning the most.
Of course, there may be some debris or dirt markings on the shafts, especially if you’ve just played in wet conditions, which can generally be removed with a wet cloth.
You should avoid soaking the grips of your golf clubs, as this can cause them to lose their grip or become water damaged.
Are you struggling to get your older golf clubs to shine like new? Try power washing them clean or polishing them with a Dremel to get them back to their former glory.
How Much Time Should Golf Clubs Soak In Water?
There’s a difference of opinion here. Some people advocate leaving your golf clubs to soak in water for 30 minutes, others say that five minutes is the optimum time.
Somewhere in between these two times should do nicely.
Aim for 10 or 15 minutes. You don’t want to leave your clubs soaking for too long. Leaving them soaking in water for long periods of time can have a negative effect, namely rusting.
Short to medium exposure to water will not cause rusting. It is long, prolonged soaks that you do not want to make a habit.
Can Washing Your Golf Clubs In Water Damage Them?
Technically, it could, but this shouldn’t be an issue. As long as you’re careful and wash your clubs in the correct way, then there’s little danger of you damaging them.
As touched on above, don’t let your golf clubs soak for too long, and don’t use hot water. Use warm water.
When washing your golf clubs by hand, you’ll want to use warm water with a little detergent.
Don’t use anything too strong, and stay away from bleach, which could lead to the club face becoming discolored and may even affect the grooves negatively too.
Let the clubs soak for a short while, say 10 to 15 minutes, then using a soft brush, something like a toothbrush, carefully scrub each dirty club head, before rinsing and drying with a towel.
There may still be some moisture, so it’s advised that you leave them to dry further, preferably outdoors if it’s dry weather, ideally in direct sunlight.
Should I Use Hot Or Cold Water To Clean Clubs?
Ask different people and you’ll probably get different answers to this. We firmly believe that it’s a case of avoiding hot or boiling water.
Why? Because hot or boiling water could easily damage the golf club.
If you’re going to soak your golf clubs, then the best thing to do is to opt for warm water.
Using warm water lends itself to cleaning better than cold water does but won’t cause any damage.
Can You Soak Golf Balls In Water?
The simple answer is yes. Soaking golf balls in water is something that golfers have been doing for a long time.
In fact, this is the most tried and tested method when it comes to cleaning golf balls.
Should the water be hot, warm or cold? For the best results, you want to let your dirty golf balls sit in warm water for around 30 minutes.
Lots of people opt to put in some form of mild detergent too, which can help to soften up any tough dirt marks.
Once the balls have sat in the water for roughly 30 minutes, remove them, give them a scrub with either a toothbrush or scouring sponge, rinse and leave them to dry, preferably in the sun.
When in the water, be careful not to let your golf balls soak for too long, as they could become water damaged. Water damaged balls no longer react the correct way when hit, so this is something to avoid.
Final Thoughts
Follow the tips above to wash your golf gear safely and effectively. Hopefully you liked this article and found it informative. Check out our other blog posts if you liked this one!
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