How to Clean Your Golf Clubs

Cleaning your golf clubs might sound like the sort of awkward, time-consuming task that it is best to avoid. However, it isn’t as difficult to do as you might think. Since it is something that every golfer needs to be aware of, let’s take an in-depth look at this subject.

Why Keep Them Clean?

Why should you even go to the bother of cleaning your clubs anyway? Is it going to make that big a difference if you don’t do it? Well, there are a number of reasons for doing this that you need to know about.

The first one is the impact that storing dirty clubs can have on their durability. When you buy new golf clubs you expect them to last you for years. Yet, if they are stored away while muddy or damp then this can severely reduce the length of time that you get to enjoy them.

The other factor is that clubs need to be clean to perform to the highest standards. It is far more difficult to hit sweet, true shots with a club that is dirty. In particular, the grooves are there to impart spin on the ball, so if they are clogged up then you will lose a good deal of control.

Finally, there is the psychological benefit of heading onto the first tee with a set of shiny clubs. This can give your confidence an extra boost before you even take your first swing, which isn’t something to be under-estimated.

How Often Should You Do This?

There are no hard and fast rules about how often you should clean your golf gear. Clearly, how dirty they get depends upon different factors. For instance, if you play in wet, muddy conditions or spend a lot of time in the sand or long grass then they are likely to get dirtier more quickly.

Equally, a golfer who plays every day will find that their clubs are dirtier than someone who plays only now and then. Either way, there is certainly no harm in giving them a clean as often as you can.

You should at least wipe them down or dry them off after each round. It is then a question of working out how often to carry out a thorough clean, depending upon how often you use them and in what type of conditions.

The Equipment That You Need

The good news is that there is no need to buy any special products or learn difficult cleaning techniques. To clean your golf clubs effectively you simply need the following equipment.

• A bucket of warm water
• Soap or dishwashing detergent
• A soft bristled brush such as an old toothbrush.
• A towel and a cloth
• Chrome or steel polish

Golf Monthly have done a great video on some additional tips to clean your golf clubs, check it out below.

Cleaning the Club Head on Irons

To get your irons looking as good as new again you need to follow these steps.

• Put a little bit of mild soap or dishwasher liquid into a bucket of warm water. Be sure not to use water that is too hot or to put in more than just a couple of teaspoons of the cleaning liquid.
• Leave the club head in the water for around 10 minutes. This will loosen any dirt that is on them. The dirtier that they are, the longer you should leave them to soak at this stage.
• Use your brush to clean each club head individually. You will want to take special care in cleaning out the grooves, but it makes sense to clean the entire head as thoroughly as possible.

• You can then wash it under running water, taking care to try not to get the grip or the shaft wet as you do this. It is then important that you dry the club well with a towel, as storing it when damp can cause problems such as rust later on.

• An optional step to leave your irons looking as good as possible is to rub in some steel or chrome polish. This is a task that involves rubbing in the polish using circular motions and then leaving it for a minute or so before removing.

Cleaning the Club Head on Metal Woods

When the time comes to clean the head of your metal woods, the process is very similar to what we just looked at. The main difference is that you don’t want to let it soak in water. Instead, you can dip the brush into the water and clean the club head without getting it too wet in the process.

Cleaning Your Wooden Clubs

With wooden clubs such as drivers, you don’t want to soak them in water or scrub them with a brush. In this case, you can dip your cloth into the water and then wipe down the club head with a damp cloth. As with the previous types of club, it is important that you dry it off properly after cleaning.

Cleaning the Shaft and Grip

This leaves us with just the shaft and grip to clean. This is fairly easy to do, but you still need to be careful as these parts of the club are quite delicate. You certainly don’t want to leave these parts of a club soaking in water.

In terms of the shaft, you can simply wipe it down with a damp cloth. Some people will then polish a graphite shaft using wax, but this is optional.

For the grip, you can rinse it, apply a little bit of gentle soap and then scrub using a bristled brush. You don’t want to scrub too hard though.

As we have seen, keeping your golf clubs in perfect condition is a fairly simple task. If you clean them frequently then it will be a far easier job to do each time.