Football Cleat Breaking-In Guide (Beginner Friendly)
Getting a new pair of football cleats is always a great feeling, as it is with most things that are new, shiny, and ready to be used. However, the benefit of using football cleats is that they conform to your feet’ shape, making them much more comfortable to wear. In contrast, a pair of cleats never worn can be uncomfortable initially and even cause blisters. So, how to get rid of the discomfort from the start by breaking in the cleats?
You can break in your football cleats by wearing them around the house, walking in the park, or playing less intensive sports such as golf. You can also soak your cleats in warm water or steam them with a steaming machine. Twisting and turning them will also help to loosen up the cleat material.
Luckily, there are many different ways to break in your cleats. Depending on your personal preferences, you can want to use one of the techniques more than the others, so I will explain further how they are done and their effectiveness.
Before that, though, it would be best to understand whether football cleats need to be broken in the first place or can you unbox and train from the beginning.
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Do Football Cleats Need to Be Broken In?
New shoes hot from the manufacturing line to your possession from the store won’t be conformed to your feet because you haven’t yet worn them. Naturally, wearing them can be uncomfortable, which is why many people ask whether it is necessary to break in football cleats or not?
Breaking In football cleats isn’t necessary because they will be broken in automatically when you play football. However, breaking them in before training or a match can decrease the initial discomfort and blisters new cleats can do. Therefore, it’s recommended to break in football cleats.
This also answers the question of why you should break in football cleats. Discomfort and blisters aren’t fun, which can throw your focus off when playing football in a serious situation, and that’s why you should break your football cleats in.
You might wonder the difference between breaking them in before playing football or during, as they will break in at play. The benefit of breaking football cleats in before training hard or entering a match is that you can make it easier when not playing football. If you won’t break them in and experience discomfort or blisters during training or a match, there’s not much you can do.
Next, take a look at how you can break in football cleats!
How to Break In Football Cleats?
Breaking in football cleats is a smart choice, and you can even make smarter moves to further enhance the experience, depending on how you will break in the football cleats. Here are some useful tips to make it the best experience for you;
- Size your cleats right
- Wear proper football socks
- Use vaseline to reduce friction
- Use custom insoles
- Try multiple breaking-in methods
Keeping these things above, there are four methods to break in your football cleats. Let’s start with the obvious, wearing them.
1. Wear the Cleats
Football cleats will break in in normal game use, usually taking up one to three training sessions or matches. However, you might want to break them in before that as the intensity will be high in training or game, meaning blisters and discomfort will be a reality more easily.
To break in football cleats by walking, you can wear them and go for a walk to a park, meadow, field, or wherever. Also, you can wear them at home, assuming you have carpets, so they will adapt to your feet before you take the game to the football field with high intensity.
Another option is to play less intensive sports with your new football cleats, such as golf, tennis, disc golf, or similar.
The trick is to adjust the new cleats to your feet with an easier method than football so that when you first take the cleats for a football session, they are already broken in.
2. Soak the Cleats
Soaking your football cleats to break them in is my personal favourite method, as it works very well and can be done in one sitting. For this, you will need the following items;
- New football cleats
- Socks you will use in football
- Bucket large enough for both cleats
- Warm water 110-120°F (43-49°C)
- Shoe tree or newspaper
- Chair to sit on
Start by wearing the same socks you play football in and the new cleats you are about to soak. Next, pour water warmer than body temperature yet not too hot halfway into the bucket. Now, soak your feet with tied cleats and socks in the bucket. While soaking your feet, move your ankles and toes to give movement, making the breaking in the process more effective.
The reason it’s important to wear the same pair of socks when in football is because the process will break in the cleats rather well, so the fit will be exactly as in football. Also, warm water is needed to soften the cleat material well, yet you still need to be able to soak your feet for 10 to 15 minutes, so it can’t be hot. Also, be sure to tie the cleats well as you would for softball to ensure an accurate process.
After 10 to 15 minutes of soaking the cleats, or as long as you feel that they have softened up, you are done with the soak, yet not with the process.
Next, take the cleats for a walk or run. No more than 10 minutes are required, and you should move as in a real football game to maximize the effect of your process.
After you are done, rinse the shoes as they probably picked up dirt, place a shoe tree or newspaper inside the cleats to hold the form, and air dry them by hanging them where they can get good airflow.
After about 12 hours, when your cleats should be dry, try them on and see how well they are broken in.
3. Steam the Cleats
Steaming your cleats uses the same principle as the soaking, yet the process isn’t as drastic, and you don’t need to soak your feet in the water.
To do this at home in simple steps, you will need a steam machine such as Conair Turbo Extreme Steam Machine.
Start by filling your steam machine with water and plugging it in for power. Also, wear your football cleats on your feet and wait for the steaming machine to produce hot steam.
Now, aim the hot steam on your cleats and go them thoroughly slowly, so each area of the cleat will have time to soften up. This shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes, and it should soften the material well.
During the steaming process, move your toes and ankles inside the shoe to help with the breaking in process. After you feel confident that they are softened up, stop steaming and give them a walk around the house to finish the process.
4. Twist the Cleats
Giving your football cleats a good twist and turn will loosen the material, making them break in. You should know that even when this method is valid, it won’t fully break in the shoe as twisting and turning won’t affect much to the inner material.
Start by taking a firm grab from the toe and heel parts of the least, twisting it in all directions without holding strength back. Continue this for 5 to 15 minutes, or as long as you are satisfied with the loosened up material.
After the rough treatment, they should be at least semi-broken in, so when you sue them for the first time, they will break in full faster.
How Long Does It Take to Break In New Cleats?
Now that you know you should break in football cleats after unboxing and the different ways to do it, it’s still unclear how long it takes to break them in.
Generally, cleats will take from one to three days to lose the initial feel of new shoes, whereas a week of training or playing for them to fully adjust on your foot comfortably. The time range varies between shoe model and training time.
When you first start using your new football cleats, it’s normal that they feel weird and a little bit uncomfortable. However, there shouldn’t be a pain at any time, and if there is, you may have chosen the wrong size or the cleat model doesen’t fit your feet.
It’s important to understand how football cleats should fit, which is snug, yet not too tight. Assuming that you have chosen proper cleats, they will start to break in more after each training session. And if you don’t want the new shoe feel from the start, use some of the methods I already talked about to pre-break them in, so you don’t feel excessive discomfort and gain blisters.
My Favorite Football Equipment
Thanks for reading this article. I hope it brought you great value you can implement in your life. Finally, below you can find my favorite football equipment that I think would serve you well on the field!
- Football: I like to get quality things at once, so I don’t need to replace everything after a short while. And for that reason, Wilson “The Duke” Football is the only choice for that. You can get this authentic NFL football as an official game ball or a cheaper metallic edition version. Whichever you might choose, The Duke is the only official football in the league’s history, making it the best choice.
- Cleats: Cleats play an important role in football as they are the traction between you and the field. There is no better than the Nike Vapor Edge Pro 360, and for a good reason. The cleats feature a lightweight, short upper, supporting lacing system and a wide stud layout for fast speed and reliable traction. Oh, and all the various designs are beyond stunning!
- Gloves: No matter whether you throw or receive the ball, you can say goodbye to your performance if you don’t have proper gloves. Enter Seibetron Receiver Gloves equipped with various benefits, such as excellent grip on the fingers and palms, great durability, and a green light for machine washing!
- Fan Equipment: If you’re a fan more than a player, you don’t want to miss Fan Equipment by Fanatics. You can find items from various sports that bear your favorite team’s logo, such as jerseys, gift ideas, or other surprising things.