If you’ve been around golfers you most likely know that golf gear stinks and is difficult to clean. It’s absorbs dirt, sweat, and odor-causing bacteria like a sponge. That’s because most of today's golf clothing, shirts, bags, and gear are made with tight-knit synthetic fabrics like polyester.
Many golfers that use traditional detergents and laundry care products find it hard to get rid of sweat stains and odors in their pricey golf apparel and end up replacing it earlier than they should.
While Grandma’s detergent may have worked on the golf gear of yesteryear, it can’t penetrate and clean the tight-knit synthetic fabrics found in today’s golf shirts, bags, shoes, gloves, and clothing. In fact, it could end up damaging your pricey golf gear over time.
According to HEX Performance founder and CEO Drew Westervelt, washing your golf gear with traditional detergent “often traps odor-causing bacteria and can degrade its stretching and wicking benefits after as little as three washes.”
It’s often said that in order to perform your best on the golf course, you should look and feel your best. Read the quick guide below to learn how to clean and protect all of your golf gear to help keep you at the top of your game.
How to Clean Golf Shirts & Clothing
Most golf shirts and clothing are machine washable. Be sure to check your clothing label for washing instructions. No matter what you do, don’t use a traditional laundry detergent to wash your golf shirts and performance apparel. Instead, use a laundry detergent specifically made for the synthetic fabrics used in most of today’s golf shirts, shorts, and pants.
- Separate synthetic fabrics from your cottons.
- Separate colors, darks, and whites.
- Button up all of your buttons to ensure the collars don’t lose their shape.
- Zip up all zippers to prevent snags and damage to the fabric.
- Turn clothing inside out and put in the washing machine.
- Add 1 oz. of HEX Performance Laundry Detergent.
- Set to gentle cycle. Use cold water only. Hot water could damage the fabric.
- Pro Tip: Hang dry your favorite performance apparel to keep them lasting longer.
How to Soften & Condition Golf Shirts and Clothes
If you look at washing instructions or ask most people, they will tell you to never use a fabric softener on golf shirts and clothing. This used to be good advice, as traditional fabric softeners and conditioners can severely clog up technical fabrics, trapping bacteria and degrading performance.
Many folks have resorted to suggesting home remedies such as using vinegar to help soften technical fabrics without damaging them. While we love a good home remedy, we’re not fans of trying to figure out if vinegar works and which brand of vinegar works best on our pricey golf threads. Plus, who likes smelling like vinegar for any length of time?
This one is simple. Use HEX Performance Fabric Conditioner to soften your golf shirts and clothing without causing damage. As a bonus, it actually improves fabric performance, keeps colors vibrant, and adds a layer of odor-protection with each use.
To get your golf gear performing its best, simply add 1 oz. of HEX Fabric Conditioner to your fabric softener compartment or during the rinse cycle.
How to Clean a Golf Bag
Golf bags are notorious for being gross, smelly, and difficult to keep clean. So many nooks and crannies for dirt and bacteria to live. So many random, sweaty, funky items get put in and taken out of golf bags. They are a highly common source of stinky cars and trunks worldwide, and yet we all just seem to be content dealing with it.
Why does your bag still smell, look, and feel that way after trying to clean it? Probably because you are using the typical deodorizing or cleaning products designed for other materials.
Instead of trying to putt a square ball into a round hole, try HEX Performance Stain and Stink Remover Spray to keep your golf bag clean and odor-free. Simply spray it on all of your problem areas and wipe clean with a cloth.
How to Clean Golf Gloves & Headcovers
Many golf gloves and headcovers have specific instructions for how to clean them that are very important to read in advance of using any third-party advice.
Golf gloves in particular have various materials, fits, and methods of cleaning that make it difficult for a one-size fits all approach. For example, many golf gloves are difficult to wash because they are made out of leather.
That being said, if your golf gloves and headcovers are made from materials that are washable, using HEX Performance to help keep them clean would be most ideal.
That’s because traditional laundry care products and detergents cant clean golf gloves because they aren’t designed for technical fabrics. Using HEX products will ensure you are actually cleaning your golf gloves and headcovers while protecting them from damage.
- Brush all easily removable dirt and debris off of the golf glove.
- Fill a bowl or the sink with 1 gallon of warm water and mix well with 1 tablespoon of HEX Detergent.
- Pre-treat your stains and dirtiest spots by dabbing with a cloth or non-abrasive sponge.
Pro Tip: For tougher stains, try gently scrubbing using a baby’s toothbrush in the pre-treating stages.
- Next, drag the glove in a circular motion around your mixture, quickly forcing water through the finger holes.
- Now put the gloves on your hands, being very careful with the palms as they can tear and damage easily. Make sure they're on all the way as you would normally wear them.
- Wash your hands as you usually would, but more gently and methodically. Scrub your hands together in the soapy water until the gloves appear and feel clean.
- Remove the gloves from the your hands being careful not to tear any fabrics.
- Place the wet golf gloves on a towel, then fold over the towel and press down hard to remove excess water.
- Pull the fingers out to the gloves normal shape and lay out flat to air dry. Make sure not to have the gloves near any heat source as that could cause issues with shrinking and deforming the fabric.
- Once completely dry, put on the glove pulling it tight around your fingers while flexing your hand in order to stretch it back to its correct fit and form.
How to Clean Smelly Golf Shoes
Got smelly golf shoes? Easy fix. HEX Performance Deodorizing Spray is the perfect solution to keep your golf shoes smelling amazing. Save yourself some embarrassment at home and on the course by simply spraying your shoes before and after you use them. The travel-sized bottle helps keep your stink-free solution at arms length while remaining top-secret as it’s tucked away in your golf bag or vehicle.
Pro Tip: Need to deep clean your golf shoes? Check out our blog for tips on how to clean your shoes and cleats the right way!
How to Clean Golf Hats
Got dirty and sweaty golf hats? We got you. Although you should always read the labels, we've found that lining up your golf hats on the top and bottom racks of your dishwasher, is the way to go. Just pop in one HEX Performance Pod from our Detergent Packs, wash on a normal cycle and they'll be good as new! We also like to grab them out before the drying begins and let them air-dry.
Pro Tip: Got yellow sweat stains? Pre-treat your hats with HEX Stain & Stink Remover prior to tossing in the dishwasher.
How to Fix Smelly Golf Buddies
Carry HEX Performance Deodorizing Spray with you wherever you go and keep even your smelliest friends in check. With its convenient travel-sized bottle, you can take it almost anywhere to ensure you always have an optimal environment to perform in.
You may find that after two sprays, your odorous offenders either smell better or rapidly distance themselves. Either way, mission accomplished!
Whether your a novice or a pro golfer, mastering these tips and tricks will help ensure you're getting the best performance out of your golf gear.
