With all the constant running, driving, and speed dribbling, anybody who plays soccer knows that after a long day of action, your jerseys are bound to get all sweaty and odorous. This means you’ll need to wash them ahead of your next match to avoid bothering your teammates.
Ideally, jerseys should be spun in the washer after every game you play. This will help to maintain your personal hygiene and will also keep your jerseys long-lasting and fresh.
The best way to clean your soccer shirts is to wash them in cold or lukewarm water using the washing machine.
In this guide, we’ll teach you how to properly wash a soccer jersey and highlight beginner mistakes you should avoid.
Tips to Properly Wash Soccer Jerseys
When washing this delicate sportswear, you must keep certain points in mind. We’ve listed some of the essential tips below – follow these to save your jerseys and yourself from unnecessary trouble.
- Soccer jerseys can shrink and fade if they come in direct contact with high heat. Thus, you should avoid using extremely hot water and placing them in the dryer.
- The ideal way to wash your favorite jerseys is to spin them in a washer. This will save you some serious hard work of hand washing and pre-soak.
- Always prefer using a high-quality, bleach-less, and color-protecting laundry detergent powder for best results.
- Turn jerseys inside out before washing to prevent the stitching, letters, and numbers on the shirts from wear and tear.
- Try to wash your soccer jerseys alone. Never put your sportswear with regular-colored clothes, blue jeans, or zipper material to prevent the jersey colors from smearing.
- Wash your soccer jerseys after every match to keep them fresh and clean.
- When washed, fold your jerseys correctly to avoid damage to the decals.
How to Remove Stains From Sports Jersey?
For soccer fans, playing comes with endless smears on your sportswear. The most common ones are grass, mud, blood, and sweat stains after a game full of action. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to get rid of these tough stains.
One of the most effective ways to remove such stains is by using ingredients available at home, like soda and white vinegar, or artificial cleaners, like OxiClean and hydrogen peroxide.
Every stain type may require different treatments. Some methods work better on colored shirts while some are built to turn your dull whites into shining bright.
Below, we’ve discussed a few top techniques with step-by-step guides that will help you to make your jerseys clean under the budget.
Removing Odor and Sweat Marks
Removing stains and odors from polyester shirts can be a tough challenge. People frequently express concerns that their athletic clothing still smells bad even after washing it. So, how do you tackle this problem?
The best technique to remove odors, sweat marks, and yellow deodorant spots is by pre-soaking the jersey in a mix of baking soda and laundry detergent. The soda acts as a deodorizer and sucks up stinky smells, while the detergent will help to remove small marks and leave the clothes smelling fresh.
Here are a few steps to properly clean your soccer jersey using this method.
- Fill up the sink basin halfway with lukewarm water.
- Add in one cup of baking soda and best-smelling, color-safe detergent powder.
- Place your jersey in the mix for at least an hour up to overnight.
- The safest approach is to soak each soccer jersey individually. Alternatively, to prevent color mix-up separating the same-colored jerseys from white ones is also a safe approach.
- Wring your jersey out and give in a final rinse under tap water.
- Hang it up to dry on the clothesline.
Pre-Soaking for Grass, Mud, and Blood Stains
Coming home with a jersey full of grass, mud, and blood marks is definitely not a sight to behold. One of the best methods you can use to tackle these is a combination of distilled water, vinegar, and iodized salt.
You can either add the mix to the bleach dispenser while giving your clothes a quick spin or directly apply a paste onto the stained area. Here is a brief rundown on how to clean it step by step.
- Take your dirty soccer jerseys and brush off the dirt particles with a soft toothbrush.
- Fill a wash basin with cold water and dip soccer jerseys in.
- Douse it in a mixture of one cup of vinegar and salt and let the jersey soak for about 30 minutes.
- Place it in the washing machine on a low-heat setting gentle wash cycle for an hour. You can also add a few drops of vinegar to the bleach dispenser.
- Take it out to squeeze the excess water and air dry.
How to Clean a White Soccer Jersey?
For white jerseys, you need to have a disciplined cleaning process. If you leave washing your dirty white shirts for the next day, you might have a hard time getting rid of the settled spots. It’s best to wash them as soon as you get them smeared, whether it is a greasy spill or a muddy mark.
Though there are many methods to get stains out of white jersey, bleach works best for making your sportswear white again. Avoid using regular chlorine type as the harsh and abrasive nature can leave yellow marks. Instead, use oxalic bleach which can effectively eliminate all dirty smudges on your white soccer garment.
Can You Dry Clean a Soccer Garment?
In short, yes soccer playwear can be dry cleaned, but doing so consistently might ruin your jersey in the long run. Although many people think it would be preferable to let professional dry cleaners manage the cleaning, this may not be the wisest course of action.
As a result of the chemical mixtures and potent additives used in dry cleaning, the fabric strands may wither, becoming dull and frayed. If not washed diligently, the colors can bleed through and permanently leave your jerseys stained. So only use the dry clean method if you’re in an absolute emergency.
How to dry a soccer jersey?
Never use an automatic dryer to dry a polyester soccer shirt. The dryer heat is quite harmful to the soft strands and with constant usage can lead to dullness, and eventually a damaged jersey. The lettering and numeric decals will also smudge under direct heat pressure.
The best way to dry your sports jerseys is to hang your clothing up to dry naturally. Nowadays, jerseys are designed with a unique moisture-wicking property that does not absorb extra moisture. So your soccer shirts can dry faster than ever in favorable circumstances.
You can hang them to dry on the clothesline or lay it flat under the sun. If drying with the latter method, place a thin cloth over your jersey to save it from direct sun rays.
