You wonder if football boots are waterproof or whether playing in bad conditions can either ruin your match performance or boots themselves.
Nowadays, with technology improving and with the innovation of football brands, boots are improving year on year.
However, despite brands putting work into improving their football boots, can they resist different weather conditions.
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Are Football Boots Waterproof?
Since football boots are made with materials such as leather and synthetic, it means they aren’t waterproof as such.
However, they are made to be resistant to some water.
So if you are playing football and the weather is chucking it down, you will still be able to play fine.
The line will be drawn, though if you are playing on a surface, where the ball is holding up, and you can see big puddles of water.
After a while, your boots will probably get heavy.
Like if you were to put them in a tub of water.
However, generally speaking, you should be able to wear football boots in most conditions without too many problems.
How Do Brands Make Their Football Boots Waterproof?
While we will at least not see completely waterproof football boots for a while, brands are still paying attention to making sure boots perform in any conditions.
What I am getting at here is that a boot needs to be still effective if conditions are very dry or wet.
In wet conditions, for example, a footballer might find it harder to control the football.
They find that the ball slips out of their control.
Now each football brand has there own approach to its football boots and making them usable in any condition.
So in this section, I will take you through what the top brands have done to:
Nike
Nike’s ranges of football boots aren’t waterproof.
The company have though integrated technology into some of their boots called ACC.
ACC stood for All Conditions Controlled and was enrolled back in 2012.
Which proved to be a game-changer and has been noticeable with their top-end boots.
This technology was introduced into boots to give footballers the same experience in different conditions.
With ACC, you get the same touches and control of the ball and friction, whether wet or dry.
They have gone about this by adding something to the materials used to build the upper of the football boots.
However, despite how much I love Nike, there are still a few cons to them.
Firstly the flyknit upper on the top of the boot, found with the Phantom and Mercurial models, is an absorber of water.
So you will find the inside of the boot bit wet if playing in certain conditions.
There are a few hacks to counter this issue, which I will share with you at the end of this post.
The other issue is that ACC is only added to the Elite versions.
Which if you didn’t know is the most expensive tier boot you can buy from Nike.
It means if you want the best on offer, you will need to spend over £200 on a boot.
Which isn’t going to work for every footballer.
Adidas
While Adidas have clothing ranges that are ‘all weather’.
They do not have this for their football boot ranges.
Their boots are not made to be waterproof on the shelf.
However, they do have some silos that are better equipped for wet weather.
From speaking to Adidas’s team, they recommend the Nemeziz range that is popular for the partnership with Messi.
These boots are great on wet and muddy pitches.
With them being a dark colourway they are also easy to clean.
Also offering solid protection on those surfaces which are wet.
Feel free to check them out here.
Why Aren’t Football Boots Made To Be Waterproof?
While it would be hard to make football boots completely waterproof, more attention goes into making them more sturdy and stopping them from breaking apart.
That is because, over time, a player’s boots are more likely going to be damaged from use than from the conditions played in.
Now making sure football boots are waterproof wouldn’t make sense as they will wear out eventually anyway.
At the end of the day, while brands want to supply you with quality products, they also want you to return to them and continue buying their boots.
So when after a season or two, your boots are starting to wear out a bit, maybe from the conditions, they will want you to change your football boots with them.
How To Protect Your Football Boots?
If you live in a country like the UK, where most of the football season is played in the winter, you will find conditions can be quite bad.
It’s not unusual to turn up to a Sunday league game, especially where the grounds are clogged up after raining all night before.
So when you play on surfaces like this, your boots will get wet, which is perfectly normal.
Over time your boots will wear out naturally regardless of condition too. So with that in mind, there are things you can do to protect your football boots further.
Using Candle Wax Before Games
A few years ago, one hack I found was the candle wax method you can use on football boots where certain areas aren’t very waterproof.
If you have a part of the boot, such as the flyknit on a Nike silo which absorbs a lot of water, you can put on candle wax over the area.
After you have done so, you grab a hairdryer which will help dissolve the wax.
The boots will also return to their original look.
By doing all of this, you create this layer above the concentrated area.
Which stops the material from absorbing the water and instead, you will find it trickling off instead.
It’s a trick definitely worth doing if you’re playing in conditions where both the surface and football are wet.
Waterproof Spray
This method is one of the easiest to do; however, it does require some effort and money to go to the local store.
So if you cant find some candle wax around the house, then buying a bottle of waterproof spray will do pretty much the same job.
Now putting this spray on your boots will give them a wet glossy coating.
However, just like with the wax, a hairdryer will be needed to dry it all off.
What you will find is after finishing those steps, you will have waterproof boots.
The water will fall down the sides instead of staying on top.
Washing Boots After Your Game
While it’s hard when the weather is cold in the winter, and you want to get into the warm, the best thing to do is sort your boots out straightaway.
Using a good old sponge and bucket of soapy water. Cleaning your boots will stop them from going damp and rotting away.
I recommend this, especially if you have played in poor conditions where your boots are soaking and are covered in mud.
Conclusion
With football boots, they aren’t designed to be completely waterproof, and for the most part, that is fine since other parts of the boot need more attention.
Not only that, as I have shared above, there are a few things you can do to counteract it and still have waterproof football boots on matchday.
If you were looking for answers on are football boots waterproof. I hope this post helped you out.
And hopefully, you were able to take something away from it.
Let me know your thoughts and any questions you may have in the comment section below 🙂
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