How to Clean Golf Clubs (Including Rust Removal)
The best way to clean golf clubs is warm water, a few drops of dish soap and a soft brush. It takes about fifteen minutes and everything you need is already in the house. Below is the method, how irons, woods and putters differ, how to get rust off, and how to tell when dirty grooves are actually worn ones.
Never put a driver, fairway wood or hybrid in the bucket. Water gets under the crown paint and into the hosel adhesive. Wipe them with a damp cloth instead; soaking is for irons and wedges only.
How to clean golf clubs at home
Six steps, about fifteen minutes for a full set. Read step 2 before you fill the bucket: only irons and wedges go in the water.
What you need
- A bucket or sink of warm water
- Mild dish soap
- A soft-bristle brush or old toothbrush
- A wooden tee or nylon groove brush
- Two towels, one damp and one dry
- White vinegar (only for rust)
All of it is already in your kitchen. You do not need a club-cleaning kit.
- 01
Fill a bucket with warm water and soap
Warm, not hot: hot water softens the epoxy that holds the head on. Add a few drops of mild dish soap and only enough water to cover the heads, not the ferrules where the shaft meets the head.
- 02
Soak the irons and wedges for 5 to 10 minutes
Irons and wedges only, heads down. That is long enough to soften dried mud and grass. Drivers, fairway woods, hybrids and insert putters stay out of the water.
- 03
Brush the face and grooves
Scrub the face, sole and back cavity in small circles with the soft brush, then run a wooden tee along each groove to lift what the brush missed.
- 04
Wipe the woods, hybrids and putter
Damp cloth on the face and sole, dry cloth on the crown. A toothbrush dipped in the soapy water cleans the face score lines. Never submerge them.
- 05
Rinse the heads
Run clean water over the heads only, or wipe them with a fresh wet towel. Keep water off the grips and the shaft joints. Soap left on the face dries to a film.
- 06
Dry everything completely
Towel every head, hosel and shaft before the clubs go back in the bag. Damp steel in a closed bag is where rust starts.
Hand-wash only. Pressure washers, dishwashers and boiling water loosen the head-to-shaft bond and strip the paint fill from the numbers.
How to clean irons, woods and putters
The heads are built differently, so they clean differently. To clean golf irons, soak and scrub them: they are solid steel. Drivers, fairway woods and hybrids are hollow shells with paint, adhesive and often screw-in weights, and water finds its way into all three. This is the step most cleaning guides skip.
| Club | Soak? | How to clean it | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Irons and wedges | Yes, 5 to 10 min | Brush the face, sole and cavity; tee in the grooves | Hard scrubbing lifts the paint fill in the numbers and logos |
| Driver and fairway woods | Never | Damp cloth on the face and sole, dry cloth on the crown | Water under the crown paint, in the hosel adhesive and in adjustable weight ports |
| Hybrids | Never | Same as a fairway wood | A hollow head with the same construction and weak points as a wood |
| Putters | Wipe only | Damp cloth; soft brush on a milled face | Face inserts are glued in, and painted sight lines lift when soaked |
A milled steel putter face can be brushed like an iron face. A putter with a face insert only ever gets a damp cloth, dried straight away.
How to clean golf club grooves
Clean grooves are what put spin on the ball, most of all from wet grass and rough.
Grooves channel water, grass and sand away from the face so the ball meets metal. A groove packed with dried mud is a groove that is not there: the ball skids up the face, launches higher and spins less. It happens most on the shots where you want spin, like a wedge from the rough or anything in the wet.
After the soak, run the point of a wooden tee along each groove from heel to toe. Use wood or plastic, not a metal pick: steel dragged across a soft carbon wedge face wears the groove edges. A nylon groove brush does the same job faster. Then hold the face up to the light. Every groove should be a clean, sharp line.
How to remove rust from golf clubs
First decide whether it needs removing. Orange bloom on a raw, unplated wedge is there by design and does not hurt spin. Rust on a chrome iron, inside the grooves or spreading along a steel shaft is damage, and it should come off.
For light rust, soak the head in a 1:1 mix of white vinegar and water for 30 to 60 minutes, scrub with a nylon brush or bronze wool, rinse with clean water and dry completely. For pitting, or rust that survives the vinegar, use a dedicated rust remover such as Evapo-Rust and follow the soak time on the label. If you play in the wet, a thin wipe of light oil on a steel shaft afterwards slows the rust coming back.
- White vinegar, diluted 1:1 with water
- Bronze wool or a nylon brush for loose flakes
- A dedicated rust remover for heavier rust
- A thin wipe of light oil on steel shafts afterwards
- Steel wool or sandpaper on chrome: it scratches through the plating and the rust returns faster
- Vinegar on painted, black or PVD finishes: it dulls them
- Leaving vinegar on for hours: once the rust is gone, it starts on the steel
- Skipping the final dry: rust removal without it is a reset, not a fix
When rust means the club is done: pitting you can feel with a fingernail inside the grooves, or corrosion at the hosel that has lifted the ferrule. Pitted grooves cannot be cleaned back to spec, and a corroded hosel joint is a head waiting to come off.
How to clean golf grips
The step most golfers skip, and the one that changes how the club feels in your hands.
Grips turn slick from hand oil, sunscreen and dirt long before they wear out. Use the same bucket of soapy water: scrub each grip end to end with the soft brush, wipe the suds off with a wet towel, and let the clubs air-dry standing upright. A rubber grip comes back close to its original tack. Cord grips take the same treatment.
If a grip stays shiny and slick after a wash, or the rubber has hardened or cracked near the butt end, washing will not bring it back. That is a regrip, which takes about ten minutes a club.
How often should you clean golf clubs?
A quick wipe after every round, and the full method above about once a month.
Keep a damp towel on the bag and wipe the face after each shot, before the dirt dries. It takes seconds and does most of the work.
Clear the grooves with a tee, wipe every head, and dry the grips if it rained, before the clubs go in the car.
The full soak, brush and dry, grips included. More often in wet weather or if you practise from bunkers, less if the clubs mostly sit in the garage.
Worn grooves: when a club needs replacing, not cleaning
Most clubs in most bags just need washing. This is for the wedge that is clean and still will not hold a green.
Grooves wear from the sand and grit in every strike. Wedges wear first because they take the most bunker shots and full-swing practice. Wear matters far less on a mid iron, where spin is lower and most shots come off clean, dry turf.
Source: MyGolfSpy groove-wear test. A new Vokey SM10 56° against the same model after 500 bunker shots, about 75 rounds of wear, hit off grass. One accelerated test on one wedge, not a prediction for every set.
How to check yours: clean the face, then drag a fingernail across the grooves in the middle of the face and again out near the toe, where you rarely make contact. Fresh grooves catch the nail with a sharp edge. If the centre feels rounded compared with the toe, or there is a smooth, shiny patch where the grooves fade in the strike zone, they are worn. Titleist suggests checking wedges at around 75 rounds.
If a wedge fails the fingernail test, the fix is a replacement, not another wash. Start with how wedge lofts should gap so the new one fits your set, then compare current wedges and prices in the bag builder.
Replacing a worn wedge?
Filter current wedges by loft and hand, see how a new one gaps with the rest of your set, and compare new and used prices before you buy. Free, no account needed.
What to clean golf clubs with, and other questions
Related pages
What should I clean golf clubs with?
Warm water, a few drops of mild dish soap and a soft-bristle brush or old toothbrush. That covers every club in the bag. Add a wooden tee for the grooves, two towels for drying, and white vinegar only if there is rust.
What is the best way to clean golf clubs?
Soak irons and wedges in warm soapy water for 5 to 10 minutes, brush the faces and grooves, rinse and dry completely. Wipe drivers, woods, hybrids and putters with a damp cloth instead of soaking them. A full set takes about fifteen minutes.
Can you soak golf clubs in water?
Irons and wedges, yes, for 5 to 10 minutes with the water kept below the ferrules. Never soak a driver, fairway wood, hybrid or insert putter: water gets under the paint and into the adhesive that holds the head and the insert.
Can I use WD-40 or metal polish on golf clubs?
WD-40 lifts light surface rust, but it leaves an oily film that collects dirt and can reduce spin until it wears off the face, so wipe it off thoroughly. Chrome polish is fine on chrome irons. Keep both off painted crowns and grips.
Can you clean golf clubs with a pressure washer or in the dishwasher?
No. High pressure and dishwasher heat weaken the epoxy that bonds the head to the shaft and strip the paint fill from numbers and logos. Warm water and a brush do the job.
How do you clean golf grips?
Scrub them with warm soapy water and a soft brush, wipe off the soap with a wet towel and let them air-dry. Hand oil and sunscreen are what make grips slick, and both come off with soap. A grip that stays slick after washing needs replacing.