Can I Put My Basketball Shoes In The Freezer, 3 Reasons To Do So

Can I Put My Basketball Shoes In The Freezer? Basketball is a game that is played with superb quickness for long hours. The basketball shoes are not limited to the game. Players wear them off-court to practice tough street stunts. Thus, they consume so much stamina, and their body and shoes get sweaty. 

The sweat in leather/ suede/ nylon/mesh basketball shoes produces a stench due to the growth of bacteria that feed on the sweat and cause foot odour. You may want to keep your basketball shoes in the freezer because:

• It reduces the odour in the shoes produced from enormous sweating.
• Reduces the need to wash them every few days if it smells bad. So so it can preserve its aesthetics and performance for a longterm. 
• Decrease the chance of mould to grow on them

But the Question is Can I Put My Basketball Shoes In The Freezer? Let me walk you through all the reasons that’s why you should keep your basketball shoes in the freezer. Also, potential hazards of long-term freezing and the material that has the best capability to bear extreme temperatures.

Can I Put My Basketball Shoes In The Freezer

Yes, because Keeping basketball shoes in the freezer is a great way to prevent bacterial growth in the shoes that produce bad odor. When you play basketball all day long, all your dress and shoes naturally get wet by sweat. Sweat and warm shoe environments are the best medium for bacterial growth, which produces bad smells that are hard to repel. Washing your leather and suede upper basketball shoe is a complicated process. Hence freezing the basketball shoes is the best way to eliminate shoe odor.

Also, if you need more closet space and help to find a place to keep your favorite hoop shoe, it may sound weird, but you can store your shoes in the freezer. It will maintain their freshness when you store them in the freezer.

Related: Can You Put Basketball Shoes in the Washing Machine/Dryer?

How to Keep Your Basketball Shoes In Freezer

You can pop them in the freezer as is. Then you’re mistaken. Follow the proper way to store the basketball sneakers in the freezer to avoid damage to their material. 

1. Clean the basketball shoes completely to remove any dirt and debris that may be harmful to their seams and materials
2. Now spray it with a sanitizer (any cheap sanitizer would work just fine). 
3. Make sure the basketball shoes are completely dry. Never put your wet and sweaty basketball shoes directly into the freezer. That will crack the leather material of basketball shoes. Moreover, just air dry the basketball shoes; do not put them in the microwave.
4. Then take the plastic ziplock bag and put your basketball sneakers inside the bag. Close the ziplock pack and put them in the freezer.
5. After overnight freezing, you will eliminate the stench produced by bacterial growth because low temperature kills the bacteria produced from sweating.

How Much Time You Should Freeze The Basketball Shoes

Basketball shoes stench is hard to get away with. Most people can’t get rid of it easily. But it’s important to note that keep them in the freezer for only a short period. 

Keeping them in the freezer may dry out their upper material. Then you may end up with cracked leather upper surface. In that case, it will do more damage than benefit to you by leaving them carelessly.

Related: How To Clean Basketball Shoes For Better Grip

Effect of Low Temperature On Basketball Shoe Materials 

Leather

The lower temperature has varying effects on basketball shoes with leather uppers. Apart from removing bad odor, it can stretch the leather material. Stretching this way would make it better for people who want a wide fit.

Following a few steps would do a bit of stretching of the leather material.

1. First of all, take a plastic bag and fill it with water.
2. Next up, you need to freeze the water in a plastic bag.
3. Now, keep it inside the leather basketball shoe 
4. Pack the leather basketball shoe inside a plastic ziplock bag and keep it in the freezer overnight.
5. After 7 hours, remove the shoes from the plastic bag and remove the ice pack from inside the shoe.
6. Thaw the basketball shoe. It will be stretched to give you a better fit.

Suede

Suede is a material that is better and more premium than synthetic leather. It is made from the underside skin of animals such as goats, pigs etc.

Temperature does not stretch, but keeping them in the freezer for a few hours can kill the odor-producing bacteria.

Mesh/ Neoprene

Neoprene materials have good endurance at high temperatures. However, when this material is exposed to a low and freezing temperature for a longer period. Then it can lose its flexibility. 

However, you can prevent it from hardening by freezing it for a shorter period. Hence you will maintain the material resilience and prevent it from hardening.

Textile

Folding textile material does a better job than laundry. It does the same as the laundry but has no adverse effect, as hard water or detergent can harm the shoe textile. 

It stretches the material, as in leather, removing the bad smell. So it is a great way to save your textile upper basketball shoe from washing to eliminate the smell. Freezing will do the same effect but better.

Check Out: How To Plan A Good Basketball Practice

Does Long-Term Freezing Alter the Material and Performance of Basketball Shoe

Effect On Material

You can’t be serious if you are thinking of freezing the basketball shoes for a long time because it’s only a temporary solution to ward off the smell. Storing it for a long time in the freezer will only damage and rip apart the shoe material. 

So please keep it in the freezer for a fixed period. Otherwise, it can make cracks in the leather shoes and ruin their aesthetics.

Effect On Performance

Long-term freezing would not alter the performance of the basketball shoes. Thawing afterwards would stretch some materials like leather and textile, which can be good news for a few sneaker owners. However, it does not stretch it too much to make any solid difference.

Conclusion

Low temperature has a good effect on the basketball sneaker. It saves you plenty of effort to wash, dry and sanitize the shoe to eliminate the bad stench. All you have to do is to freeze it for a couple of hours, and the bad odor is gone.

However, if you don’t like freezing the shoe to remove odor, thoroughly spray the shoe’s insole with a sanitizer and use the sanitizer on your feet before wearing the shoe. It will also kill all the smell-producing bacteria, and you will have fresh-smelling shoes ready for a power-packed performance.