Shoe and Boot Cleaners
In my experience, shoe and boot cleaners are few and far between at state and local parks. And, when they are present, there's no signage explaining how or, more importantly, when and why you should use them. Cleaning your shoes before entering and leaving a park is a crucial way to stop the spread of invasive species, thus protecting local wildlife, plant life, and even the economy (York County Conservation District, 2021). In this article, I'll look at some examples of shoe and boot cleaners that are in use across the world.
Below is a picture I took of JobSite's "Original Boot Scrubber", which is the shoe cleaner I've encountered most in my life.
What Amazon customers have to say about it (JobSite, 2025):
Customers find the boot scrubber effective, with one mentioning it works well on mud and red clay, and another noting it's better than the hardwood version. Moreover, the product receives positive feedback for its build quality, with one customer highlighting the molded plastic bristles, and its effectiveness in keeping floors clean and minimizing dirt tracking. However, durability is mixed - while some say it holds up well over time, others report side brushes breaking off after a year. Additionally, the size receives criticism, with customers noting it's too narrow for big shoes.
Personally, I find the scrubber to be too wide for the shoes I wear. The JobSite shoe scrubber is also not intended for park visitors, but rather for workers who frequent muddy areas.
The stock photo below depicts a shoe scrubber at an outdoor soccer field in the UK (Dreamstime, 2025). Compared to the JobSite shoe scrubber, this scrubber accommodates for balance issues by providing a rail and requires less maneuvering from the user, as the wide brush lets the user scrub both shoes without moving.
Another type of shoe cleaner on the market (shown below) is an angled, cast metal scrubber meant to reduce back strain. It has one side intended to scrape mud away and one side meant to loosen it (My Gift, 2025).
At a national park in Australia, shoe cleaning stations, in combination with signage and educational sessions, have been installed to prevent the spread of the highly damaging plant disease phytophthora, which spreads through infected soil (Sunshine Coast News, 2024).
A shoe cleaning station in New Zealand (shown below) takes a similar, but more insistent approach. Whereas the Australian one keeps it easy to avoid cleaning your shoes, the New Zealand station blocks the entrance entirely and requires visitors to clean their shoes on the way in and out. According to @100newzealand on Instagram (2024), the stations are widespread. Instagram user Luca Cupido, @lukedrummer99, (2024) points out a potential issue--how effective are the shoe cleaners if they aren't kept clean themselves?
Resources.
100% New Zealand [@100newzealand]. (2024, October 15). G'day, mate! Ever wonder why New Zealand has shoe cleaning stations everywhere? It's to protect our unique flora and fauna. [Video]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBIkrRuoNea/
Dreamstime. (2025). Brush shoe cleaner scraper at a outdoor football ground UK, used to clean mud off shoes. Dreamstime. https://www.dreamstime.com/brush-shoe-cleaner-scraper-outdoor-football-ground-uk-brush-shoe-cleaner-scraper-outdoor-football-ground-uk-used-to-image293309051
Dreamstime. (2025). Shoes cleaning station at forest entrance in New Zealand. North Island. Dreamstime. https://www.dreamstime.com/shoes-cleaning-station-forest-entrance-new-zealand-north-island-image178278949
JobSite. (2025). The Original Boot Scrubber. JobSite Brand. https://jobsite.manakey.com/products/boot-scrubber
Luca Cupido [@lukedrummer99]. (2024, October). Yeah I wonder if the shoe cleaner is clean!!!. [Comment]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/DBIkrRuoNea/c/18028238891136535/
My Gift. (2025). Heavy Duty Rustic Black Cast Iron Angled Shoe Bottom Dirt Cleaner, Outdoor Boot Scraper. MyGift. https://www.mygift.com/products/heavy-duty-rustic-black-cast-iron-angled-shoe-bottom-dirt-cleaner-outdoor-boot-scraper
Sunshine Coast News. (2024, December 14). New cleaning stations installed at national park to help give plant disease the boot. https://www.sunshinecoastnews.com.au/2024/12/14/stepping-up-the-fight-shoe-stations-tackle-plant-disease/
York County Conservation District. (2021). Low impact recreation: protecting our forests. York County Conservation District. https://www.yorkccd.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Low-Impact-Recreation.pdf
No generative AI was used in the creation of this post.
