How to Wash Sneakers

Do you wash your workout clothes regularly but leave your shoes languishing in the locker until they smell up the locker room? Your shoes, too, should be cleaned regularly to keep them looking good and smelling sweet. Here are a few easy steps to get your sneakers looking new again.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Remove the laces and any inserts from the shoes.

2. Throw the laces in with a load of laundry, and then let them air-dry.

3. Mix up a solution of mild soap and water (dishwashing soap or Ivory soap flakes work well). If the shoes are very heavily soiled, you might want to buy a cleaner specifically designed for athletic shoes instead. Check the bottle's label to make sure it is appropriate for all the materials--whether nylon, leather, vinyl, canvas or rubber--your shoes are made of.

4. With a soft-bristle brush and the soapy water or shoe cleaner, clean the inserts and the shoes, inside and out. Then use clean water to rinse the shoes and the inserts well with clean water.

5. Wipe off the excess moisture with paper towels.

6. With paper towels, stuff the shoes to soak up moisture and preserve their shape.

7. Place the shoes and the inserts on a waterproof surface in a well-ventilated room to dry, replacing the paper towels if necessary as they become soaked through.

8. Put the laces and the inserts back into the shoes once all the parts are completely dry.

9. Sprinkle a bit of baking soda inside the shoes to keep them smelling fresh.

10. Allowing your shoes to dry out thoroughly between wearings will lengthen their life considerably.

Tips & Warnings

• Throwing your shoes in the washing machine is a last-ditch way to clean a particularly grubby pair. But unless your shoes were marketed as "washable," the heat, agitation and thorough soaking they receive could ruin them, so don't try this unless you're otherwise ready to throw them out anyway.
• See How to Freshen Smelly Shoes for more tips.

[edenton]

on 9/12/2008 after washing my white keds, they look fine when I take
them out of the washing machine but as they dry, the
canvas turns yellow around the base of the shoe. Any
suggestions? I just washed a new pair and this has
happened.

[sharonmissy]

on 1/17/2008 I like to use an old tooth brush to scrub my tennis shoes.

[boots2008]

on 10/26/2007 i tryed to dye a suede jacket by spraying blue dye on it and would like to know what would happen if i put it in the washer? by the way the jacket is tan.

[brit]

on 5/2/2007 i have just put my sneakers in the washing machine, hope they'll be ok.

on 3/21/2006 We own a rental condo, and we found mud covered work sneakers in the dishwasher. It was full of sand, grit and pebbles which would cover the dishes on each attempt to run it. Sand is heavier than food particles, so it does not pump out of the dishwasher. As a result, you have to spend hours cleaning it out if you have the technical skills to take the unit apart. Otherwise you might as well throw the dishwasher away! I think a new pair of sneakers would be the cheaper way to go!