How to Clean Blue Jean Dye on White Gym Shoes

Blue jean dye often rubs off on other items, especially if the jeans have not yet been washed. This dye will show up especially well on white gym shoes. You don’t have to live with the ugly stains, however. You can return the shoes to their nice white color with just a little effort and time.

Things You'll Need

• Rubbing alcohol
• Paper towels
• Laundry detergent
• Toothbrush
• Sponge
• Cloths
• White shoe polish

Instructions

1. Pour rubbing alcohol onto a paper towel. Press this against the stained area. Rubbing alcohol is a solvent, and therefore can clean some inks and dyes off materials (leather or cloth).

2. Check the paper towel to see if any blue jean dye transferred from the shoe to the towel. If any did, repeat the procedure with a fresh towel and new application of rubbing alcohol. Do this until you cannot get any more dye off this way.

3. Wet a clean toothbrush in running water. Add a drop of laundry detergent to the brush and use this to scrub any remaining denim dye on the shoe. If the dye is over a large section of the shoe, you may need to apply more laundry detergent.

4. Wet a clean sponge in water. Use this wet sponge to rinse off the shoes.

5. Pat the shoes dry with a soft cloth. If any discoloration remains on leather or vinyl areas, use white shoe polish, as suggested by dillaservices.com. Simply use the kind sold with a sponge applicator. Spread the white polish over the areas and follow with a soft cloth.

Tips & Warnings

• Some shoes may be machine washed or soaked in laundry detergent (check the label). If you do this to try to remove the blue jean stains, use cold or warm water (not hot) and hang them to dry. Dillaservices.com advises that washing shoes in a machine may shorten the lifespan of the shoes.

• Instead of using laundry detergent, you can also try toothpaste containing a whitening formula. Just brush it on as if you were brushing your teeth, then rinse the shoes with a wet sponge.

References

• Dillaservices.com: Cleaning Shoes