Taking Care of Your Athletic Shoes
Posted by Liz J. on Jul 11th 2017
How To Clean Your Athletic Shoes
They’re designed to keep up with you, so they know how to get down and dirty. That doesn’t mean they have to stay that way, though. Here’s how to clean up your athletic shoes!
Step 1: Get Prepped. Brush off any excess dirt, remove shoe laces and insoles. Allow the insoles to air out, using foot powder or baking soda as necessary to eliminate odor. Rinse the shoes with cool water to get rid of loose dirt that didn’t come off with brushing.
Step 2: Wash! With most styles, you should be able to machine wash with cool or warm water and regular detergent. We recommend washing them in the same load as your towels. Adding Pine Oil disinfectant to the beginning of a wash cycle (warm water only) can help disinfect your shoes and protect your feet from bacteria or fungus. Lysol brand disinfectant can also be used.
Always check with the manufacturer to be sure that shoes are machine washable.
If you have any doubts at all, hand wash shoes with a soft brush and liquid detergent diluted with water. Scrub the inside and outside of the shoe and be sure to rinse afterwards.
Step 3: Dry! *NEVER put shoes in the dryer. Do not put them near a radiator. Do not attempt to dry them with a hair dryer. High heat will damage shoes. DO put sneakers in a well ventilated area to dry. Stuff them with white paper towels or white cotton towels to absorb the moisture and help retain shape. Some use newspaper, but the ink may transfer to the shoes or to your socks.
Step 4: Finishing Touch. A “magic eraser” or wet wipes work wonders on getting scuffs out of rubber. If all else fails, you can use shoe polish to touch up scuffs.