Textile shoes are universal - they are worn to work, for walks, and for training. It has many advantages - soft boots practically do not rub your feet, can be easily combined with multi-colored summer clothes, and thanks to the ventilated material, your feet “breathe.” But fabric shoes quickly get dirty, and in order for the fabric model to maintain a neat appearance, it must be properly cared for.
Before moving on to care tips, a few words about how important it is to choose the size option. When buying an item, pay attention to the completeness of the product. If fabric shoes or sneakers are too wide for you, put them aside. During wear, such a product will become even wider and quickly lose its appearance. Not to mention that walking in such products is very uncomfortable. You shouldn’t buy a tight pair either - unsightly creases may form on them while walking.
After you have purchased moccasins or textile sandals, treat them with a water-repellent agent. This way they will get wet less, and your care for rag shoes will become easier. But even boots treated with a special product become deformed when wet. Therefore, you should wear fabric ballet flats and shoes only in dry weather.
Daily care for textile shoes
After each wear, sneakers should be cleaned of dirt and dust. This can be done with a dry brush with stiff bristles, and the sole can be washed from dirt with a damp cloth. For hard-to-reach places, use a small brush (or a toothbrush).
An alternative to dry cleaning is to treat the textile pair with wet wipes, which not only clean, but also help get rid of a specific unpleasant odor. To do this, just wipe the inside surface of your moccasins or sneakers with napkins. Special powders, which can be purchased at any specialized salon, help remove unwanted aroma and also prevent the formation of fungus.
After you clean the fabric pair, you need to dry it well. Dry sneakers and ballet shoes in the air, away from sunlight, fireplaces, radiators and other heating devices, otherwise the products will become deformed and become brittle from excessive dryness.
Details
Caring for shoes made of artificial suede or velor
The surface of these shoes is velvety and very soft to the touch. Shoes made from this material look very beautiful, elegant, and rich. But it also requires increased attention with delicate care. These shoes are for city roads and sidewalks, because the material from which they are made is not designed to withstand dust, dirt, and high humidity.
For those who decide to pamper themselves with such shoes, boots or boots, you need to prepare to fulfill all their whims when leaving. Products for cleaning, protection and care when purchasing shoes are always offered by salespeople in the store.
Caring for faux suede shoes begins from the first minutes of meeting them. After taking suede shoes out of the box, you need to immediately treat them with a water-repellent agent and then do this with constant regularity. Velor is very afraid of water.
When cleaning the sole, do not allow water to get on the material, otherwise unsightly stains will appear on it. If you still fail to protect your shoes from getting wet, you need to let them dry and only then start cleaning them from dirt. This is done with special brushes. They can be either hairy with stiff bristles. Or rubberized.
Faux suede shoes may have areas with shiny lint. A regular eraser will help to “fluff” it. Over time, the color of velor shoes fades, so it is recommended to periodically tint them with special coloring aerosols. By following the rules for caring for shoes made of artificial suede or velor, you can wear them for a very long time. She is very grateful for the good care.
Attention! Artificial suede or velor does not like wet rainy weather.
Caring for eco-nubuck shoes
Nubuck is less capricious than velor, but also needs special attention. Such shoes should be cleaned immediately after returning from the street. All dirt, when dried, is absorbed into the material and will be removed along with the fibers. As a result of such cleaning, we will end up with scuffed shoes. Nubuck is a material that has a negative attitude towards water. You can wear shoes made of artificial nubuck only in dry weather. In case of encountering, for example, rain, the surface of the shoes is pre-treated with water-repellent agents. A soft cloth will clean the heel of dirt, and a brush will clean the sole of dirt. Paint can be applied to a dry and clean nubuck surface. Then such shoes will always look presentable.
Attention! Shoes made of any material must be stored correctly. Cardboard boxes are used to maintain the shape. In such boxes, shoes “breathe.” Therefore, plastic bags are not recommended for storage.
By properly caring for shoes made from synthetic materials, you can enjoy them for a long time. By extending the wear period, we give ourselves convenience and comfort. After all, such shoes will always be your favorite, and it’s always sad to part with them.
Cleaning fabric shoes
No matter how carefully you wear an item, there comes a time when it needs more serious cleaning. How to clean rag shoes correctly?
Manual cleaning
- Gentle care involves hand washing (wash quickly, no more than 5-6 minutes, otherwise the adhesive base may not hold up).
- Shoes are removed from insoles and laces (it is faster and more effective to clean them in the washing machine with other laundry), and cleaned of dirt with a brush.
- Carefully clean the tops of shoes or ballet flats lightly moistened with water with a sponge or brush with a washing solution (washing powder, laundry soap or dishwashing liquid).
- Residues of the cleaning agent are removed, and the sandals (using a sponge) are rinsed well to avoid the formation of unsightly white stains.
- Moccasins or ballet shoes are wrung out and sent to dry in a well-ventilated area. Dry it in such a way that the water does not stagnate in the heel or toe, but flows out.
Automatic cleaning
Machine washing is not recommended:
- for shoes with sequins, rhinestones and other decorations;
- models with heels (either the heel or the drum of the washing machine may be damaged).
To find out if your shoes can be auto-cleaned, check the label. If automatic cleaning is recommended, follow these steps:
- Remove the laces and insoles and place them in a special bag (or pillowcase). Place shoes in another bag (wash light rag shoes separately from dark ones).
- Place sneakers or moccasins in the machine and select a delicate wash at +30°C. It’s great if there is a special cleaning mode.
- Use half the strength of a mild detergent.
- After finishing washing, dry the items.
No matter how appealing it is to be able to load shoes into the washing machine and take out a clean pair, you shouldn’t overuse automatic washing. Manufacturers recommend washing textile products once every 7-10 days. Otherwise, its service life will be significantly reduced.
How to care for dark textile shoes
Dark sneakers can be cleaned without washing powder or chloride derivatives. Do not use pure vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, citric acid or citrus juice. Use soda and ammonia with caution.
Sports textile shoes are almost never stitched, so you can’t leave them in a basin of water to “soak” - after 2-3 such washes, the sole will come off and the shoes will have to be thrown away. The dark color of the fabric allows you to experiment with dyes if the “native” color of the shoes has faded or acquired irremovable stains, however, when purchasing such products, you need to focus on the instructions, which will indicate the type of fabric suitable for dyeing with the chosen dye.
Folk remedies
It will not be possible to guess the quality of the color pigment of the purchased shoes until the first thorough cleaning, but to ensure that the experience does not turn out to be disastrous, you need to test the paint’s resistance to the chosen product. Home cleaning methods can help with the following troubles:
- Stains from oil, technical or food fat - pour fine salt onto the spot, press it with a napkin, pressing it into the fabric and leave it for 3 minutes to act. Remove stains that have become pale after the salt compress with a soft brush and foam of shampoo or dish soap;
- Spilled coffee and tea on dark shoes are almost invisible, so just rub the stained area a little with a dampened piece of laundry soap, then treat it with a wet non-woven cloth.
For a large number of stains of unknown origin or to refresh the appearance of a pair of shoes that have lain idle for a long time, use ammonia (1 teaspoon) diluted in 250 ml of water. Use the resulting liquid to wipe the shoes completely, then put the shoes away until completely dry in a ventilated place.
Professional products
Gentle cleansing without loss of color or leaving streaks is guaranteed by the manufacturers of the following products:
- Max Clean from Nanomax - cleanses stains of any origin in one application, including greasy, milky, salt stains. This composition is used to treat not only the outside, but also the inside of the fabric product, preventing the appearance of a rotten odor and suppressing the existing one;
- Sandal WashNikwax is a gentle cleaning liquid applied using the included applicator. It has increased deodorizing properties, destroys fungus, the smell of diaper rash, and is suitable for separate treatment of insoles.
With regular use of any of these products, the service life of shoes increases several times.
Tough stains
Traces from grass, tram rails, machine oil and other difficult-to-remove contaminants can be cleaned in different ways.
Antipyatin soap and stain remover for colored laundry will thoroughly clean sandals or shoes with prints. Light-colored shoes are cleaned, respectively, with a stain remover for light-colored fabrics. To clean oil stains at home, you can use concentrated dishwashing detergent, gasoline, or white spirit solvent.
Algorithm of actions:
- A fresh stain is intensively wiped with a cotton pad soaked in the selected substance. For severe contamination, a “compress” is effective - cotton pads soaked in gasoline or solvent are secured on both sides of the stain with clothespins.
- After some time, the dirty areas are cleaned with a brush under running water.
- The last step is washing in a machine or by hand.
Varnished
Patent leather shoes always attract attention. Patent leather shoes look elegant and elegant, so they are especially suitable for special occasions. However, this beauty is quite capricious. To preserve the festive shine of your favorite shoes for a long time, patent leather shoes need to be properly cared for.
Both natural and artificial patent leather have a smooth base coated with a film with a mirror shine. In the first case, genuine leather of different thicknesses is used, in the second, the base is a polymer composition.
Attention! Without proper care, patent leather shoes lose their glossy shine as the leather becomes covered with microcracks.
One of the main tips for owners of such shoes is the recommendation not to wear them every day.
If dirt appears on the surface, warm water with added soap will help wash it off.
After this, patent leather shoes should be wiped with a soft cloth soaked in clean water and left to dry naturally without heat.
Glycerin, Vaseline or castor oil and subsequent polishing give a good moisturizing effect.
Wax should not be used for treatment, since with a wax coating the shoes lose their characteristic shine.
Caring for laser-treated patent leather shoes is similar to the rules for maintaining regular patent leather shoes.
Primary requirements:
- Do not wear patent leather shoes at temperatures below -5 or above +25 degrees;
- Do not use shoe brush or cleaning cream;
- Do not dry using electric dryers, radiators or heating devices;
- Do not use silicone-impregnated sponges;
- Do not apply products containing gasoline, acetone or white spirit to patent leather shoes.
White fabric shoes
Any fabric shoes require careful care, and white fabric shoes even more so. Therefore, many owners of white shoes wash them almost every day. But daily cleaning or washing leads to the fact that the pair quickly loses its appearance. Hence the conclusion - white fabric shoes are not casual. The exception is sports products. There is much less dust in gyms and fitness clubs than on the street, so light ones are a good option for training.
How to clean white rag shoes? Caring for white fabric models is not much different from caring for multi-colored fabric products. But you need to wash the white pair separately from the colored one, and use tooth powder for manual cleaning.
Do not use bleach - white fabric may turn yellow.
Velours
Velor is quite often confused with suede, however, despite the external similarity, these materials have some differences. The thick, fine pile of velor is slightly shorter than that of suede, while velor has a velvet surface only on one side, and is smooth on the inside.
Natural velor is quite capricious, so buyers often prefer more durable artificial material. Artificial velor is based on a fabric on which plant or synthetic fibers are attached.
Information. Depending on the processing technology, you can get different types of velor (fur, front, split), which are used in the production of not only shoes, but also clothing.
Immediately after purchase, velor shoes must be treated with a special protective compound at least three times, drying thoroughly after each application.
This is interesting: How to wash shoes to get rid of the smell forever
Velor does not tolerate high humidity, so wearing such shoes in snow or rain is not recommended.
If moisture does get onto the surface of boots or boots, it should be removed with a soft cloth.
A special brush with natural bristles can be used to clean dust from velor.
Difficult stains can be removed using a special cleaner.
Velor shoes should be dried in natural conditions without the use of heating devices. Steam will help restore the pile to its previous appearance.
When wearing velor shoes, the following rules must be observed:
- Do not wash with water;
- Do not clean without thoroughly drying first;
- Do not press on the surface of the shoe while cleaning with a brush, otherwise the pile will be damaged.
Let the shoes dry
When the shoes are clean and dry, it is worth protecting them from moisture and dirt by applying wax or shoe polish to the leather surface (remember to choose an appropriate shade of polish that is compatible with the color of our shoes.
If the color is unusual, you can use a universal colorless paste). Applying wax or paste will also protect your shoes from scratches and cracks. Shoes regularly lubricated in this way will retain their impeccable appearance much longer and last longer. Finally, we can give our shoes a little shine - just wipe them with a dry soft cloth.
Adviсe
To avoid stains, it is recommended to rinse fabric shoes thoroughly with cold or cool water. You should not use warm and hot water, as it may simply turn your shoes yellow. Drying is allowed only in a suspended state; you can use old laces for this. After the water has drained from the shoes, fill them with crumpled paper. This will help keep you in shape. Under no circumstances should you dry sneakers by placing them on radiators, coils or other electrical home heating appliances.
We remove dirt from the sole, hide scratches and abrasions
But the whiteness and original appearance of the sole can be restored with the help of Vaseline. It will hide scuffs and scratches and restore its attractiveness. Vaseline should be applied exclusively to the surface of the sole, avoiding contact with fabric areas of the material.
In this state, you need to keep the sneakers for 10 minutes, then remove the residue with a damp cloth. Scratches on the surface of the sole can be easily removed with nail polish remover and acetone. To do this, soak a cotton pad in the product and rub the scratches until they disappear completely. If dark stripes have unsuccessfully formed on the surface of the sole, they can be removed using a special shoe eraser.
In the washing machine
How to quickly clean white canvas sneakers? Can they be washed in a washing machine? Make sure your shoes are well made. If the manufacturer is questionable, you run the risk of having to assemble your sneakers in parts after washing, the shoes may become stained, and permanent stains will appear due to poor quality material. But if you still decide to machine wash, first shake off and knock off any pieces of dirt. Then rub stubborn stains with a solution of baking soda and liquid soap in equal proportions and wash. Dry your shoes in a vertical position.
An excellent whitening effect can be obtained using laundry soap. To do this, dip the edge of the piece in a small amount of water and let it soak a little. Take your shoes, remove all light dirt and soak them in cold water for 10 minutes. Then, using an old toothbrush, try to thoroughly soap the sneakers in heavily soiled areas, distribute the soap over the entire fabric surface, and smear the soles. You can immediately soap the laces. Leave to soak for 15 minutes. Then wash as usual and rinse in plenty of cool water.
