How to properly wash sneakers so that they can be washed - in the machine and by hand

Fashion is very changeable and capricious. What was fashionable yesterday is no longer relevant today and is hidden on the mezzanine in a closet. But there are things that are out of fashion and timeless. Such exceptional things include sneakers. Having appeared more than 100 years ago, they are becoming more and more in demand not only among young people, but also popular among the older generation.

This is explained by their versatility, practicality and ease of care. So, is it possible to wash sneakers and how to do it correctly?

General procedure

You cannot take shoes and immediately throw them into a basin or drum. Street dust and dried dirt will leave stains and the shoes will lose their neat appearance.

How to wash shoes correctly, general principle:

1. Remove pieces of dirt and debris.
2. Use a dry brush or vacuum cleaner to remove most of the dust from the upper and laces.
3. Remove the laces and insoles (the former do not extend into the armhole area if tucked in, the latter require special care).
4. Wash the sole, preferably bleach it immediately.
5. Wash and dry.

Will dry cleaning help?

If the sneakers are expensive, or they have complex stains that you cannot handle on your own, you can use dry cleaning services.

Before handing over the shoes, it is necessary to clarify whether the craftsmen will cope with their task without harm to the couple. You must pay for services upon completion of them.

Services that can be provided by a professional dry cleaner:

1. Remove dust, dirt and stubborn stains from sneakers. The cost of the work is 700 rubles.
2. Remove abrasions and scratches. The price starts from 600 - 800 rubles.
3. Clean and paint shoes. Depending on the type of material, the price varies from 700 to 1200 rubles.

Whitening the sole

The whiteness will not return to the sole when washed - it must be treated separately for the shoes to look decent.

Soap solution

Not the most effective product, it copes best with fresh dust deposits. How to wash the sole:

1. Dilute washing gel or laundry soap shavings (a bar on a basin) in warm water. You should get a concentrated solution that will cover the soles but not touch the top.
2. Place sneakers in the solution and forget for an hour.
3. Take it out and scrub vigorously with an old toothbrush or nail brush.
4. If necessary, repeat.

Baking soda paste

Baking soda will help clean even old dirt that has become embedded in the sole. Calcined works better, but food grade will also work:

1. Mix the product with a small amount of water and add peroxide. The result should be a thick mass.
2. Rub the paste into the sole, and then leave the sneakers for an hour in the sun.
3. After this, wipe the material with a damp sponge to remove paste and dirt.

Vinegar solution

Use colorless table vinegar, no stronger than 9%:

1. Mix vinegar with liquid (1:3).
2. Soak a sponge or gauze swab in the product and treat the sole well.
3. After this, wipe the product with a clean cloth and place the shoes in the fresh air to remove the smell of vinegar.

Toothpaste

It is best to take a white or light blue paste:

1. Apply the product to the sole.
2. Rub in with a brush, without touching the top, until the material becomes snow-white.
3. Remove any remaining product with a damp sponge.

Advice You have to bleach the sole more often than once a season. To avoid soaking or discoloring, for example, toothpaste or vinegar, the top of the shoe during the procedure, protect it with masking tape.

Whitening

It is not always possible to completely wash white sneakers. Over time, an unaesthetic yellowness appears on them. To eliminate it, you will need to carry out bleaching.

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It is recommended to use special ready-made products from the line of oxygen varieties that do not contain chlorine.

During the procedure, several steps are performed:

1. Pour a quarter glass of water at a temperature of about 40˚C.
2. Add powdered bleach to it until you get a slurry consistency.
3. Distribute the resulting mass over the surfaces and leave for 4 hours.
4. Then brush and rinse.

Whitening sneakers
The same bleach - 1 tbsp. l. added to the machine when washing.

You can use traditional methods for whitening:

1. Combine dish gel or liquid soap with soda to form sour cream. Apply to all surfaces of shoes. They keep it for two hours. Then moisten a toothbrush with clean water and rub off the yellowness. After rinsing with clean water, check whether a repeat bleaching procedure is required or not.
2. To remove yellowness that appears after washing, dissolve 20 ml of vinegar (9%) in 60 ml of water. Saturates all marks, and then scrubs with a sponge and rinses.
3. A mixture of table vinegar (9%), hydrogen peroxide and washing powder will help bleach the fabric surface. All components are taken in equal volumes, mixed and distributed over planes. Then wipe with a brush and rinse.

If you need to bleach the sole, then take vinegar and soda in a ratio of 3:2. Distribute over the contaminated surface. Wipe with a sponge and rinse.

Washing sneakers

If you wash by hand:

1. Fill a basin with water and dilute washing gel or soap there.
2. Soak the shoes for an hour or longer.
3. Then scrub with a sponge or brush.
4. Dry with a towel and rinse in clean water 2-4 times.
5. Pat dry with a clean towel.
6. Stuff with paper or insert socks filled with dry rice. Let dry.

In an automatic car:

1. Place in a shoe wash container.
2. Place in drum. To stabilize, you can add a pair of thick denim shorts.
3. Place 2-4 wash balls into the machine.
4. Set the desired mode and start the equipment.
5. Pat with a towel and dry.

Choice of product

It is better to opt for liquid products or capsules: they are easy to rinse and, accordingly, will not leave streaks. For one pair of sneakers, ¼ cap of washing gel is enough.

If you wash by hand and with soap, then dissolve no more than 40 g of grated bar in the basin.

In any case, “Whiteness” and other chlorine bleaches are unacceptable. Only oxygen stain removers. Too aggressive products will damage the glue and textiles.

At what temperature should I wash?

Water should not be heated above 40 degrees, but it is better to limit it to 30. To the touch it is perceived as barely warm or slightly cool.

Advice: To make sneakers bounce less and the drum to spin without overload, add denim shorts made of thick material to your shoes.

Which mode to install

Modern automatic cars usually have a “Sport” or “Shoe” function - this is what you need to set. If there is no such mode, choose “Delicate”, “Wool” or “Handmade”. Time - no longer than 1 hour, without spinning, maximum 400 revolutions.

Why are balls needed when washing shoes?

Sneakers cannot be washed for a long time, and in a short cycle in cool water, textiles and dense fibers are highly likely to be unwashed. To avoid this, and also to rinse the sneakers better, special or homemade washing accessories are added to the drum: balls or white tennis balls.

Interesting factWhy are sneakers called Converse? These are the most classic sneakers: black, with a bright white sole. This is where the name came from.

How to dry properly

The product must be dried without any hair dryers or heaters. You can use special shoe dryers. It is also not advisable to expose it to the sun - it is harmful to the fibers.

To maintain their shape, you need to stuff your shoes with absorbent material:

• crumpled white paper (newspapers often leave dirty prints);
• socks filled with dry rice;
• crumpled waffle napkins.

It is not advisable to hang sneakers by the backs - it is better to put them on a wire rack, in a well-ventilated place, or hang them on a special hanger.

Drying

To prevent washed sneakers from becoming deformed, drying is carried out at room conditions. First, the shoes are left in a sink or basin to allow the water to drain.

Then, in order to preserve the shape, the internal volume is stuffed with crumpled white or gray paper. It is not recommended to use newspaper, as printed text may stain the fabric.

It is dangerous to place shoes on hot heating appliances, as they are easily deformed and the soles come off. If you need to speed up the drying process, then in the winter season a terry towel folded in half is placed on the radiator, and the products are placed on it.

How to dry sneakers

How to return color to sneakers

To restore the whiteness of leather sneakers, treat them with milk and wipe with a dry cloth; glycerin will return the shine.

White textiles will be refreshed by a mixture of soda and vinegar, as well as citric acid. Hydrogen peroxide is a very good lightener. All these bleaches need to be applied and left for half an hour, then rinse the shoes.

To preserve bright colors, including red and black, just add a little vinegar before the last rinse. To avoid odor, you need to dry the pair outdoors or in a room with good ventilation.

How to remove yellow stains on a textile upper

Yellow stains on shoes, as well as on clothes, appear from poorly rinsed conditioner or powder. Metal parts that leave rusty streaks can also be to blame. Housewives use the following means:

1. Baby powder. Mix with water to make a thick porridge. Rub thoroughly with an old toothbrush over the entire surface of the sneaker. Allow to dry and remove any residue with a stiff brush.
2. A mixture of washing powder and soda. Combine in equal proportions. Dilute with water and whip up foam. Rub the mixture into wet shoes and leave for 30 minutes. Wash and dry.
3. Vinegar + washing powder + citric acid. The paste is prepared and applied in the same way as the previous one.
4. Ammonia. Moisten a cotton swab and thoroughly wipe the contaminated areas on the sneakers. Carry out the procedure until the streaks completely disappear. Then rinse thoroughly and dry.

Removing unpleasant odor

If the unpleasant odor is a consequence of sweaty feet, the following methods are used:

• wash sneakers and insoles;
• spray the inside of the shoes with an alcohol solution;
• put the products in a bag and in the freezer for one day;
• use fresheners in the form of bay leaves or orange peels.

Subsequently, you need to wear clean, preferably cotton socks, wash your feet daily, and if there is a problem with hyperhidrosis, use absorbent disposable insoles, deodorant (store-bought or oak bark decoction)

Cleaning insoles

If the insoles are not very dirty, then just wash them under cool water and soap. When products are dirty, it is best to treat them with soda or alcohol.

Washing sneakers in a machine, of course, is always risky, but it is quite possible and frees up almost an hour of time. And yet you will have to prepare the Converse and wash the soles manually. Leather or faux leather sneakers just need to be wiped with a damp cloth from time to time and lubricated with glycerin or a special impregnation 1-2 times a season. Suede requires only dry cleaning, and a couple of times a season - wet cleaning (with foam, but without water, using a damp brush or steam cleaner). And your shoes will tell everyone that you know a lot about style.

Dry cleaning

You can remove minor stains from fabric sneakers by dry cleaning.

To do this, first treat the surfaces of the light-colored pair with a dry, stiff brush to remove dust and dirt. Then the brush is moistened and tooth powder is collected. Wipe the inside and outside. After 45 minutes, take a dry sponge and remove all remaining dirt.

Dry brushing with toothpaste. If the shoes are white, then take them without colored inclusions. Place a small amount on a moistened sponge and process. When finishing the procedure, wipe with a dry flannel or terry cloth.

Fabric sneakers can be removed from minor stains by dry cleaning