How To Clean Sneakers

The price of sneakers today has risen just like every other consumer product and in some instances
much more, with the top sneaker brands often exceeding the price of a good quality pair of dress shoes. It is largely because of this that it only makes sense that keeping sneakers clean extends their usefullness and life, but there is much more to it than just washing and drying them. The key to keeping sneakers clean lies in taking the appropriate preventitive measures to assure that they stay moderately clean at all times, and when they get dirty they receive attention immediately before stains can set in.

The easiest way to keep sneakers clean is to match the right sneaker to the right activity. If you purchase a $150 pair of sneakers for casual dress make certain that you only wear them for that purpose - for playing football in the mud a $10 pair of Dollar Store sneakers are the right choice. They may get ruined but who cares? Hose em' off and play again next week.

Baby wipes are a great tool to keep sneakers clean by just wiping your sneakers off after every occasion that they are worn. If you notice some dirt that won't come off in this manner just wet a clean rag and add a few drops of dish soap, wipe the shoes gently, rinse and allow them to air dry overnight. Refrain from using harsh cleaners whenever possible - while they may remove the dirt they may also cause colors to fade beyond repair and dry fabrics and leather to the point of causing cracks.

When sneakers get really funky you can wash them in the washing machine on the gentle cycle after removing the laces using regular laundry detergent. This is best accomplished by placing the shoes sole to sole inside of an old towel along with the loose laces and then tied tightly at the top. This keeps the laundry load from becoming unbalanced, and if they don't come clean you can wash them twice and let them air dry until they can be worn.

Lastly, don't forget that when all else fails you have one final option, and that is to take the sneakers to a local shoe repair service. While this may cost somewhere in the $25 to $45 range to have the sneakers professionally cleaned and re-dyed it is money well spent if an expensive pair of sneakers can be returned to their former glory.