Keep it Clean: Step-by-Step Guide to Cleaning Your Tennis Shoes

I wanted to buy these A-mazing new Shox from Lady Foot Locker. I went to the store, tried them on, admired my foot in them, smiled, got all flush from the excitement of buying a new pair...and then that little pesky conscious kicked in. "Ummm...don't you already have four pairs of perfectly good shoes? Aren't you trying to save money? Don't you think that Baby E could use toys, clothes and food?" Damn you conscious.

So...there I was with perfectly fine shoes and home and these lovely, white, silver and magenta Shox in hand...credit card burning a hole in my purse. And alas, I told the salesgirl "no" and with head hung low I crept out of the store.

So what does a girl do when she is in a shoe-depression? Well, she makes her current shoes look as good as possible. I washed my kicks and now they look as good as new. You know that shoes get nasty - stinky from all the sweating, dirty from regular wear and just overall icky. Take a look at yours right now. If when you bought them, they were white and now they are tan, brown, black, gray or some other dingy color of the rainbow. WASH 'EM! Here's a pic of mine pre-wash. Ewww.



Now before you get all washing machine crazy, there is a process required to wash them without ruining the structure and support. Here is what I did...

Step 1: Separate
Remove shoelaces and inner sole support (if it is removable). Some shoe insoles are sewn in, in which case you should not remove. Duh.


Step 2: Machine Wash
Take the shoe (sans insole and laces) and dump into the washing machine. Wash on hot with a full cup of liquid laundry detergent. The water won't get hot enough to melt the rubber, don't worry. If your machine has "heavy soil" setting, use that.


Step 3: Soak
Fill your bathroom (or kitchen) sink with hot water. Dump a full cup of laundry detergent into the sink. Soak the shoe insole and laces in the water for 30-60 minutes.


Step 4: Scrub
After soaking laces and insoles, scrub a little with your hands to remove any excess dirt or odor. Then rinse with clean water.

Step 5: Dry
After the washing machine cycle is complete, set shoes, laces and insoles on a clean towel to air dry. Do not put in the dryer. The dryer will make the laces get tangled and could melt/damage the rubber on the shoes and insoles. Then once dry, lace 'em up and get moving!