Just as you take great care in making your workout clothes clean and great-smelling, you should also make sure that you are not neglecting your workout shoes. You can go about cleaning your workout shoes in seven easy steps. This guide will not work for shoes made of leather, vinyl, or suede. There are different processes for cleaning shoes made of those materials. Please use this process to clean shoes that are made of woven nylon or similar materials.
If your shoes have very dirty soles, it would be best to clean that part first. Take a basin and fill it with just enough water-detergent solution to cover the topmost part of the sole. Soak for 20-30 minutes to soften the dirt and grime. When the set time has elapsed, you can now take a brush to the sole to clean it more thoroughly.
Remove the laces. Turn the shoes upside down and shake out dirt and lint from the insides of the shoes.
If possible, remove the sock liner of the shoes. If you are using insoles, remove them as well. Wash these parts separately to maintain the freshness of the insides your shoes.
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Mix mild soap and water in a basin. Take out an old toothbrush or nailbrush. Use it to gently brush the outer surface of your shoes to remove dirt. Do not completely soak the shoes in water. This will ruin the material and the construction of the shoes. Use just enough water to rinse out the soap from the shoe surface.
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When you are done cleaning the shoes, you can air them out to dry. You can also stuff them with paper towels or old newspapers. These absorb water like a charm so replace them when necessary. Don’t dry your shoes using anything with a heat source because this will shrink and deform the shoes.
To clean the laces, soak them in a water-detergent solution. Hand wash them and hang them to dry. If they are too old and dirty, it would be best to just replace them. The process for cleaning sock liners and insoles is similar except that you brush them gently instead of hand washing them.
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If your shoes need further deodorizing after a wash, you can sprinkle the insides of each shoe with 3 tablespoons of baking soda. Leave overnight and pour out the baking soda in the morning. You can do this step whenever you think it is necessary.
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There you have it: an easy and no-nonsense way to get clean and fresh workout shoes! Let me know if this guide helped you or not. I used the same process to clean my own running shoes and they are now like brand new. I certainly hope that your clean shoes will motivate you to continue working out!
Top Photo Credit: domi-san