How to hand wash your sneakers carefully and delicately and not ruin them?

Timely, correctly carried out washing of sneakers maintains an attractive appearance of the product for as long as possible.

To get a perfectly clean running shoe, it is important to familiarize yourself with basic guidelines on how to hand wash your athletic shoes in advance.

How to do it right wash sneakers manually without streaks at home, we will tell in the article.

Preparing to wash by hand

The quality of the wash largely depends on how the shoes are prepared for cleaning:

1. The accumulated dirt is cleaned from the surface of the sneakers with a brush. It is important to brush off dirt with gentle strokes rather than actively rubbing. Otherwise, scratches may appear on shoes (especially leather).
2. Remove dirt from the sole under running water. Carefully inspect the protector for stuck stones and other small objects. If necessary, remove them with a knitting needle, knife or other sharp object.
3. Black stripes are removed from the side edge of the white sole. To do this, use a regular student's eraser.
4. Stubborn, stubborn stains on sneakers must be removed even at the stage of preparation for washing. Otherwise, the cleaning effect may not be as desired. So stains from grass, food can be easily cleaned with oxygen stain remover. Traces of blood will help remove hydrogen peroxide.
5. Before washing, remove the laces and insoles (they are washed separately).

What can and cannot be washed?

Not all sneakers are washable. Depending on the type of material, a specific washing method and type of detergent are selected:

1. Textile sports shoes can be soaked, washed by hand using laundry soap, any washing powder or gel.
2. Leather sports shoes wash very gently in warm soapy water. To wash leather sneakers, use baby or laundry soap.
3. White fabric sneakers washed with oxygen bleach or stain removers (can be soaked in warm water with the addition of detergents).
4. Suede sneakers or nubuck is strictly prohibited. The velvety surface will be irretrievably damaged in contact with water.This type of footwear can be cleaned only with special sprays - cleaners or using dry cleaning services.

How to do everything correctly so that there are no divorces?

Before starting the washing process, you need to decide on the type of detergent and water temperature.

Correct temperature:

• leather sneakers are washed in water no higher than + 30 C (the skin will begin to deform from hot water);
• white textile shoes can be washed at a water temperature not higher than + 40C.

The general rule for choosing a temperature regime: do not use water above 40-50C. Failure to do so can result in sticking out at the joints of the upper and sole.

Correct detergent:

1. Textile sneakers with a mesh can be perfectly washed with ordinary laundry soap, powder, liquid gel for washing. But for colored shoes, you cannot use soap or powder with a bleaching effect.
2. Leather sneakers are washed in soapy solutions at a low temperature.

The shoes are pre-prepared, the choice of detergent is made, you can proceed directly to the washing process:

1. The shoes are completely immersed in soapy water for thirty minutes. Together with sneakers, laces and insoles are lowered into the basin.
2. After soaking, the laces and insoles are thoroughly soaped and rubbed with a brush on both sides.
3. After soaking, the sneakers are thoroughly rubbed with a soft brush or foam sponge. First of all, the sole is rubbed, smoothly moving towards the top of the shoe.

   Particular attention is paid to the inside (it is there that a lot of bacteria, sweat, dirt accumulate).

4. The washing process does not take long. Without taking into account the soaking time, after five to ten minutes of active rubbing with a brush or sponge, the sneakers regain their shining clean look. After the washing process is over, the shoes must be gently wrung out (avoiding strong bends in the sole) and proceed to the next stage - rinsing.
5. The sneakers are rinsed with great care, changing the water several times. Ignoring these conditions can lead to unattractive yellow stains.

Add one cap of fabric softener to the rinse water to give your sneakers a pleasant scent.

Dry cleaning at home

Cleaning shoes using special products, without water, is called dry washing (this method of care is actively used for suede and nubuck).

Algorithm of actions:

• pre-prepared shoes are sprinkled inside and outside with talcum powder, crushed activated carbon powder, sea salt;
• after two to three hours, the shoes are gently cleaned with a soft brush or sponge.

An eraser will help lift the crumpled pile of the sneaker. It is enough to run it over the dry surface of the shoe to clean and lift the nubuck or suede fibers.

What to do to get rid of the smell?

You can eliminate unpleasant odor 100% using the following tips:

1. Shoes must be treated with citric acid solution before washing. The dry powder is dissolved with water to a thick slurry, and then rubbed into the lining, the top of the sneaker.
2. Salt will help eliminate the unpleasant smell. A teaspoon of salt is dissolved in 250 ml of water, after which shoes are treated with the resulting solution.
3. Crushed bay leaves in a sneaker overnight will help remove unpleasant odors quickly. In the same way, you can freshen up shoes using crushed activated carbon, orange peels.

When treating sneakers with solutions against unpleasant odors, special attention should be paid to the insole - the main accumulator of germs and bacteria.

How to dry?

So that after washing the sneakers do not lose their shape, it is very important to follow all the recommendations correct drying:

1. At the end of the wash, the shoes are placed on the side of the bathroom or washbasin with the toe down (in this position, the water flows off the sneakers faster).
2. In order for the shoes not to lose their shape during the drying process, they are filled with paper balls from napkins, toilet paper. Sports shoes are packed tightly enough without stretching upwards.
3. After twenty or thirty minutes, the paper balls need to be changed (they get wet very quickly and cease to fulfill their function of accumulating excess liquid).
4. Sneakers are exposed to dry in a well-ventilated place, sheltered from direct sunlight.

Absolutely forbidden:

• use a hair dryer to speed up the drying process (sudden changes in temperature can deform the upper of sports shoes);
• put sneakers on a hot battery (deformation of the sole is possible).

An electric dryer will help speed up the drying process of shoes.

Tips and bans

1. Dry napkins, newspaper or paper towels stuffed inside will help keep the athletic shoes in shape after washing.
2. You can speed up the drying process by exposing your shoes to the open air.
3. Frequent washing can quickly make the product look good. It is necessary to wash your shoes if the top is significantly dirty or an unpleasant odor appears.

   Local contamination can be easily removed by partial washing of the shoes.

4. If there are stains left after washing, ammonia or soda solution will help remove them.
5. Regular treatment with special moisture-repellent sprays will help keep your sports shoes clean.

Useful video

How to properly wash sneakers by hand, video instruction:

Conclusion

Subject to all the rules, careful, delicate hand washing of sneakers helps to maintain the attractive appearance of athletic shoes for a long time.