Wash Gym Shoes
Fix your smelly or stinky gym shoes with a simple wash. You can do this at home with ease, cleaning both the inside and outside of your gym shoes.
Contents
Steps
Cleaning the Inside of the Shoes
- Prepare the shoe for washing. Remove the laces. If the insole is removable, remove it too. Pull out the tongue to make it easier to get your hand inside the shoe to remove the insole. Wash both the laces and the insole separately.
- Laces: Simply wash in warm soapy water and hang up to dry. Hanging over the bath faucets is a good spot to dry, provided you don't have curious cats.
- Insoles: This may depend on what the insole is made of, so read the manufacturer's suggestions first. A basic and usually safe cleanser is made from one part hot water to two parts vinegar, poured into a heatproof bowl. Dunk the insoles in and let them sit there for a few hours. Then, boil four cups of water in a pot and remove once boiled. Add 1/8 cup salt, 1/2 cup baking soda and a few drops of either tea tree, lavender or eucalyptus oils. Soak the insoles in this for another hour. This will ensure that the odor-causing bacteria is removed. Hang to dry in a warm spot away from direct sunlight. Restore them to the shoes after the inside of the shoes have been cleaned.
- Use a homemade paste for cleaning inside the shoes. This paste will lift out odors and leave the shoes nice and clean:
- Mix some water with some drops of liquid detergent and a little baking soda. Mix into a paste.
- Distribute the paste inside the shoe.
- Let it sit for about 15 minutes. Wash the shoe very thoroughly, by hand, removing all traces of the paste.
- Leave to air dry.
- Use a spray-on fabric deodorizer. If the smell is very bad, spray some fabric deodorizer inside the shoe. It is most likely that this will leave the shoes smelling nice again. However, don't use this in place of removing bacteria by scrubbing, or the odor will soon re-establish itself and there is a risk the bacteria will harm the skin on your feet.
Outside of the Shoes
- Check if the material is washable. Before you wash your gym shoes, be sure that the material that they are made of, is appropriate for washing. If not, you might ruin the shoes by adding water.
- Leather is an example of material that needs extra care. If your gym shoes are leather or partially leather, see How to clean leather shoes for exact details.
- Use a solution of water and soap. Methodically scrub your shoes with a mild solution of soap and water, using a clean cloth or similar. This will likely be enough to get them looking good and clean again. Pay special attention to the dirtiest parts of the shoes.
- If the shoes are still very dirty after this action, consider using a little bleach (if the shoes are white). Dampen a piece of clean cloth with bleach, then wipe the cloth onto the dirty areas or stains on the white shoe. Let it sit for some minutes before you carefully wash it off.
- Let the shoes dry naturally in a warm spot without direct sunlight. Replace the insoles and laces cleaned in Part 1, checking that it's all nicely aligned.
- Fabric shoes should be stuffed if you want the shoes to maintain their shape. Fill them with newspaper after washing, before leaving them to air-dry.
Tips
- It's highly recommended that you prefer hand washing over machine washing for shoes. Hand washing allows for control over the amount of water added, careful handling and an assurance that the shoes won't be bumped and tossed about. Machine washing can reduce the durability and shape of shoes, and it can fade dye colors quickly, so only do this is you're not too fussed about the end result.
- Wash gym shoes at least every two weeks if they're used regularly. It's a very good idea to have at least two to three pairs of gym shoes, and to rotate wearing them one day on, one day off, to give them time to breathe between uses.
Warnings
- Avoid putting your gym shoes in the dryer if at all possible; this can melt some of the materials on some shoes and it can bend shoes out of shape.
- Be careful that you are not just smearing the dirt around the shoe, instead of actually removing it - if this happens, it will be very visible when they dry.
Things You'll Need
- Dirty gym shoes
- Soap
- Water
- Drops of liquid detergent
- Some baking soda
- A cloth or similar (for the outside cleaning)
- A cleaning brush (for the inside cleaning)
- Newspaper or similar for stuffing inside shoes (optional)
