How To Safely Clean Converse Shoes

Lets face it, cleaning your expensive pair of shoes can be rather scary, especially if you have never done it before or you have seen the label saying not to machine wash. I rarely ever listen to the washing instructions on clothing items as they are often just there as a safety barrier for the company if you do something stupid and damage the item, I have even washed cashmere in a washing machine!

Step 1:

Remove dirt from the sole of the shoe. This might seem obvious when you think about it but several people I know have tried washing their shoes with the mud and gunk still on the sole and it simply transfers from the sole to the material part of the shoe and gets it mucky again, not what we want. If  you have chewing gum on the sole of the shoe then press and ice cub onto the gum and then use a knife to flick it off.

 

Step 2:

Tie those laces! Yes, contrary to what you have heard before I have always found it best to leave the laces tied. Simply put on the shoe, tie to how tight feels comfortable then slip your foot out the shoe. The tied laces help to keep the shoes shape and prevents the holes where the laces go through from shrinking preventing you from getting the laces back in. 

Step 3:

Do a sample test of your laundry detergent. Much like people, shoes can be "allergic" to certain chemicals and the chemicals can damage the shoes. Put a drop of your detergent into some water and mix it then apply a small amount of the mixture to a hidden spot of the shoe where if the shoe is damaged nobody will see. A great place to test is under the flaps where the laces go.

Step 4:

Picking the correct cycle is very important for this. If your washing machine has a specific shoe/trainer setting then use that if not pick the delicate option. Regardless of the setting make sure to turn the temperature down as long as you can (I wash mine on 20) and also turn down the RPM/spins. We are not trying to dry the shoes in the machine so we want a slow gentle spin cycle. If you can change the time on your machine then set it to around 30-40 minutes.

Step 5:

Converse shoes absorb water like there's no tomorrow. When removing the shoes from the machine you will notice how heavy they are and water will likely spill out of the shoe, it will continue doing this. The best drying technique is to hang them somewhere with lots of ventilation like a bathroom, just leave the window open. You want them to dry naturally in room temperature or colder air as hot air will make them shrink and the material will feel crusty and crackly. I hang mine off of the towel rail and I pull the lace under the last cross at the bottom of the shoe so they will now naturally hand toe pointing in the sky. This is very important as you remember how they were flooded? Well it will keep happening and we do not want water to sit in the shoe. 

If you have any converse cleaning tips or just shoe cleaning tips in general then leave your suggestions in the comments below.