How to clean white sneakers?
Sneakers are considered to be universal footwear: they are worn by both children and adults. White sneakers are especially popular because they refresh any look and are suitable for everyday wear. But such shoes require careful and competent care.
Peculiarities
White sneakers have to be protected not only from dirt and dust, but also from scratches and other defects. In addition, white shoes turn gray or even yellowish without proper care. You can clean sneakers using folk methods, or you can use professional cleaning products purchased at the store. If you regularly monitor your shoes, then it will not be difficult to remove dirt from them.
It is also important to highlight the white sneakers with a separate shelf in the shoe cabinet, as well as an individual brush and sponge.
Dry them thoroughly before storing them in the closet. And it is better to store them packed in a separate bag.
Variants
When preparing to wash your white sneakers at home, you need to decide on a method. Washing your sneakers by hand is definitely an economical and safe shoe option. Hand washing protects the fabric and drum of the automatic machine from possible damage.
Many manufacturers claim that machine washing is harmful to sneakers, but in reality this is not entirely true. If you strictly follow all the instructions, then nothing will happen to the shoes.
Let's take a closer look at both methods.
Manually
The key to doing a good wash is using the right product. Can be applied powder marked "for hand wash" or "white wash", will also work laundry soap.
Shoes should be wiped off visible dirt, then remove the laces and insoles. Place in soapy water for 30 minutes. Then wash, carefully wiping off stains. For convenience, you can use a toothbrush. Rinse afterwards to avoid soap stains on the sneakers.
In the washing machine
The easiest way is to wash your sneakers in an automatic machine. But this method can not always please with a positive result, and sometimes it can completely ruin the shoes. There is also a risk that the shoe will lose its shape and the outsole may begin to peel off.
But if you still opted for a machine wash, it is important to follow the basic rules:
- First of all, as in the case of hand washing, you need to remove the insoles and laces.
- Remove adhering dirt with a brush and soapy water, then dry. It is especially important to clean the sole of stones and sand, as they can damage the machine.
- In no case should you soak your shoes. It may deform during drying.
- Select a delicate wash mode, set the minimum speed. The maximum temperature regime is 40 degrees. After the end of the main wash, rinse additionally.
- Spinning, like drying, must be turned off.
- It is recommended to wash sneakers in a bag, and additionally place a towel or an old sheet in the machine to protect the drum from damage.
- Dry your shoes at room temperature by placing paper in them. The paper will absorb excess water and keep the shape of the product. Do not dry your shoes with a hairdryer, or on a heater or battery.
- After drying, apply a special water-repellent agent.
Important nuances for the care of different materials
Currently, it is possible to purchase sneakers made from a variety of materials. Accordingly, the care for each product should be individual. Let's take a look at some types of sneakers and how to care for them.
Leather
White leather sneakers are a timeless fashion accessory. But they very quickly lose their original appearance, especially with everyday wear. The following steps will help restore the original shine of leather shoes:
- Remove laces and insoles. They must be washed separately by hand.
- Remove dirt and dust with a damp sponge.
- Apply soapy water to the sponge and gently wipe the entire surface. Instead of a sponge, you can use a toothbrush.
- After all procedures, wipe the shoes dry.
You can also make a mixture of starch and milk to cleanse snow-white leather goods. Shoes are treated with the mixture, and the excess is removed with a soft napkin. Professional products for cleaning leather footwear perfectly remove stains. They can be found in abundance in the shoe departments.
After cleansing, cover with a colorless spray or cream and polish thoroughly. If you carry out these activities, then for a long time you can forget about the soiled sneakers.
Suitable for leather shoes only gentle wet cleaning. It is strictly forbidden to soak and wash such products in order to avoid damage to them.
From fabric
Converse - high-quality sneakers can be easily washed both by machine and by hand.
In order to clean the sneakers, you must try to apply the technology described below:
- Remove the insoles and laces.
- Rinse dust off under tap water.
- Apply a solution of soda slaked with vinegar to the stained areas, then wipe with a brush.
- After 20-25 minutes, fold the converse into a bag for washing.
- Pour liquid detergent into the machine.
- Turn on the delicate wash mode, turn off the spin.
It is advisable to dry the sneakers so that direct sunlight falls on them. This way the converse will dry out faster and become boiling white. If you follow these simple recommendations, rag sneakers will last more than one year.
Often on light-colored sneakers made of fabric, green spots from fresh grass or traces of stubborn dirt appear, which cannot be removed with a regular wash. In this situation, you can use stain remover or laundry detergent marked "for removing stains".
Grass stains can be removed with baking soda mixed with lemon juice. Such a composition is applied to dirty tracks for at least 30 minutes. Then wash your shoes.
Chlorinated bleach is used to remove yellowness from the soles of fabric sneakers. It is dripped into clean water and the sole of the shoe is dipped into the prepared solution. After half an hour, the shoes are washed by hand and dried in an upright position.
It often happens that after washing or improper drying, yellow streaks form on the sneakers. You can get rid of yellow stains with talc, washing powder with soda or peroxide. Before you wash your white sneakers in the washing machine, you need to make sure they are of good quality, to avoid the outsole coming off and the material ripping.
Before starting washing, the sneakers must be cleaned of dirt. A toothpick or toothbrush will help with this. Then the shoes are washed. If you do not follow these rules, then the shoe fabric will become grayish.
In order to clean your sneakers with a mesh, you will need regular laundry soap. It perfectly cleans the mesh surface. When washing sneakers in a machine, it is recommended to turn on the gentle mode at a temperature of 20-30 degrees. In this case, the spin must be turned off.
When washing fabric sneakers in a typewriter, it is better to use concentrates containing liquid substances, since ordinary powder is poorly rinsed out and is capable of leaving yellowish stains on the material. If you decide to wash with powder, then you need to additionally rinse the product. To achieve maximum whiteness, you can add oxygen bleach.
Rubber
You can use a soft sponge or cloth to remove black streaks and wipe dirt from rubber shoes. It is strictly forbidden to clean white rubber shoes with hard brushes or sponges, as they can scratch the rubber.
If you wash your rubber shoes in a container, it is important to change the water as often as possible. Otherwise, stains will remain on the shoes. First, remove large pieces of dirt from the sole so as not to contaminate the water in which the product is washed.
You can wash stained white shoes with soap and water.
Do not use chemistry for this, otherwise there is a chance to spoil the white material. Also, do not use acetone and gasoline. You can remove black streaks from the rubber using a stationery white eraser. When the shoes are cleaned, wipe them with a piece of cotton cloth.
How to wash the sole?
It is possible to wash the rubber soles of white sneakers correctly. in several ways:
- Using a stationery eraser, you can easily wipe away dirt from the surface of the sole. With an eraser, rub the sole moistened with water, and then wipe it with a rag.
- Lemon perfectly removes marks and stains. It is cut into several slices and the sole is wiped. After a quarter of an hour, the sneakers are washed under water or simply wiped dry with a rag.
- Another handy tool for removing dirt from the sole is acetone. A small amount of this product is applied to a cotton pad or swab and wipe the stains. It is also possible to use nail polish remover instead.
- Dirty streaks will be fine with Vaseline. They lubricate the surface of the sole and, after 15 minutes, wipe it off with a dry cloth.
- By using rubbing alcohol, you can easily get rid of the dirt.
- To remove old stains, you can use a cotton pad dipped in gasoline. They treat the sole and after a while wipe it with a stain remover.
- To mask stains that are difficult to remove from the sole, it is recommended to purchase white shoe paint.It comes in the form of sprays and creams. But the disadvantage of this tool is its high cost.
Folk remedies against powder
In addition to using washing powder to wash sneakers, there are traditional methods that have been tested by time. which will quickly return the whiteness of the shoe:
- One of the most popular methods is the use of toothpaste or tooth powder. They are applied to an old hard-bristled toothbrush and rub evenly over the sole. In this case, you must not forget to pay attention to the hem of the sneakers. To achieve the best effect, it is worth choosing a whitening paste. You should never use a paste with additives of different colors.
- After applying toothpaste or powder, you need to wait 20-25 minutes, then rinse off their remnants under water. You can also mix paste and powder.
- Another excellent method is the use of a mixture of milk and chicken eggs. Beat the egg white until frothy, add half a glass of warm milk. The resulting composition is used to wipe off white leather sneakers, especially thoroughly treat the contaminated areas.
- Freshly squeezed lemon juice can refresh the snow-white color of your favorite sneakers. It is diluted in water and rubbed on the surface of the product. After that, the shoes are thoroughly rinsed so that the acid does not corrode the material from the leather.
- Also, hydrogen peroxide and whitening bar soap help to perfectly care and scrub the white sneakers.
- Quite often, sneakers are washed in a solution of soda, acetic acid, lemon or shampoo. Such a composition is applied to the dirty areas of the product, and then washed off under running water. Then wipe thoroughly with a dry cloth. Also, this folk method is used for sneakers.
- You can clean your sneakers and sneakers with baking soda and peroxide. For this, a tablespoon of soda is combined with a teaspoon of peroxide and a teaspoon of water at room temperature. With this solution, the stains on the fabric and sole are vigorously wiped off, and, after a certain period of time, they are washed off with water.
- When the washing process is completed, it is recommended to cover the shoes with glycerin and regular nourishing cream. Thus, the material will be protected from drying out. To get rid of scratches, use adhesive paint.
- Modern white sneakers are sometimes worn on bare feet, because of this, the shoes acquire a yellowish tint not only outside, but also inside. It is important to remember this when whitening sneakers, otherwise the efforts will be in vain. Therefore, using means, for example, toothpaste or tooth powder, apply them to the inside of the material. Then, after 30-40 minutes, gently remove the residue with a damp sponge or tissue.
Some other cleaning products and methods for white sneakers can be found in the following video.