Literally just pulled my daughter's high tops out of the washer. We unlace them and put them in a zippered laundry bag (cheap at most stores that sell Landry soap, look near the clothespins in the cleaning aisle) with the laced. Wash shoes alone with regular soap and a small amount of oxiclean on gentle with an extra rinse, cool water, smallest load. They finished looking very nice and we usually let shoes dry sitting out in the air on a towel for a day or 2 before wearing.
I have washed shoes on gentle before with success. Technique, I put them in a pillowcase that closes first to keep laces from tangling
Why not just take the shoelaces out?
I assume that's an old pillowcase?
I've washed shoes in the washing machine a few times, using the setting for delicate clothes. So far no damage to be seen and they come out clean.
Probably not something that should be done every other day, but once in a while seems fine.
Did it once after some cats pissed on them, and they started smelling 1% worse than they did from my feet alone. They ended up bent and unusable.
Note: This was probably my own fault. It was before I learned how to properly use a washing machine, so it wouldn't surprise me if I selected too high of a temperature. I also dumble dried them, and I have no idea if that was good for them either.
Dry them in the sun, reduces wear a great deal. Also nukes fungi.
Don't forget to pull the soles out!
Yes, you can wash sneakers in the washer. Delicate, cold, small amount of detergent, laces out (Dan!) and in a laundry bag or the pair entirely in a bag laundry bag.
You can wash with other sneakers but I wouldn’t wash with clothes.
Consider getting a boot/mitt/hat dryer (like the ones at Costco). Very handy for quick drying and no mold, bacteria, fungi stink. I use mine all year round for this and weather related needs.
Note that the fabric on the soles might let go over time. The glue isn’t so strong.
you'd think it doesn't need to be said because it's obvious, but i speak from experience that it does need to be said: make sure you don't put them into an agitation based washer; impeller or tumble washers ONLY!
(or atleast use a laundry bag if you have only have access to an agitation washer)
and air dry them IN THE SUN!!!
What goes on in an agitation washing machine that affects how shoes clean?
the agitator will either tear the shoes apart or maim them.
Works great! Try it. Just a short cycle is all you need.
Love my Allbirds for just this reason, I machine wash them about every 2 months or so
Wash by themselves in washer then I stuff clean dry socks in mine to keep form drying and use a dryer rack that keeps them from tumbling around. I'm not a sneaker head tho and usually are cleaning already beat up shoes.
Asklemmy
A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions
If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!
- Open-ended question
- Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
- Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
- Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
- An actual topic of discussion
Looking for support?
Looking for a community?
- Lemmyverse: community search
- sub.rehab: maps old subreddits to fediverse options, marks official as such
- !lemmy411@lemmy.ca: a community for finding communities
~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~