14 Jun How to Clean Shoes?

Take a look at your shoes that are scattered on the floor around the room or very neatly on your shoe racks. Most of us have a lot of shoes with different materials, covers and colours. Gone are the days when only shoes were made of black and brown leather. How to clean shoes depends on the material. For example, to clean cloth shoes, you should never wash them in the washing machine. Therefore, you need to have enough and correct information in this regard. But the point is, what is the right way to wash and care for shoes so that they both look good and last longer? We want to teach you how to wash different shoes. So join us. 

Cleaning cloth shoes

Cloth shoes can include lace-up sandals, high-heeled or flat shoes. But regardless of the shape and style of the shoes, this material is always prone to getting dirty, and you probably feel that they aren’t easy to clean. But you should know that with a little patience, you can clean your cloth shoes in the simplest possible way.

washing by hand

 In the first place, we must say that you should never throw these shoes in the washing machine. Because the leather parts of the fabric shoes are glued to the shoe body, it doesn’t last in that volume of water. Therefore, different parts of the shoe may open. 

•  Clean cloth shoes with a towel to remove any dirt and mud.
• In a small bowl, mix a teaspoon of dishwashing liquid with a glass of warm water.
• Soak an old toothbrush in the solution and rub it gently on the surface of the shoe. Be careful that the toothbrush isn’t too wet. Brush the entire surface of the shoe so that it doesn’t fade the colour of one part.
• At this stage, dry the shoe’s surface with a towel to remove all moisture and leave no stains.
• Finally, put the shoes in the sun to dry completely.
• Don’t use water or dishwashing liquid for velvet shoes. Instead, it would help if you cleaned the stains with dry cleaners to remove the velvet fabric surface.

washing by washing machine

 If you want to put cloth shoes in the washing machine, pay attention to the following points:

•  If the shoe has a lace sole, put it in a white cloth bag and then in the washing machine.
• Be sure to set the washing machine with cold water (to keep the colour of the shoes constant)
• You can use an old toothbrush with toothpaste to clean the cloth shoes’ lodge or all the shoes’ lodges, which are usually white. (Small and fast rotational movements)
• At this stage, dry the shoe’s surface with a towel to remove all moisture and leave no stains. Finally, put the shoes in the sun to dry completely.

Cleaning leather shoes (varnish)

Cleanliness is very different from how beautiful the shoes are. Leather (varnish) shoes are shoes that look very ugly and old if they get dirty. Therefore, to make leather shoes (varnish) look more beautiful, something more than water and handkerchiefs should be used, such as wax or creams for leather shoes, various sprays of leather, nubuck, suede, etc.

•  First, dampen a cloth with a solution equal to cold water and white vinegar, and wipe off shoe dust. Then soak the handkerchief in it, take the handkerchief’s extra water, and rub it on the shoe’s surface. It removes all stains, especially the salt left on the shoes. Then set the shoe aside to dry completely.
•  In the next step, to clean shoes made of natural leather, it’s better to use commercial waxes, and the instructions are written on them. If you don’t have the right wax for your shoes’ colour, moisten a soft cloth with a water solution and a small baking soda, then gently rub it on the shoes. After that, dry the shoes with a soft and clean cloth. 
•  After the surface of the shoe dries, wipe it with a dry cloth to remove all stains.
•  For the second step of cleaning shoes made of synthetic leather, dampen a soft cloth with a little Vaseline and rub it on the shoes. Finally, to make your shoes sparkle, spray a few drops of glass cleaner solution on the shoes and wipe them dry again.
•  To remove scratches from the surface of faux leather or leather, apply some petroleum jelly to the shoe and wipe with a soft cloth. Then spray some glass detergent solution on the shoes and wipe again.

Cleaning suede, nubuck and sheepskin shoes

It would help if you always kept these shoes dry. to remove all kinds of grease, dirt and dust, it’s necessary to brush the shoes’ surface with a soft toothbrush or brush after each use. For example, to clean suede and nubuck shoes, you can use a cleaner – towel or white cloth – and a brush for suede and nubuck, etc.

Stubborn stains: 

You can use wonderful sandpaper for stubborn stains on suede and nubuck shoes (but keep in mind that this will make a part of the shoe lighter).

Water stains: 

To remove water stains from our suede and nubuck shoes, we can use a clean, damp white towel. In such a way that it’s stretched very gently on the whole surface of the shoe to get wet, and then take the extra moisture with waterproof cloth and fill the shoe with waste paper or cloth to maintain its condition, where it’s exposed to direct sunlight and heat. Place straight away to dry. After drying, brush it in one direction with your special brush to make the lint look good.

Adjusting the lint: 

Usually, after a while, the nubuck and suede’s lint becomes bad and brushing no longer works. A simple method in these cases is to keep the shoe on steam for a minute to keep the lint high. Then, brush the shoe in one direction so that the lint is in good shape again.

Elimination of abrasion: 

To remove the abrasion of the nubuck and suede shoes, pull the brush back and forth on the shoes’ abrasion several times.

Sheepskin shoes have a lining on the inside that gets dirtier than the outside of the shoe. To protect the fungus and odour of this liner, regularly clean the inside with a damp cloth with a solution of water and disinfectant. Then, put the shoe in the sun for at least 24 hours before reuse to dry completely.

 Washing sneakers

 Standard sneakers are machine washable. But before putting these shoes in the washing machine, first, take off the shoes’ soles and wash them separately by hand. Next, wipe off greasy stains on the surface of the shoe with a cloth and stain remover. Then put the shoes in the washing machine.

 Dry your sneakers in the open air, and don’t use a hairdryer or a heater. Be sure to place them outdoors in the sun. Clean the inside of your sneakers regularly with a shoe disinfectant to prevent fungus and other skin diseases from sweating.

 Washing shoes makes them clean and eliminates bad odours. However, if your shoes still smell stinky after washing, you can clean them with baking soda. When the shoe is dry, sprinkle some baking soda on the shoes’ inside and leave it overnight. Shake the baking soda the next day to eliminate the shoes’ smell. No matter how careful you are with your shoes, they’re sure to get dirty and need to be cleaned after a while. These simple ways can help you clean all your shoes brilliantly. You can leave the cleaning of your shoes to the specialised team of NeatEx and do your daily routines safely.