The beginning: why should you care?
It's been a while since I wanted to get into the details of how I take care of my sneakers and share
information in case people want to use and adapt some of it into their own routine. I understand not
everyone keeps a jar of silica gel packets in a drawer; this shouldn't be taken as a list of things you
should do, but one of the things you could do. Some make more or less sense depending on a giant list of
factors, including, honestly, just how much you want to care and spend energy on this.
In general, this has two goals: keep your shoes clean and make them last longer. I believe we should treat
shoes like pieces of clothing, and since we wash our clothes, keeping the shoes clean seems like a very
normal goal to me. You may disagree; after all, contrary to the rest of your clothes, shoes stay in contact
with the floor and will be immediately dirty all the time. For some people, beaten-up sneakers are part of
the look, particularly with sneakers like the All-Stars and Chuck 70, so do not take this as a must-do list.
It all depends on the person and the shoes.
inally, before we start, I will assume your shoes are clean. This is not a guide on how to clean dirty
shoes; it's a guide to keeping them clean and lasting, which is a whole different thing. For deep cleaning,
I can recommend two videos by adidas, here and here. The first one is
about cleaning sneakers, so think mostly leather; while the second is about running shoes, which are often
made of mesh and foam. You don't even need expensive products; dish soap, bleach, water, and brushes will go
a long way.
The easiest part is not getting them dirty
Yes, sounds rather obvious, but get yourself some waterproof spray; these won't be perfect, especially
depending on the material of the shoes, but they are lifesavers with general dirt and water. Look around
your country for good brands; here in Brazil, I enjoy Novax solutions. You don't need "sneaker special"
stuff either. Just be sure whatever you buy is designed for shoes; some stronger industrial solutions can
change the colour of the fabric.
Always test on the back of the heel or a discrete spot. I never had problems, but you never know, just to be
sure the fabric won't melt. With the shoes clean and dry, and without shoelaces if possible, apply the
spray. You need a nice coat, but not too much; a little more than a "fine mist," I'd say. Let it dry for 15
minutes, do it again, and let it dry a final time. If possible, wait 24 hours before using, and if you are
dealing with suede, brush it after those 24 hours to get the fabric in shape.
Effectiveness varies greatly with materials; smooth leather sees little benefit, patent leather sees none,
but suede, nubuck and mesh will be the heavy users of this. Just know that the midsole often isn't
protected; the spray isn't made for hard rubber. If you have many shoes, you can select the best candidates
for this based on material.
The after use
Now we get to the stuff people usually do not want to do. And I get that; you get home after a long day, the
last thing you care about is your shoes. So, I hope my solutions here do offer a decent middle ground
between care and rest.
First, let them dry. Feet get sweaty, and if you do not let your sneakers dry properly, you will see an
accumulation of bacteria that creates that famous used shoe smell. This varies greatly person to person;
some of us have a microbiome that favours these bacteria, others don't. In the same way, some people have
stronger body odour, while others have none. So, get them on a nice open spot in the shade; if possible,
take out the insoles and open them up for a few hours, even overnight if you prefer, which is great for not
having to deal with it immediately after a long day.
Now, you can ask yourself, if the cleaning isn't done by the next day, how are you going to wear the shoes?
And here comes the huge "trick": have more than one; they don't have to be expensive shoes, it can even be
the same one, but you want to give time for it to dry and for the materials to settle back into shape.
Ideally, you should have a rotation of three shoes. If you absolutely cannot wait, you can get yourself a
machine to dry shoes; it is not very expensive either, definitely less than a pair of good shoes.
Second, the actual cleaning. Have at least a hard and a soft brush for this. You will want to brush the
soles to clean off dirt, rocks and other things that will get the inside of your house dirty. Depending on
how things are, you may prefer to do this before letting them dry. Some sneakers have really annoying small
grooves, and for those I carefully use a needle to remove small rocks and other stuff stuck on the sole.
After the sole is clean, we want to use the soft brush on the uppers to remove any dirt that may be there.
It goes without saying, but don't brush stuff that can smudge. Though if you used the waterproof spray, this
should not happen anyway. I enjoy using baby wipes for this next part, but since they often foam a lot, I
get one and wash it with water, like a one-use cloth. Wipe the midsole with the wipes and just be mindful of
the upper; suede or nubuck don't enjoy getting wet, but you can let it dry after. If things arereally
really bad, a hard brush or even a magic eraser can help here. Get a cloth to dry it up,
and this should be good!
This goes without saying, but if your shoes were in the mud or you were doing outdoor activities, you may
need a deep cleaning; in that case, follow the videos at the start of this post. We are focusing on keeping
them clean.
Storage and beyond
This is probably where most people can stop; you are good, and if you have a rotation, your pairs will last
a long time. Try giving a shoe at least 24 hours between each use; this lets the materials sit and makes
sure all of the humidity has evaporated.
But if you want to go further, what I like to do is use a wooden shoe tree on the pair I just used; ideally
you want cedar, but honestly they can be expensive. I have some cheap pine ones that do the trick. I put
them there and just let it rest. Always keep your shoes in a shaded place to avoid yellowing. Let them air
dry if possible. After 24 hours, I like to remove the shoe tree, and then switch to "long term" solutions,
which are essentially either paper stuffing or plastic shoe trees; both are much cheaper than wood, with a
silica gel packet to keep the humidity out.
Choosing between the plastic shoe tree and paper, for me, is mainly the shape of the sneaker. I have found
that low tops work great with the trees, but high tops rarely benefit; the toe box never keeps the shape, so
I'd rather just stuff paper there. I keep the paper that comes with the shoes for this exact reason, though
you can find acid-free tissue paper for that. If this isn't available, kraft paper is a good alternative.
Don't forget to let the wooden shoe tree dry too.
I hope this has a lot of information for every level of care you may wish to do; none of this should be
expensive, besides, of course, buying more shoes for the rotation. Just brushes and the spray for most
people, and then paper and shoe trees for the adventurous.
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