How to Clean Athletic Shoes

Regular Cleanings

Clean with a dry brush. Before you wash your shoes, you should remove any large chunks of dirt and grime. Use an old toothbrush or dry scrub brush. Rub the dry brush over any problem spots to remove excess dirt and grime.

Mix warm water with laundry detergent. Fill up your sink with water that is warm, but not hot. Then mix in a small amount of laundry detergent.

Remove the insoles and laces. Laces and insoles need to be cleaned separately. Remove them from the shoe and place them to the side.

Wet a sponge. Alternatively, you can use a soft towel or a soft bush. Be sure that the sponge has absorbed sufficient soap and water before squeezing out excess moisture. Use the solution to scrub out problematic stains. An old toothbrush can be handy for scrubbing around the tongue and in other hard-to-reach spots. Try not to wet parts of the shoe made of leather or foam. You could research specific cleaning instructions for your shoe through the manufacturer. If in doubt, avoid getting moisture on any surface that is already clean.

Wet a sponge with clean water to remove soap. After you have removed stains, dunk a second sponge or cloth in warm water without soap. Rub the shoe to remove all excess soap.

Allow to air dry. Do not place shoes in the drier. Leave them out in room temperature. Allow them to dry naturally.

Removing Odors

Always wear socks. Without socks, sweat will accumulate in your shoes. Bacteria will thrive in this moisture, giving your shoes a distinctly unpleasant smell that you will struggle to fix.

Sprinkle foot powder in your shoes. You might find that your feet will sweat all the way through your socks, getting your shoes moist even when you do have socks. Sprinkling foot powder on your insoles before you lace up will help to absorb some of that moisture and prevent your shoes form developing an odor.

Clean your insoles. If your shoes are already stinky, you can clean your insoles to improve the odor. Remove the insoles from the shoes and then follow the steps listed above. Clean it with a sponge soaked in water and detergent, wipe it with a second wet sponge to remove soap, and then allow the insole to air dry.

Cleaning Your Laces

Remove the laces from your shoe. Laces can be subjected to tougher cleaning than the shoe itself, so you should remove your laces and clean them separately.

Pretreat laces with laundry detergent. For tough stains, you can begin by sprinkling a little bit of laundry detergent over the tough stains. Use your fingers to rub in the detergent before running it through warm water.

Wash your laces in a delicates bag. Laces can be run through the laundry machine, but if left loose they will wrap themselves around the other items in your laundry. Place laces in a delicates bag and then run on a normal setting.