How To Clean White Shoes: 7 Best Ways To Wash Your Sneakers

Last updated on November 28th, 2022

Cleaning white shoes can feel like an impossible task. It’s annoying enough that we don’t feel like we can wear our white shoes out when we feel like because – well, we don’t want to clean them.

But before you give up and purchase a brand new pair (just for the same thing to happen again), throw out your scuffed sneakers, or eliminate white shoes from your wardrobe entirely, check out these proven tips to clean your white shoes and protect them from future scuff marks.

These shoe cleaning methods will help clean-up your white shoes, regardless if they’re made with leather, suede, canvas, mesh or rubber. Getting your shoes back to good, or like new, shape will depend on factors like the type of stain or wear, the shoe’s upper material and ultimately, how much time you want to spend getting them back to shape.

Why You Want To Clean Your Shoes

It sounds obvious, but if you’re cleaning your favorite sentimental white shoes, passed down from your great, great, great grandpa, I get it – skipping the fact that that’s a little gross, I understand you want them restored back into a good condition. Later, I’ll talk about how to keep your white shoes pristine after you clean them.

Or maybe you re-sell shoes on the side, flipping them on eBay and Poshmark for a little profit. Before you list them for sale, cleaning up your shoes will definitely make shoppers want to buy from you over your competition. You may even be able to charge more too!

Either way, let’s get into the 7 proven ways to clean your white shoes.

Frequently Asked About Brands

Nike Sneakers

How To Clean Nike Shoes

Leather & Suede Uppers

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On Cloud Runners

How To Clean On Cloud Shoes

Mesh Upper, Rubber Soles

Hey Dude Loafers & Boat Shoes

How To Clean Hey Dude Shoes

Cotton/Canvas Upper

Hoka Runners

How To Clean Hoka Shoes

Mesh Upper, Rubber Soles

Scuffs vs. Scratches: What Kind Of Wear Do Your White Shoes Have?

Here’s the truth: Not all shoe stains will be easily cleaned.

Generally speaking, scuffs can be cleaned using the shoe cleaning methods listed in this article. However, scratches go deeper than scuffs and are much harder to clean.

If you have a scratch on your white leather sneakers, it’s going to require more to get them back into shape.

As someone who has tried to clean several different types of white sneakers and running shoes, made with every type of upper material out there, there’s no ‘one size fits all’ solution. In fact, some scuff marks are too deep and won’t be able to cleaned.

I’ve watched TikTok videos of shoe cleaners and bought their products and cleaned leather and mesh shoes so that you don’t have to. The effectiveness is okay, depending on the type of wear you’re trying to clean. But it’s definitely not like the videos they promote, where they wash away any type of shoe scuff or scratch with ease.

If you really want to fix a deep scuff mark, I recommend trying the shoe cleaning tips below. If nothing works, go straight to the shoe whitener option for more intensive restoration and care tips.

For example, if you white Nike sneakers that have a yellow sole, you’ll need to consider shoe paint or whiteners.

How To Clean White Shoes: 7 Proven Ways For Sneakers & Running Shoes

To make sure you don’t ruin your shoes in the cleaning process, test these shoe washing methods in order starting with a simple brush, foamy soap and a towel. If that doesn’t work, keep working your way down the list. Remember, it’s possible to damage your shoes even more if you’re using abrasive methods that aren’t necessary based on your shoe’s scuff or scratch marks.

These cleaning methods are also in order of easiest & quickest shoe cleaning methods, to the more time-consuming restoration methods. If you’re dealing with a particularly stubborn shoe stain, these 7 proven methods to clean your white shoes (for any and all types of shoe materials).

Note: Based on your stains, you may find the ‘easiest’ cleaning method works best for you. If you’ve already tried cleaning your shoe with shoe cleaners, and it continues to persist, skip to recommendation #3.

1. Brush, Foam Soap and a Microfiber Cloth

You’ll be surprised at how effective and easy it is to clean off your scuffed white shoes with a brush, soap and towel. This is one of the best ways to clean shoes quickly and effectively. It’s also cost-effective, as it can be done with an old toothbrush and water (if you don’t have the soap). But the soap makes a big difference.

Here’s what you will need:

Soft-medium bristle brush
Foam soap
Microfiber Cloth

Start by dampening your soft-bristle to medium-bristle brush (a spare toothbrush will work) with water and applying your soap onto the brush. Start to gently brush your shoes in the areas that you want to clean. After you’ve brushed your shoes thoroughly, use your microfiber towel to wipe away the soap and foam.

This method should get rid of a majority of light scuff marks, dirt stains and light wear.

If this method wasn’t effective in cleaning your white shoes, don’t just go straight to a harder bristled brush. With leather and faux leather shoes, you can scratch and damage the leather or crush away any colored parts of the shoe. Instead, try a different method below.

What Types Of Shoe Materials Is This Best For?

For shoes with a canvas or cotton upper, such as Hey Dude shoes, it’s safer to use a hard bristled brush on stubborn stains that are more difficult to clean.

For shoes with leather and faux leather, like a pair of Nike Air Force 1’s, stick to a soft to medium bristled brush and soap.

For shoes with mesh uppers, like a pair of Adidas Ultra Boosts, a medium bristled brush is recommended.

However, to save time, it’s recommended that you pickup a shoe cleaning brush if you plan to clean many shoes or clean your shoes often.

Once you’ve gotten your shoe scrubbed nicely with soap, use a microfiber cloth to wipe away any dirt or stains from the shoe.

Personally, I prefer to remove the shoelaces before I use this method to get to all the areas of the shoe’s tongue (see image below).

Whether you’re cleaning up a pair of daily shoes or a pair of second-hand, thrifted shoes that you’re going to re-sell online, this is the best recommended cleaning method. It’s quick, easy and affordable.

2. Use A Washing Machine

Before you throw all your shoes into the washing machine at once, let’s get one thing straight: throwing the wrong type of shoe in the washer can 100% ruin your shoes if you’re not careful. And even if your shoes are designed to be cleaned using a washer, you’ll need to control the temperature settings so you don’t ruin your shoes.

Can You Put Shoes In The Washer?

Yes, if your shoes are made with cotton, canvas or polyester. No, if your shoes are made with leather, faux leather or suede.

If you plan to wash your shoes, here are some expert-level shoe washing tips you need to follow (From Rothy’s shoe cleaning instructions):

Slip out footbed and tie shoelaces together.
Pop shoes and footbed into the washing machine.
Use cold water, mild detergent and the delicate cycle.

No heat, please—always let your shoes air dry.

In my experience, the washing machine is one of the most effective ways to clean shoes. It’s super easy, quick and takes little effort. If you’re lazily finding a way to clean your shoes, this is the best method for you.

However, like I mentioned, the washing machine can also be a fast way to ruin your pair of shoes too.

Can You Put Leather Shoes In The Washer? How About Suede?

No, it’s not recommended. If your shoes are made of leather, faux leather, and/or suede, don’t throw them in the washer. Use an alternative method, because this is a guaranteed way to ruin your shoe’s shape and longevity.

For animal leather and suede shoes, it’s not recommended to have your shoes soaked in water for long periods of time. This can result to cracked and faded color shoes, even white sneakers, that are not going to look good. The shape of your shoes may also get warped. If this happens, it’s hard to get your shoes back into shape without a shoe tree.

The same goes for faux leather shoes. While there are some durable and resilient types of faux leathers out there, there are also types of faux leather shoes that won’t react well to heat from your washer. Even if you use a cold cycle, the faux leather can get damaged, fade or even start peeling, if the material isn’t of high quality.

Can You Put Tennis Shoes In The Washer?

Yes. If your shoes are made with cotton, canvas or polyester, it’s safe to wash your shoes in the washer. However, make sure to wash your shoes using a cold cycle and air dry them when they’re finished.

Can You Put Nike Shoes In The Washer?

It depends on the material of the shoes. If your Nike shoes are made with leather, suede or faux leather, it’s not recommended to use the washer to clean them. But, if your Nike shoes are made with cotton, canvas or polyester (think a knit), then it’s totally safe to wash your Nikes in a cold cycle, air drying them afterwards.

A few other footwear brands that are safe to wash in the washer include Converse, Hey Dude, Rothy’s, New Balance Running Shoes, Hoka Running Shoes, On Cloud Running Shoes and AllBirds Wool Runners.

3. Use A Magic Eraser

Never underestimate the cleaning power of a Magic Eraser, especially on rubber soles. If you didn’t know, Magic Erasers are a life hack for cleaning shoe soles due to its abrasive material, which allows it to collect a lot of dirt and grime when cleaning your white shoes.

Start cleaning your shoes by getting your Magic Eraser wet with water and soap. Don’t use the Magic Eraser dry, as it’s abrasive enough to damage your shoes.

This will clean shoes effectively if you have dirt stains on the outsole and upper. While this won’t fix white shoes that have a yellow sole, it will do a great job getting your shoes clean and stain-free, incase you want to apply some shoe paint (more on this later).

A Magic Eraser is safe to use on all types of shoe materials, including leather, suede, faux leather, canvas and cotton. It’s most effective on the soles, where you have scuff marks.

4. Use A Natural Rubber Shoe Eraser

A natural rubber shoe eraser is entirely different from a Magic Eraser. And unless you’ve worked in a shoe store, you probably haven’t come across a shoe eraser.

Shoe brands love shoe erasers because of its cleaning utility. A shoe eraser is a piece of rubber, either natural or synthetic rubber, that is incredibly useful for getting rid of black marks on your white sneakers. You know when you kick something and get black marks on the front part of your shoes? This is perfect for getting rid of those markings.

I recommend using natural rubber shoe erasers, that look like this:

Once you get your hands on a shoe eraser, simply take it and rub it against your shoe scuffs. If used properly, you’ll see eraser shavings, just like you would if you erased a math problem from a worksheet in school. Shoe erasers work wonders on leather shoes that have superficial scuff marks and any rubber outsole.

5. Goo Gone (For grease stains only)

Goo Gone is magical for grease stains or tree sap that gets on your shoes. However, the product makers do not recommend using Goo Gone on suede, silk, rubber and leather materials. For this reason, I only use Goo Gone on my dirty sneakers when I’m dealing with a sticky, greasy stain. This may include oil or grease from a kitchen, tree sap, or any really sticky and persistent stain on your shoes.

To clean your shoe effectively, apply some Goo Gone onto a towel and wash your stained shoes until stain is removed.

After you’re finished, use a clean damp cloth to wipe away any remaining Goo Gone so it doesn’t damage your shoes.

6. Shoe Whitener (Or Shoe Paint/Dye)

If your shoe soles turned yellow and you’re trying to turn them white again, you will need to use some shoe whitener. The reason your soles may turn yellow is due to natural oxidation of the rubber that occurs with age or the use of chemicals that are found in certain cleaning products.

Turning your yellow shoes back to a pristine white color won’t be able to be achieved through a simple washing. But, the good news is that your shoes can be restored back to a white color with the right shoe paint.

What’s a reliable shoe whitening brand?

You can buy shoe dye online for affordable prices and apply them to your white sneakers to restore them back to like new condition. Re-sellers can benefit from using this immensely, as cleaning your shoes and whitening them can demand a higher selling price. No one wants to go through the process of dying their white shoes if they can help it.

6. Use OxiClean

OxiClean is one of the most powerful cleaning method that exists for washing your white sneakers with color-safe bleach. There’s a two approaches to using OxiClean: Hand-washing and using a washing machine.

Hand Washing Shoes With OxiClean

Here’s what you need:

OxiClean Maxforce Spray or OxiClean White Revive
Soft-medium bristle brush
Microfiber Towel

For canvas, cotton, and mesh shoes, mix some OxiClean with water (or spray) and soak the stained parts of your shoes. The deeper the stain, the longer you will want to let the OxiClean seep into your shoes. Once soaked for a few minutes, scrub your shoes with a soft to medium-bristled brush. Once cleaned, let air dry.

With leather and suede shoes, do not soak your leather, suede or faux leather shoes into water. Instead, mix some OxiClean with water add it to your soft-medium bristle brush. Scrub the stained parts of the shoes and wipe the soap and suds away with a microfiber towel. This will save your shoes from damage in the long-run. Once cleaned, let air dry.

Washing Shoes In The Washer With OxiClean

If you’re looking for the best way to clean white shoes, this may be it. But the obvious catch is that it only works with shoes that are washing machine safe (mesh, cotton, canvas made shoes). If you’re cleaning leather or suede shoes, I recommend sticking with hand washing your shoes with OxiClean.

To have the best results, scrub your shoes with water and OxiClean and then continue to soak your dirty shoes and shoelaces in the water and OxiClean mixture for an hour. Once finished, throw them in the washer to clean them in a cold cycle. Air dry when finished.

How To Keep Your White Shoes Clean From Dirt & Stains

After you’ve cleaned your shoes, using shoe protector spray will help keep your shoes stain-free. Applying a shoe protector spray can create a protective, water-resistant protective layer on your shoes for months.

If you’re looking for an effective and highly-rated shoe protector spray, I recommend using Jason Markk’s shoe protector and repellant.

It’s not going to make your shoes weather-proof, but these sprays can protect your shoes from simple scuffs and scratches.

How To Make Your Shoes Not Smell

This is also an effective strategy to get odor out of smelly shoes. While there are products that help you deodorize your shoes with a spray, it’s typically a temporary solution. For a more long-term deodorizing solution for your shoes, remove your insoles and wash them thoroughly. Use OxiClean to scrub the insides of the shoes and then let air dry. As a optional final touch, use a deodorizing spray before you start wearing your sneakers again.

Your H2 Title Here: Conclusion and Takeaways

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