Have you ever wondered how you should clean your shoes? Methods of cleaning our clothes and the different techniques to use are common knowledge in our culture, and everyone and their mother knows how to do it. Sadly, while shoes are almost as important as other clothing items, we can’t say the same about the knowledge of cleaning them. There are a lot of misconceptions and general ignorance about how important it is to clean shoes – here are ways you can keep your shoes clean and shining throughout the year.
Types of Shoes
A vital aspect to recognize before starting to clean your shoes is categorizing and sorting your shoes into distinct types. In the same vein of using different products to clean coloured clothes and white clothes, we must use particular techniques and products to clean different types of footwear:
- Leather: leather usually doesn’t have much resistance to water, and you have to be extremely careful when cleaning it. Much of the techniques depend on whether it is real or faux leather. Faux leather is really sensitive to washing.
- Casual sneakers: the most common type of shoes, they are extremely easy to clean and take care of. Because they are created for casual use, they are usually pretty robust and can withstand a lot of cleaning methods.
- Sports footwear: While they’re really robust and well-made, you have to treat these shoes with care. If you’re not careful, the shoes will become unusable for sports, and that makes the shoes pretty much useless. You’ll have to follow the directions on how to clean the shoes provided by the manufacturer to a T if you want to successfully clean these types of shoes. Check out all of the outstanding Sports footwear at ShoePursuits to learn more about sports footwear and their durability. .
- Boots: most boots are made with the purpose of withstanding harsh conditions and extreme weather, and that means this type of shoes isn’t too picky as to how you clean it. Some boots are so robust you can just put them in a washing machine and let them clean up on their own, which isn’t a viable method for most types of shoes on this list.
- High heels: this type prioritizes aesthetics over practicality – this makes them fragile and easy to damage. The high heel is also a weak point that’s easy to accidentally damage. High-heels are probably on par with leather shoes in terms of difficulty of cleaning.
How to Clean Your Shoes
Cleaning your shoes will be a cinch if you approach it methodologically – you have to focus on each part of your shoes at a time and use the appropriate tools:
The Sole
The soles of different types of shoes are almost all the same, and that makes them one of the easiest parts to clean:
- Create a paste of equal parts baking soda and water
- Use a toothbrush (or a similar item) and dip it in the paste
- Slowly and systematically clean each part of the sole.
The Insole
While not technically part of the shoe, it is paramount that you clean the insoles if you don’t want your shoes to smell. Thankfully, you can just take them out, put them in a washing machine, take them out, let them dry, and you’re finished. It’s extremely simple to clean. You don’t have any excuses to let your shoes remain smelly.
The Body
Now we are getting to the meat of the matter – how to clean the body of your shoes? The answer depends on the type of shoe you have:
- Leather shoes are easy to clean – you just need to procure some tablecloth, dip it in hot water, and gently start cleaning the leather.
- Sneakers are robust, and while you can clean them using brushes and tablecloth, the easiest way is to just put them in a washing machine.
- Vinyl shoes are quite tricky to clean. Checking for the best shoe cleaner on the market that will help you clean them effectively.
