Laundry guide
How to wash shoes
Canvas and synthetic trainers survive a machine if you keep it cold and gentle. Suede does not survive water at all. Leather does not survive either. Everything below follows from that.
What can go in the machine
- Yes: canvas trainers, most mesh running shoes, cotton or polyester slip-ons, kids’ trainers.
- No: suede, nubuck, leather, anything with glued-on beads or trim, dress shoes, boots with a steel shank, memory-foam insoles.
- Careful: running shoes with structured foam midsoles. Cold and gentle only, and never more than a couple of times in their life.
The machine method
Take out the laces and insoles
Laces go in the same mesh bag; insoles are hand washed and air dried separately, because they hold water for days.
Knock off the loose dirt
Bang the soles together outside and brush the tread. Dried mud in a drum turns into a grey film on everything else in the load.
Pre-treat the scuffs
A little detergent on a soft brush, worked into the toe and the midsole, does more than the wash cycle will.
Bag them, with towels
A mesh laundry bag stops the shoes battering the drum, and two or three old towels cushion the noise and balance the load.
Cold, gentle, no spin if you can
Cold water protects the glue and the colours. A slow spin is fine; a fast one hammers the shoes against the drum.
Air dry only, stuffed with paper
Newspaper or paper towel inside holds the shape and pulls out moisture. Change the paper after an hour. Keep them out of direct sun and away from radiators.
Suede: no water, ever
Suede is leather with a raised nap. Water flattens the nap, leaves a tidemark that does not come out, and stiffens the leather underneath as it dries. A washing machine does all three at once.
- 1. Let mud dry completely. Wet suede is fragile; dry mud brushes off cleanly.
- 2. Brush with a suede brush, in one direction, with light strokes.
- 3. Use a suede eraser on shiny patches and scuffs. A clean pencil rubber works in a pinch.
- 4. Steam stubborn areas briefly from a distance, then brush the nap back up as it dries.
- 5. Protect with a suede spray once they are clean and dry, and repeat every few months.
Salt stains from winter pavements are the exception: dab with a cloth barely damp with equal parts water and white vinegar, then let it dry and brush.
Drying, which is where shoes get ruined
Never a tumble dryer. The adhesive holding the sole to the upper softens well below the temperature of a normal dryer cycle, and the tumbling deforms the toe box. Air dry for a full 24 hours, stuffed with paper, somewhere with moving air but no direct heat.
If you are washing shoes at a laundromat, use a mesh bag, run them alone or with old towels, and take them home damp. See how to use a laundromat for machine choice, and how to wash a hat for the other item people most often ruin.
Frequently asked questions
Can you put shoes in a washing machine?
Canvas trainers, most synthetic running shoes and cotton or polyester slip-ons wash fine on a cold gentle cycle in a mesh bag. Leather, suede, shoes with glued-on decoration, and anything with a memory-foam insole should not go in.
Can you put shoes in the dryer?
No. Tumble heat melts the adhesive that holds a sole to an upper, and the banging deforms the shoe. Air dry, stuffed with paper, for 24 hours.
How do you clean suede shoes?
Never with water or in a machine — water stains suede permanently and stiffens the nap. Let mud dry completely, brush it off with a suede brush, lift shine and marks with a suede eraser, then brush the nap back in one direction. Steam from a kettle held at a distance helps flatten stubborn patches.
How do I get the smell out of trainers?
The smell lives in the insole, which is why washing the shoe rarely fixes it. Wash or replace the insole, then sprinkle bicarbonate of soda inside overnight and shake it out. Alternate pairs so each gets a day to dry fully.
Should I wash shoes at a laundromat?
It is a good use of one: a commercial machine takes the noise better than a home machine, and you are not leaving grit in the drum you wash your clothes in. Use a mesh bag, run them alone or with towels, and take them home to air dry — never use the shop’s dryers.
What about white canvas shoes that went yellow?
Yellowing after washing is usually detergent residue reacting with sun. Rinse thoroughly, avoid bleach on white canvas, and dry in the shade rather than direct sunlight.