Learn how to clean white shoes.
White shoes are a favorite summertime footwear for many. They are extremely versatile, and you can match them up with any outfit. In the eighties, pairing white sneakers with denim was all the rage. Now, this eighties trend promises to make a comeback. But fortunately, you don’t have to compromise fashion for practicality.
How to Clean White Shoes (4 easy things to try!)
We will share four easy tips you can try to keep your white shoes eye-popping and white. Start with tip one first, as it is the gentlest cleansing method. If that does not work, you can work your way progressively through this list to save your favorite kicks.
1 – Try Cleaning White Shoes With Good Old Dish Soap and Water
Drop two teaspoons of your favorite grease-cutting dish soap into warm water, stirring it until dissolved. Then, brush the stain gently with circular motions. Repeat the process until you completely eliminate the stain. You can use this hack for light-colored or white shoes, including sneakers, fabric or canvas shoes, and white leather sandals or loafers.
2 – Try Your Hand at the Magic Eraser
What’s a magic eraser? It is the term to describe Melamine foam, a resin with a foam-like texture. It’s a highly versatile cleaning tool, so you should keep one handy around the house. Additionally, using the magic erasers is almost effortless. You just need to run some plain tap water over the Magic Eraser and rub the stain or scuff until it fades.
But don’t dry-rub the eraser. You must ensure the foam is damp, or else you could damage the shoes.
3 – Try Mixing Up a Paste of Laundry Detergent and Baking Soda
Baking soda is (as we have mentioned many times before) one of the most affordable yet super-effective cleansers you can keep on hand.
Besides using it as a scouring powder on hard surfaces, baking soda also removes fabric stains. Think carpets, clothes, curtains, and even light-colored shoes.
Put the baking soda powder and detergent mixture into the shoes and wait for at least an hour or two. If the footwear is machine washable, you can toss them in for a mechanical washing. Otherwise, clean them by hand, rinse, and repeat until you lift the stain.
4 – Use Bleach on Your White Shoes as a Last Resort
If you exhaust those less risky stain removers, bleach might be your knight in shining armor for those toughest stains. It provides excellent results in cleaning both footwear and clothes. But remember to use bleach very carefully. It’s a potent chemical. Test a spot of bleach on an inconspicuous shoe area before applying it all over.
Again, this is the last resort if your favorite summer sandals are ruined otherwise.
A final note on bleach–use it safely. Overexposure or direct skin contact can cause skin redness, burning, and breathing difficulties.
The Takeaway: Don’t Toss Your Stained White Shoes, Give Cleaning a Try!
Whether your chocolate ice cream dripped and made a mess or you stepped in something sticky at the state fair, don’t throw out your tried-and-true white shoes. Instead, give cleaning them a try. Who knows? Once you know how to clean white shoes, you might have a great outcome and enjoy many more wearings.
She has a B.S.Ed. in Secondary Education/English and a Spanish Minor. In addition, she holds a Certificate in Natural Health from a fully-accredited program and is a Certified Herbologist. She pursued these natural wellness certifications due to her love for herb gardening.
Despite freelancing to make a living, her love is "all things home."
Deborah grew up in a family that grew a large vegetable garden and a fruit orchard, helping her parents pull weeds and can home-grown foods as part of her childhood. In fact, she had no idea that she could purchase veggies and fruits in pre-packed steel cans until she went to college and made a food run.
Today, she lives in Bertie County, North Carolina, an agricultural rural area with more chickens than people. She lives with her husband and two rescue pets a sweet toy fox terrier and a cat who showed up one day and moved into the house. Together, they enjoy DIY projects, furniture refinishing, gardening, and canning.
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