You probably love Converse shoes because they are iconic, stylish, simple, and easy to wear with every outfit you own. But did you know that they originated in 1908 as the Converse Rubber Shoe Company began producing winterized rubber soled footwear for men, women, and children?
From such humble beginnings, Converse shoes have become a household name and almost everyone has either heard of the brand or owns it. If you have Converse sneakers but feel worried because they are losing their brilliant white color, we’ve got you covered. Clean Converse Shoes using the tips below, so you can extend your canvas shoes’ longevity.
Pretreat Any Stains on the Canvas Fabric First
The first thing you must do before you even think about cleaning your Converse shoes is to check the canvas fabric for any stains. These could be grass stains from walking around a park or mud stains from traipsing about at an outdoor festival.
Whatever it is, you will have to pretreat these stains before doing anything else. You can either use laundry detergent or a fabric pretreater for these stains. Soak the stains in this liquid for at least 10 minutes before going on to the next step.
If the stain is particularly set in (and it’s been a while since you washed your Converse shoes), you might have to soak it for 20-30 minutes. You know your shoes best.
Then Remove the Laces and Clean Those
Most folks forget about the laces when cleaning their Converse shoes, but laces get dirty, too. Remove the laces and put them into a delicates laundry bag before putting them into the laundry, so they don’t get caught up in the mechanism or get ruined by all the tumble action.
Launder Your Shoes Using the Tips Below
Here comes the gist of the whole cleaning process. You will want to place your Converse shoes and the delicates bag with the shoelaces into the laundry machine to wash.
But, do not wash them on their own. Make sure you have some other items like towels, jeans, or work clothes, something with sturdy fabric, to wash with them.
This will protect them when the laundry machine does its thing. Do not use hot water when washing your Converse shoes, but you can use regular detergent, no problem.
If you feel like your Converse shoes could do with a bit of whitening or brightening up, then you could use oxygen bleach or some other whitening agent.
Your shoes might also be smelling a bit funky since you’ve been using them day in and day out for a while. Oxygen bleach will help get rid of this stink as well, so you can have fresh-smelling Converse shoes, almost as if you bought them brand new.
Air Dry Your Converse Shoes
Finally, you will want to air-dry your converse shoes, since the dryer action could ruin them, tearing them apart. You don’t want to take a chance with that.
Put them in the sun or somewhere where you know they will get a lot of air circulation, so they can dry as quickly as possible. Even so, it will take them at least a full day to dry, so if you wash them in the morning and leave them to dry all day, then they should be dry and ready for you the next morning.
Also, if your canvas shoes look like they have lost their shape a bit, do not fret. You can dry them with some breathable fabric stuffed into them. This will help them keep their shape while they dry and your Converse shoes will come out looking spick and span.
It’s similar to how shoe stores will have all their sneakers stuffed with tissue paper or cardboard so they don’t lose their shape. Pro Tip: do not use a towel or something like that to stuff your shoe, since it will absorb all the water and your shoes will never dry. You don’t want your shoes to smell moldy because they are taking forever to dry.
Clean the Soles With a Sole Cleaner
Once your shoes are dry and ready for you, you might notice that the rubber soles still need a bit more sprucing up. That’s easy enough to take care of.
Use a little bit of dish soap and a little bit of baking soda to make your own sole cleaner. It’s easy enough to use and safe as well.
Mix the two ingredients up, and once it becomes paste-like, you can use an old toothbrush to scrub this paste onto the rubber sole. After a bit of scrubbing, you will notice that the stains, marks, and dirt will start siphoning off.
Give your soles a good rinse after, so you don’t have any of that paste left over. Voila! You should have beautiful, clean, fresh Converse shoes, that look like you just got them delivered.
Are you surprised by how easy Converse shoes are to clean? Most people are.
Remember that if you have been using your Converse shoes for a long time, at some point, they will not get cleaned no matter what you do. At that point, it might be time for you to retire this pair and buy a new One Star Converse pair.
Clean Converse Shoes Effortlessly
Now you know how to clean converse shoes at home, no additional tools necessary. All you need is your laundry machine and you are good to go.
Once you have your freshly washed Converse shoes, be sure to take them out for a spin about town and listen to everyone rave about how bright and shiny your canvas shoes look.
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