Knowing how to clean white fabric shoes is essential to own these shoes. Inevitably, despite our best efforts to avoid puddles and muddy areas, white shoes get dirty through daily wear. Changing how often you wear your shoes and properly storing them helps avoid dirt; still, even the slightest stain is extremely noticeable on white shoes.
Fortunately for white shoe owners, there are numerous products available to bring your shoes back to looking like new. Many of the best items for cleaning your shoes you likely already have at home and with a little elbow grease, will work for you to brighten your shoes.
Once you master cleaning white shoes, you’ll be able to handle any blemish that stains your shoes. Follow the tips in this article for different methods of cleaning white shoes and a few tips on how to keep your shoes looking cleaner longer.
- Cleaning White Cloth Sneakers
- How to Get Stains Out of White Fabric Shoes
- Use a Magic Eraser to Clean Shoes
- How to Clean White Fabric Shoes Using Toothpaste
- Using Vinegar to Clean White Canvas Shoes
- The Best Way to Clean White Cloth Shoes
- How to Get Stains Out of White Fabric Shoes
- How to Clean White Fabric Sneakers With Diluted Vinegar
- Clean Tough Stains With Hydrogen Peroxide
- How to Avoid Stains and Dirt on Your Shoes
Cleaning White Cloth Sneakers
Stains on any shoe are a bummer, but on white shoes, stains become an urgent matter as they affect the overall appearance of your shoes. Luckily, canvas and fabric shoes are somewhat sturdy as they are made for regular activity and hold up well to a good cleaning.
How to Get Stains Out of White Fabric Shoes
Dish soap has uses that go far beyond the kitchen. Liquid soaps come with ingredients to help break down grease, build-up, and stains. It becomes a nearly universal cleaner and is arguably the best way to clean white cloth shoes. Because liquid dish soap is a gentle cleanser, it is safe to clean canvas sneakers like Converse shoes.
Create a soapy mixture in a bowl and wet a soft toothbrush. Grab your shoe and start working the soap in small circles to clean the stain. Repeat until you have a clean white shoe again. Rinse or wipe away excess soap using a damp paper towel.
Use a Magic Eraser to Clean Shoes
Different brands offer variations of the Magic Eraser, but the cleaning process is the same. Magic Erasers are like sponges with a foam-like texture and cleaning agents inside that easily remove stains and dark marks from most surfaces.
Dampen the Magic Eraser and start gently scrubbing at any stain on your shoes to get clean white sneakers again.
Although the texture of Magic Erasers makes it effective at cleaning various surfaces, we do not recommend using it on white leather shoes or suede shoes like white suede Vans. These shoes have specific care needs, and a Magic Eraser may damage the shoe.
How to Clean White Fabric Shoes Using Toothpaste
The power of toothpaste to clean stains from our teeth also works well at cleaning white fabric shoes and is a great way to make shoelaces white again. Unlike a softer or less durable shoe material, white sneakers handle a good scrubbing to make them white again.
If you need a simple but effective way to clean white running shoes, apply white non-gel toothpaste to stains on your shoes with an old toothbrush. Use the toothbrush to rub the paste into the shoe and allow it to sit for up to ten minutes.
Rinse the area with cool water or wipe the paste away using a damp cloth. Repeat this method of cleaning your shoes until the stain or discoloration is completely gone from your shoes.
Using Vinegar to Clean White Canvas Shoes
Vinegar and baking soda are two items found in most kitchens with surprising powers as cleaning agents. The acidic nature of vinegar helps it cut through and break down build-up, while baking soda is an excellent stain remover and whitening agent. This homemade shoe cleaner for white Vans® is applicable to almost any white shoe.
When mixing baking soda and vinegar, it starts fizzing; wait until it stops before dipping your toothbrush or old cloth into the paste.
Quickly work the paste onto any stains on your canvas shoes as the paste dries out quickly, making it harder to spread. Allow the paste to sit for roughly five minutes before wiping away with a damp cloth.
The Best Way to Clean White Cloth Shoes
If you’re dealing with stubborn stains on white shoes, then creating a soak with chlorine bleach is one sure-fire way to clean them. The powerful disinfecting and whitening power of bleach is well-documented, and due to its color lifting properties, it is the best way to clean white cloth shoes.
If your shoes have grass stains or a yellow stain left over from trying to remove dirt or mud, soaking your shoes in bleach will remove tough stains.
Follow the label instructions on the bleach container to create the correct water and bleach ratio in a sink or bucket. Remove the white soles from inside your shoes and, using gloves, soak shoes in diluted bleach before scrubbing them with an old toothbrush or sponge.
Rinse your shoes off after removing the stains to clean away any remaining bleach. Set your shoes out to dry thoroughly before wearing them again.
How to Get Stains Out of White Fabric Shoes
Laundry detergent is the go-to cleaner when trying to remove stains from white trainers to get clean sneakers again; however, there is more to using detergent than just tossing your shoes in the washer.
Instead, combine the whitening power of baking soda to create an effective cleaning solution to whiten mesh shoes or those made from canvas. Cleaning white shoes with baking soda is inexpensive and simple – you probably have some in the pantry.
Mix baking soda and a detergent of your choice until they form a thick powder, and spread it across your shoes using a butter knife or with your gloved hands. Leave the powder on your shoes for an hour before wiping it away with a soft toothbrush and rinsing it with warm water.
If you want to wash your shoes after this treatment and deep clean white shoes, remove the laces and insole. After washing, the easiest way to dry running shoes quickly is to put them inside the dryer with other fabrics, like towels, on the lowest setting.
How to Clean White Fabric Sneakers With Diluted Vinegar
For a straightforward stain remover and to remove mud stains from white shoes, dilute white vinegar with water to weaken its acidic properties while allowing it to break down any grime or dirt on your shoes effectively. This simple cleanser also cleans leather shoes and keeps white suede looking clean.
Create a half vinegar and half water solution, and use a soft cloth to apply the solution directly onto the stain of your shoes, like when you need to get grass stains out of white fabric shoes. Footwear like white Converse shoes handles dampness well. If you’re cleaning suede, try not to make the nap too wet to avoid damaging the feel of your shoes.
To clean white sneakers quick and easy, leave the vinegar solution on the stain to absorb and pull it out of the fabric before wiping it away with a cloth. For suede, have your suede brush and a dry cloth ready to absorb excess moisture.
Clean Tough Stains With Hydrogen Peroxide
To tackle tough stains and odors, combine hydrogen peroxide with your choice of liquid laundry detergent. Hydrogen peroxide sold commercially has various uses around the white for disinfecting, cleaning, and even teeth whitening. When used on shoes, it’s guaranteed to brighten the appearance of your shoes and remove dirt stains.
Brush off excess or loose dirt from your shoes, then pour your ingredients into a 16-ounce spray bottle and apply generously to the stained area. For the way to get yellow stains out of white shoes, leave the spray to sit on the stain for a few minutes before cleaning with an old toothbrush or cloth.
Rinse with water or repeat for other stains until the entire shoe is clean and void of stains. Because of the spray applicator, this is an effective way to clean stains from the insoles of your shoes. Add a scented oil like tea tree oil to fight lingering odors or bacteria in your shoe.
A similar commercial product is also available if you don’t want to make your own. Cleaning Vans with OxiClean works the same way.
How to Avoid Stains and Dirt on Your Shoes
The same material that makes sneakers so comfortable and adaptable to the ways our feet move when we walk or are playing sports makes them susceptible to environmental stains.
Because white shoes do not possess any color or pigment in the fabric, they risk looking dirtier than any other kind of shoe. Before you wear your shoes, prepare them for regular use and keep them safe even when you’re not wearing them.
Applying a Protectant
Retail stores that sell shoes also sell products to add-on to your purchase, like new insoles, new laces, and a spray protectant to create a barrier on your shoes to protect them from stains, to keep your shoes in good condition.
This protectant is typically a clear liquid that should be applied to your shoes and allowed to dry before wearing them. This spray forms an invisible barrier on your shoes, lessening the chance that dirt and stains get into the fabric. It requires regular application to maintain.
Proper Shoe Storage
Regardless of how careful you are while wearing your shoes, when you put them back into the closet, they still might get dirty before you wear them again. Dust and dirt particles are all around us floating in the air ,and if shelves and tables get dusty, your shoes will accumulate dirt too.
If possible, when not wearing your shoes, place them back in the box they arrived in or into a specific shoe bag to protect them from dirt in the air.
Adding white shoes to your wardrobe adds a flair to your style if you keep them clean. You should now have no problem keeping your shoes clean as long as possible.
If you learned how to clean white fabric shoes with our help, please share our tips on Facebook and Pinterest with friends who need help with how to get stains out of white fabric shoes.