Best Way To Wash Tennis Shoes

new_tennis_player said:

When I've had sneakers for a while, and I'm not concerned about whether washing affects them, I just toss them in the washer and even the dryer to boot.

Now I've got a new pair of tennis shoes, and they've gotten dusty from walking on dusty trails. So, they're lightly dirty.

How do you take care of this? Do washing machines affect the compression/padding of the sneaker at all? Does it affect the leather adversely?

What's the best way to simply clean the exterior of the shoe?

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LPShanet said:

Washing machines aren't a great idea, especially if you paid a lot for the shoes and care about them. The machine can beat up shoes, and bad things can happen, especially if you don't take out the laces. Also, the machine is overkill.

A good first measure is to buy a sneaker shampoo. Many athletic stores sell these, and while they're not super-effective at deep cleaning, often they're all you need. So give one of those a try (usually along with a tooth brush) and then see if you still need deeper cleaning.

Also, NEVER put a high performance shoe in the dryer as the heat can ruin the bonds, and trash the glue, as well as impair the resilience of the midsole materials.

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rjg007 said:

Put them in an old pillow case in the washing machine on a cold wash cycle, this prewvnets them from shrinking and then let them dry naturally. It works a treat for me everytime I do it and I do it once a year after the clay court season.

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WildVolley said:

I find it interesting that a lot of people are drying the shoes in a dryer. Most of my shoes say specifically not to put them in a dryer.

If I wash them in the washer, I scrub them down with a brush first and then I dry them off after the wash with an old towel, shove some newspaper in them and dry them in the sun.

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