How do I wash trainers?

A trainer is a laminated construction of foam, textile, rubber and adhesive. The adhesive is the weak point: it softens with heat and fails with prolonged soaking. That is why a shoe that survives ten machine washes can be destroyed by twenty minutes in a tumble dryer.

What you'll need

• Washing-up liquid
• An old toothbrush or soft brush
• A pillowcase or mesh laundry bag (optional)
• Newspaper or kitchen roll

Step by step

1. Check what they are made of first.Leather, suede and anything with a knitted upper containing a structural foam should not be machine washed. Canvas, mesh and synthetic uppers generally can be.
2. Take out the laces and insoles.Both wash better separately, and insoles left in a wet shoe take days to dry and go mouldy. Laces go in a mesh bag or a pillowcase.
3. Let mud dry, then knock it off.Bang the soles together outside and brush the tread with a dry brush. Washing wet mud drives it into the fabric.
4. Hand clean with washing-up liquid first.Warm water and a soft brush over the upper, working in small circles. For many shoes this is enough and no machine is needed.
5. Use a paste for the midsole.Bicarbonate of soda and a little washing-up liquid on a toothbrush cleans yellowed white foam and rubber effectively.
6. Machine wash cool inside a pillowcase.Thirty degrees, delicate cycle, low spin, with two or three towels to cushion the drum. The pillowcase stops the shoes battering the door.
7. Never use bleach on white trainers.It yellows synthetic uppers and midsoles rather than whitening them, and it degrades the adhesive. Bicarbonate paste and sunlight work better.
8. Stuff with paper and dry at room temperature.Newspaper or kitchen roll, changed after a few hours. It holds the shape and pulls moisture out from inside.
9. Keep them away from any heat.No tumble dryer, no radiator, no hairdryer, not in direct hot sun. Heat softens the adhesive and shrinks the upper, and the sole starts to separate.
10. Dry them fully before wearing.Two days is normal. A shoe worn damp develops a smell in a single day that then takes far more effort to remove.

Tips

• Alternate between two pairs if you wear trainers daily. Twenty-four hours of drying out between wears prevents most smell and doubles their life.
• Suede and nubuck need a suede brush and a rubber eraser block, never water.
• White midsoles that have yellowed respond well to a bicarbonate paste left on in sunlight for a couple of hours.

Common mistakes

• Tumble drying or radiator drying — Heat softens the adhesive bonding the sole to the upper and shrinks synthetic materials at different rates. The sole peels away and the shoe cannot be repaired properly.
• Machine washing leather or suede trainers — Water swells and then hardens leather as it dries, and it destroys the nap on suede. Both need dry cleaning methods and specific products.

If it doesn't work

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