How to Wash Shoes in a Washing Machine Without Ruining Them

how to wash shoes in washing machine

Threw a pair of sneakers in on a normal cycle, walked away, and came back to shoes that had shrunk, gone rigid, or come apart at the glue. Plus a washing machine that sounded like it was full of bricks.

Machine washing shoes works perfectly well. The ruining happens in the details: wrong shoes, wrong cycle, wrong drying. Get those three right and your runners come out looking close to new.

Here's the whole process.

 

Can you put shoes in the washing machine?

 

Some of them. Check the care label first, every time.

Usually fine: canvas, nylon, cotton and polyester. These are durable, they handle detergent without reacting, and they're what most sneakers and casual shoes are made from.

Keep out of the machine: leather, suede, rubber, vinyl, and sports boots with rubber or metal sprigs. Leather dries out and cracks. Suede is ruined by water full stop. Boots with studs will batter your drum.

Take to a specialist: anything silk, beaded, embroidered or covered in sequins. Not worth the gamble.

If the label is gone or unreadable, treat the pair as hand wash only. A missing label is not permission.

 

What you'll need

 

  • A soft brush or an old toothbrush
  • A sponge and a few old towels
  • Liquid laundry detergent
  • Bicarb soda
  • A zippered mesh laundry bag

Budget about 45 minutes to an hour for the cycle, plus overnight at minimum for drying. Realistically a couple of days.

 

Step by step

 

1. Take the laces out

Pull them out and wash them separately in a mesh bag with the zip done up. Loose laces wrap themselves around parts of the drum and tangle into knots that take ten minutes to pick apart.

Badly grubby laces respond well to a scrub with detergent and a soft brush before they go in.

 

2. Wash the insoles by hand

Don't machine wash these unless the label specifically says you can. They soak up water like a sponge and then take days to dry, which is how you end up with dry shoes and wet insoles.

Instead:

 

3. Knock the dirt off the soles

Get as much mud and grit out of the tread as you can before the shoes go anywhere near the machine, with a soft brush, an old toothbrush, or a toothpick for the stubborn bits wedged in the grooves.

Skip this and all that grit ends up in your machine's filter and drain pump. This is the step people skip, and it's the one your washing machine cares about.

Scuff marks on the uppers respond to a bit of shoe cleaner worked in with a cloth, then wiped off with a damp rag.

 

4. Put them in a mesh bag

This is what stops your shoes thumping around the drum, which is where both the shoe damage and the machine damage come from.

A zippered mesh bag is the proper tool. A pillowcase, tied shut, is the backup if you don't have one. The zip matters more than people think, because a bag that comes open mid-cycle isn't doing anything.

 

5. Add old towels

Put two or three old towels in with the bag. They balance the load, which stops the machine going off balance on the spin, and they cushion the impact.

Old ones specifically. New towels can bleed dye onto your shoes, which is a very annoying way to ruin a white pair.

 

6. Cold, delicate, liquid detergent

Set a delicate cycle, cold water, slow spin or no spin.

Use liquid detergent or a pod. Powder doesn't always dissolve fully and ends up stuck in the fabric and the eyelets, which you'll be rinsing out by hand afterwards.

The cold water isn't optional. Heat is the main reason shoes shrink and glue lets go.

 

7. Air dry, and be patient

Take the shoes out, stuff them with clean rags or paper towels to soak up moisture and hold their shape, and leave them somewhere with airflow.

A sunny, breezy spot speeds things up. Expect a day or two for a thick pair.

Once they're properly dry, insoles back in and laces re-threaded.

 

Why not the dryer?

Because heat is what causes most of the damage people blame on the washing machine.

Tumbling on heat shrinks fabric, warps the shape, and softens the adhesives holding the sole to the upper. You'll also hear every rotation from the other end of the house.

If you're genuinely out of time, use an internal drying rack if your dryer has one, or wrap the shoes in a thick towel and run the lowest heat or air-only setting. Air drying is still better.

 

Will shoes damage the washing machine?

Not usually, if you've done the above.

In a zippered bag, on a cold gentle cycle, with towels balancing the load, shoes aren't a problem. Loose shoes on a normal cycle are a different story, and that's where dented drums and jammed pumps come from.

Worth doing afterwards: check the filter for grit, and leave the door open so the drum dries out.

 

Do shoes shrink in the wash?

They can, and heat is almost always the reason.

Hot water during the cycle, or high heat in the dryer afterwards. Both shrink fabric and distort the shape. Cold wash and air dry and shrinking essentially stops being a concern.

 

How to wash shoes by hand

For leather, suede or anything you don't trust to the machine.

Wipe the soles with a damp cloth first. Stuff the shoes with rags or newspaper so water doesn't soak through to the inside. Use a toothbrush to lift the loose dirt.

Mix two cups of water with a quarter teaspoon of dish soap, and test it on a hidden patch before you go anywhere near the front. Dip the brush, work over the dirty areas, then lift the moisture off with a cloth.

Pull the stuffing out and let them air dry.

 

Where the laundry bag comes in

The mesh bag is the piece most people don't have, and it's the one doing the actual protection.

The Zippered Shoe Laundry Bag is a reusable mesh bag with a zip closure, sized to take sneakers, everyday shoes or kids' pairs. It keeps the shoes contained so they're not knocking against the drum, and it folds flat for travel or the gym.

Free standard shipping and a 30-day return window.

 

Get the three things right

It's almost never the washing machine's fault. It's a pair that shouldn't have gone in, or a hot cycle, or twenty minutes in the dryer afterwards. Check the label, bag them up with a couple of old towels, wash cold and gently, then let them dry in their own time. Do that and you'll get years out of shoes you'd otherwise have replaced.

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