Oh boy, keeping white sneakers clean and sparkly. Yeah, it’s the nightmare of everyone that owns a nice pair of white shoes. The problem is that, due to the nature of shoes, they will always get dirty. You can’t keep them white forever unless you put in the effort to maintain them. Thankfully, the power of the Internet makes it easier than ever to find an answer to literally any question that you have in life. One of those questions: how do you keep white sneakers clean? Here are some simple hacks that can do just that.
The baking soda method
This here is probably the most well-known method of cleaning white sneakers. Assuming you already have some baking soda in your home, this one’s really easy. All you’ll need, outside of baking soda, is hot water and white vinegar. The goal is to mix together a paste to apply to your white shoes. To do this, mix together one tablespoon each of baking soda, hot water, and white vinegar. What you’re looking for is a consistent paste, so mix the ingredients together until you achieve just that. Next, grab an old toothbrush (or one you don’t use anymore) and begin to apply the paste to the outside of your shoes. Hint, applying in circular motions will provide the best results. Once your shoes are covered, go ahead and leave them outside in sunlight for a good three hours. To conclude, shake off all the remaining baking soda from the sneakers.
Using bleach
Alright, so this one’s a bit trickier and will require more attention. Yet it can be done to great success. The key is to dilute bleach enough to prevent it from ruining your white shoes. If you use too much bleach, you may end up with nasty yellow sneakers. The safe route is to go with a five-to-one ratio of water-to-bleach. In other words, say you used 0.5 cups of bleach, you’d want to mix it with 2.5 cups of water. Also, when mixing and applying, do so in a well-ventilated area. Go ahead and mix a solution of bleach and water into a small container. Then, once again, get ahold of an old toothbrush to perform the cleaning. Once finished cleaning, rinse off your shoes with warm water and then let them sit overnight.
Using toothpaste instead
Toothpaste seems to have the most ridiculous uses past actually cleaning your teeth. Well, guess what, it can also be used to help clean white shoes. But, only if the toothpaste being used is of the non-gel, white variety. You can’t just use any old toothpaste, as certain ones will stain your shoes. The process of applying the toothpaste is about as simple as it gets, though. With your non-gel, white paste, take an old toothbrush and cover the outside of your shoes. Let them sit for several minutes and then take a damp towel to wipe them down. If you feel they still aren’t white enough, you can keep repeating this process until you’re satisfied.
Some of these methods you probably would have never thought of, huh? It’s okay, most people wouldn’t think to use toothpaste to clean shoes. Bleach and baking soda are not too outlandish to believe, though. Either way, you now know of three solid methods to try and put some flash back in your white shoes. Don’t worry, they’re going to get dirty, so there’s no reason to get paranoid about that. It’s all about restoring their greatness, which you now know is not too complicated to do.
