Cleaning All-White Running Sneakers with Laundry Detergent

One of my favorite sneakers in my collection right now is this pair of Nike air presses in the triple white color way that you might have seen in past videos , it wouldn't be correct to call them triple whites .

However , given their current state , I've worn them pretty unapologetically in the last year that I've had them depending on the lighting .

These don't look too bad , but in real life , they're pretty gross .

The Mitzel show your typical dirtiness .

There are various markings on the toe cap and just general dirt all over the uppers .

You could definitely see some staining too , especially behind the plastic lacing system where you could tell dirt has just been trapped .

Overall , these definitely don't have that all white pop to them as they once did .

So today , I'll be cleaning them up and sharing the experience with you guys to prepare for the cleaning .

I'll start by removing the laces and insoles as I'll be cleaning them separately .

I also put in these plastic shoe trees so they maintain their shape while I apply pressure and scrub away at them .

And before getting into the process itself , I want to preface now that you should follow the video at your own risk .

I'm not liable if you damage your shoes while cleaning them .

Normally , I'm a big fan of using Jason Mark Sneaker cleaner as I've made it clear in my past few videos .

But today I'm getting experimental and we'll be using laundry detergent .

Yep , laundry detergent .

Like what you use for your clothes .

What I'll be doing here is using an assortment of soft bristled brushes and using laundry detergent as a cleaning agent .

And if you noticed I moved down to my filthy laundry room sink , I have at my house because this can get messy .

My apologies for it not being viscerally appealing .

Given the dirtiness getting right to it .

You could see that I just put on laundry detergent straight up .

You could be liberal with this stuff because you'd be scrubbing it all out .

Eventually .

I also went ahead and saturated the shoe in water too because nothing can go wrong here .

Right .

Anyway , think what you want because I went ahead and did it anyway .

So here I am just scrubbing away .

It's important to note that I'm using blue colored laundry detergent because it will restore the blue tints that you often see in bright whites .

Think about it when you buy something that is white brand new , whether it's sneakers or clothing , there's a slight blue tint to it in the sun over time that white will dull out and lose that brightness the idea here is that the blue pigment and the laundry detergent will bring the sneakers close to that original factory white .

So while you could probably use a clear laundry detergent , I would definitely recommend using a blue one if you can .

I also want to preface too that given the cloth like material on these preto essentials , they are the perfect candidate to try using laundry to surge on other lightweight fabrics .

You can find on running shoes such as mesh nylon or any knits are probably a safe bet to do this with as well .

Materials such as leather or suede .

However , I definitely wouldn't recommend doing this on unless you really don't care about your pair of sneakers while I'm here just chatting .

I also want to explain why I mainly brush these instead of putting them in the washing machine as that has been a technique made famous by rejuvenator .

In my mind , this is much more controllable than the washing machine which can get pretty aggressive while running .

I wanted to keep it within my control because just imagine the disappointment if you ran a pair of kicks through the wash and they came out torn up or broken , that would just be a fat elf .

And as I mentioned earlier , I'll be cleaning the Insol separately and here I am doing just that there's really no plan at all .

I just threw a bunch of laundry detergent on them and scrubbed away .

I would definitely recommend avoiding scrubbing anywhere near the heel where there is any logo as even a gentle scrub will remove the printing along with the insoles .

I also clean the laces separately using this trick with a water bottle .

I made a really cringy video about it back in 2012 .

I definitely wouldn't recommend checking it out unless you're in the mood to seriously cringe .

And once you're content with the cleaning of the sneakers , insoles and laces , it's time to start the drying process .

If it's a hot and sunny day out , feel free to leave everything outside .

You'd also just run them under a fan and let them dry off for a few hours , which I just did .

So here they are all cleaned up and I have to say they look great .

The stains on the uppers as well as the surface dirt throughout the Mitzel came right out .

While I wouldn't say they look factory white , they definitely cleaned up well and aren't a wearable state .

Again , personally , I'm fine with how they came out , but I would definitely repeat the cleaning process again .

If I wasn't , content results will vary for everybody .

So again , do this at your own risk , but that wraps it up for this video .

Let me know what you think of these tips .

Was there something else was missing ?

Is this stupid to do ?

I'd love to hear about in the comments if you support what I'm doing .

Feel free to drop a like on the video and subscribe to my channel .

I'll catch you guys in the next one .

Thanks for watching .