Take your personal shoe care to the next level:
Tips & tricks to clean your sneakers!
Sneakers never go out of fashion! People have been wearing sneakers for generations and it appears that they will remain very popular this summer. You can wear them with a sporty outfit or in a more classy ‘casual chic’ style. This upcoming season will be fantastic for everyone who loves to combine style and comfort!
Luckily sneakers don’t get as dirty during the summer as they do in winter. But still, someone can spill something on your shoes, or step on your toes, or you might even wear them during a festival this summer. There’s a big chance that dirty stains will appear on your sneakers. Luckily in most cases there’s something you can do to fix this.
Laces
Firstly, you need to remove the laces from your shoes. Try to remove most of the dirt and put the laces in a little bag in the washing machine. Let them air dry and they’ll look brand new!
What kind of material?
Before you start cleaning, you should know exactly what material the sneakers are made of. The upper parts of the sneakers are usually made of canvas, leather and synthetic leather. Canvas is easy to recognize, but how can you tell if a sneaker is made of leather or not? Real leather is supple and feels soft, while synthetic leather is more rigid. Leather has a very pronounced smell, while synthetic leather has a more chemical smell.
Now that you know what material you have in front of you, you can apply the right technique
Canvas sneakers
Let's say you stepped in an oil slick crossing the street, or perhaps dropped a big greasy French fry on your new sneakers (it happens to the best of us). Use a toothbrush or a small & sharp brush to get to hard-to-reach areas. Use a shoe cleaner, which you can buy in a specialized shop and scrub gently onto the canvas. The oil stain should come right out!
Leather or synthetic sneakers
After a while leather can dry out and become rigid. It’s important to clean your shoes regularly with cleaning wipes. When your shoes are completely clean and dry you should polish them with the correct colour ( the same colour as your shoes or a neutral one). Shoe polish, which you can buy in any specialized shop, nourishes the shoe and prevents it from drying out.
Suede sneakers
Suede is a very delicate material that requires special treatment. First, wipe off the dirt of the shoes with a brush and grease stains with a suede gum. It’s better to avoid suede becoming wet but if there are tenacious stains, you can always mix shoe cleaning detergent with lukewarm water. Dab a soft brush in this, but make sure the brush isn’t too wet. Dab the shoes dry with the microfiber cloth. Doing this in a rotating movement will remove the humidity out of the leather and the suede will look brand new.
Start cleaning!
To be able to reach to every part of your shoe, we advise you to stuff your shoes with paper towels or tissues for example. Don’t use old newspapers, because the ink might blemish your shoes.First, use a cloth to remove any large pieces of debris from the shoe and the shoe soles. Brush your sneakers clean with a shoe cleaner and rinse them with some water until you are happy with the result. Let the sneakers dry. Don’t let them dry in the sunlight as they might shrink and change colour.
With the right shoe cleaning product and an adapted little brush your sneakers will remain clean! At Mister Minit we sell ‘sneaker cleaner’ , an amazing gel for sneakersmade of any material! Our shop operators will also be happy to clean your sneakers for you
As of July you can buy a full range of Sneaker cleaner products in our Mister Minit stores: protector gel, brush, coloured laces, polish for white sneakers,…
Bring your sneakers back to life thanks to Mister Minit’s sneaker cleaner!
Click here to find the closest Mister Minit shop