Do you clean your athletic shoes? Regular cleaning keeps them smelling fresh and prolongs their life. That can put a little more cash in your wallet too. Even better, cleaning doesn’t take long.

Generally, you only need to clean your athletic shoes every six months. If you run daily or are frequently active, you might do every three months.

First, understand that you can put both suede and leather in your washer. Before washing:

1. Remove your insert and the laces. Factory inserts can go through the washer, but custom ones cannot.
2. Get rid of any loose dirt or stones as best you can.
3. To clean your custom inserts, simply hand wash them in warm water. Put one tablespoon of baking soda in the water. If your inserts stink, sprinkle baking soda on them directly.
4. In the future, use an antimicrobial spray to limit microbial growth.

How to Wash Your Athletic Shoes in Your Washer

1. Ideally, put your shoes in a mesh laundry bag first. While this protects your shoes, you can still get away without a mesh bag. Optionally, add some towels to reduce noise and balance the load.
2. Simply use warm water and detergent. Wash at a slower speed to stop your washer from becoming unbalanced.
3. Don’t wash your shoes in your dishwasher. The detergents fade, shrink, and melt your shoes!
4. Easily disinfect your shoes by adding Lysol Pine Action or Pine-Sol. Both require warm water.

How to Dry Your Athletic Shoes

1. Take your shoes out of your washer and let any water drip away.
2. Either let them dry in a well-ventilated place or dry them on an air-only cycle in your dryer with the towels you washed. Put a washcloth in each shoe so they keep their shape.
3. Don’t dry your shoes in the sun because that can cause cracking.
4. You can also use a fan to decrease drying time.
5. When dry, you can use shoe polish to clean up scuffs.
6. Consider a conditioner to prevent future cracking.
7. Spray on a fabric protection spray to repel dirt and stains.

How to Store Your Athletic Shoes

1. Put your shoes in a shoebox, drawstring bag, or plastic tub.
2. Always clean your shoes before storage because residual dirt and oils can cause yellow discoloration and bacteria and fungus may infect your shoes.

That’s it! That’s how you clean your athletic shoes for a fresher scent, and so you get longer life out of them and keep more money in your pocket.