It seems my whole family loves a white tennis shoe! And with that, comes a lot of dirty white shoes. I learned from another Kansas City influencer about washing shoes in the dishwasher and I was intrigued. I’ve heard of people washing hats in the dishwasher, so why not shoes, right? After trying it once, I became hooked, and now do this all the time. Whenever I share on social media, I always get questions, so here goes! Here is how to clean tennis shoes in the dishwasher.
Prepping the Shoes
After doing this a few times, I decided to start prepping the shoes with Folex cleaning spray. This is a cleaner that I use on carpet, furniture, and yes, shoes. Simply spray on and lightly scrub with a soft damp cloth. This helps pretreat the shoes and really helps. If you don’t have time to wash in the dishwasher, Folex is a good cleaner to use!
Clean Tennis Shoes in the Dishwasher
After I have prepped the shoes, I place them face down on the top rack of the dishwasher. I often get asked about the insoles and I leave them in the shoes. You can leave the shoelaces in as well. If your shoelaces are super dirty, you could remove, treat, and put in the washing machine (in a mesh bag). In this case, I sort of loosened the laces but left them in. After placing the shoes on the top rack, add your regular dishwashing detergent or pod and wash as you would dishes. Please use your best discretion with water temperature, pressure, time, etc. Every shoe has is made of different materials, etc. You might think about turning the steam off. Just use your best judgement as to what cycle you use.
Setting Them Out to Dry
After the cycle is done, I put the shoes out to dry in the sun. I usually try to wait until I have a sunny day for them to dry.
Before + After
Of course, some shoes are never going to become sparkling clean (especially whites ones), but this definitely helps give them an allover touch up! Here is a pair of white shoes before and after.
I hope this is helpful if you want to try to clean tennis shoes in the dishwasher. It’s super easy. The only problem is the downtime to make sure they fully dry. XO
