I bought this pair of lightweight, plain canvas shoes for the gym a couple months ago. Functionally, I like them. I also like their very plain aesthetic, but the canvas material holds on to dirt like nothing else. It’s not a smooth material; it’s very porous, so it’s not like you can brush dirt off of them, either. It gets trapped right in there.
Today I tried cleaning them with Fels-Naptha soap and a bristle brush. It worked pretty well.
Thanks for the tip, I might try this next time. I basically saturated them with water when cleaning them just now, so I don’t think soaking them would be much different. I also wonder if washing soda would improve them a little.