Tools:

  1. Toothbrush
  2. Old rag I don’t care about
  3. Bleach
  4. Stain remover
  5. Borax
  6. Containers
  7. Rubber gloves
  8. Paper towels
  9. Dish towels

I mixed bleach with water 3:1 (water:bleach), and I mixed dawn with water (no ratio used).using the toothbrush, I would wet the head with stain remover and scrub the rubber bands around the shoe to remove excess dirt and grime. Then i would rinse the toothbrush and use that to wipe away most of the stain remover. I would use a wet paper towel to get any left over remover off.

Using the old rag, I would dab it into the bleach water, and gently rub out any persistent stains while being very careful not to get the canvas or leather parts wet. I would dip the toothbrush in bleach water and use it on the toe area because of a criss-cross pattern in the rubber. I would be very careful to swipe the brush downward and away from the canvas to avoid splatter. I would also use a wet paper towel to wash away residual bleach. And finally, I would thoroughly wash the brush of any bleach.

For the canvas and leather areas, I added borax to the dawn water and then I would scrub everything using the toothbrush and borax solution. I would then rinse the shoe in water (avoiding getting water inside the shoe), and then use the clean dish rags to stuff the inside pf the toe area so it dries in shape.

It took maybe 2 hours. I also bleached my shoelaces.

Before:

After:

  • NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    40 minutes ago

    Vans and Converse barely last a year now, so by the time you need to do this the uppers will probably start coming loose or something.

  • bert_macklin_fbi@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    3 hours ago

    I’ve always used a toothbrush and shaving cream. The variety of items used is blowing my mind a bit! I think they turned out great!

    • dohpaz42@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      3 hours ago

      Unfortunately for me, I don’t have shaving cream. Interesting though. Might be worth a shot next time.

  • JokeDeity@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    3 hours ago

    Random shoe tip: chapstick makes pretty good shoe polish and by design it’s already in a decent applicator shape.

  • lath@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    4 hours ago

    I applaud your dedication. Wish I had a similar one. Sadly, I usually just dump them in the washing machine…

    • dohpaz42@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      4 hours ago

      If it weren’t for the leather (maybe vegan?), I probably would have too. But I also wanted the bands clean again.

  • binarytobis@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    3 hours ago

    Every time I clean something like this it ends up ruined. I have a nice soft leather jacket I wanted to protect, so I researched and bought this really nice beeswax leather treatment stuff. Applied it to the jacket and it got in all of the stitching seams and shows bright white against the black. No amount of hair drying, soap and toothbrush, or rubbing gets it out.

    Cleaned my car seats and stupidly rubbed them with paper towels. Words can not express how many ways I’ve tried getting those little paper fragments out of the nylon/cloth seats.

    Your shoes look great, though.

    • dohpaz42@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      3 hours ago

      Yeah. I have a bigger brush I used to brush off the paper towel pieces. I will brush them again when dry to get any left over pieces I missed.