If you take care of your sneakers properly they will both look better and last much longer. In this guide we go through how to clean, care for and protect your leather, suede or textile sneakers, including how to clean white shoes. First in text and pictures, at the bottom you'll find a film showcasing all the steps.
The basic things are to use cedar shoe trees in leather or suede sneakers, to help keep their shape when they dry after a day's use, to brush or wipe off dirt when you get home, and preferably not to use them several days after each other. All shoes need time to dry, they wear out much faster if used moist. Rotating between at least two pairs extends the life span significantly for both pairs.
Then at regular intervals you need to clean your sneakers, freshen them up and make sure they are protected. Below is a simple guide to how to do this in the best way possible. Here we use products from the Spanish shoe care brand Tarrago Factory, which has a really wide selection of sneaker care products, and from Saphir Medaille d'Or, and the shoes that are fixed up are a sample pair of our premium sneakers in white chrome free leather with white sole edge.
The products we use in this guide.
The shoes to be fixed, quite dirty and scratched.
1. Cleaning white sneakers (and others)
After a period of use, some dirt often settles in the material of the sneakers, and the sole becomes dirty and discolored, especially if it is the very common white soles. Here we use Tarrago WASC! Sneakers Super Cleaner to clean them up. It's a really great cleaner which works for leather, suede, nubuck and textile sneakers.
Remove the laces.
Start by removing the laces and removing the loose insole, then wet a stiffer brush, like our own Sneakers brush or Tarrago Sneakers brush, shake the WASC! bottle and apply the product to the wet brush. Rub the whole shoe gently but thoroughly with the product, on the sole edges you can spray the product directly and let sit for a bit. The dirtier the shoe is, the more you have to clean, and the more the shoe needs to dry. Make sure the whole shoe gets moist, to avoid water streaks when they are dry. Also wash the loose insoles and shoe laces with the WASC! cleaner (the latter can also be placed in a washing machine, but do not put the entire shoes in these, even if they become clean it dissolves glue and other things which reduces the life span of the shoes). Wipe off excess lather and the worst moisture with a cloth. Then let the shoes air dry, preferably with shoe trees in them, or newspaper tissues.
Clean the shoes thoroughly with a stiff brush.
Wipe off lather and loose dirt with a damp cloth.
Do clean the laces with the WASC! super cleaner as well, get it soaked with the product and use the brush, then leave it for a while before rinsing the laces off and let them dry.
Clean the insoles as well, although these are usually the most difficult to get clean.
2. Freshen up sneakers
Depending on the material and condition, different products may be used. If they are of regular full grain smooth leather, like this pair here, they need to be nourished and cared for with for example Tarrago Rescue Conditioner or Saphir Medaille d'Or Pommadier shoe cream. If pigmented cream is used, the leather is recoloured and marks are covered, here we now also have white shoe cream, perfect for white sneakers like this. Apply a thin layer of the conditioner or shoe cream with a cloth, let dry for 5-10 minutes, then go over them with a softer shoe brush.
Take a small amount of shoe cream on a polishing cloth.
Apply with circular motions. The amount shown above is approximately enough for the toe cap here.
When the cream has dried for a bit you brush off the shoes.
If you need to nourish and/or recolour suede or nubuck shoes, we have Saphir Medaille d'Or Renovateur spray which is available in different colors, then you have to think about covering the sole edge with masking tape if it's not the same shade as the upper.
For these shoes, we also wanted to get the crisp white look on the sole edges, here we use Tarrago Sneakers Total White which is a covering color. Shake the bottle well, then squeeze the applicator sponge and apply the white cream around the entire sole edge. Then allow to dry.
Even if the soles were cleaned, they didn't have the crisp white look of brand new soles anymore. Tarrago Sneakers Total White fixes this.
3. Protect sneakers
If the sneakers are in smooth leather, shoe cream is sufficient protection. Here, you should not spray with waterproofing spray, as it clogs the pores of the leather and prevents the nourishing substances in the shoe cream from penetrating, which causes the leather to dry out in the long run. However, if the shoes are in suede, nubuck or textile, it's recommended to spray the shoes with waterproofing spray. Here we use Tarrago Sneakers Nano Protector which is a very efficient product, yet without any silicone or harmful synhtetic substances. Start by brushing up the suede with a suede brush, extra important after cleaning, so that the fibers will rise again, the stiff sneakers brush may work as well. Spray over the entire shoes, then allow the shoes to dry for the specified time.
Suede and textile shoes needs to be protected with a waterproofing spray.
When all steps have been done, you have a pair of clean, fresh and well protected sneakers ready to serve again. Here's our white sneakers, with the right shoe untreated, and the left shoe cleaned and cared for. Quite a difference.
Here we also show before and after pictures of suede sneakers cleaned and protected according in accordance with this guide.
Here's a film showcasing all the steps above:
You'll find all our sneaker care products here.