How To Clean Shoes With Bleach?

Most people need to know how to clean shoes without damaging shoes. As we all know shoes are almost always in everyday use. No matter, how good you look after them but they still are at the mercy of the weather and the walking surface outside. People struggle a lot in cleaning and maintaining their shoes, especially the white ones that look prominently dirty with even a small spot over them. The white or other light color shoes require rigorous cleaning.

The ordinary solutions and cleaning agents might not be able to clean rigid stains. Further, they could also damage the shoes. This is where bleach can be your best companion for not only cleaning your shoes but also not causing any damage. On top of that, your shoes would come out as good as a new one.

Steps To Clean Shoes With Bleach and Without Damaging Them

The first intention here is to help our readers to clean the shoes with bleach so that the stubborn stains will be removed easily. But the main concern here is, not to damage the color and texture and avoid loosening of the upper texture.

So we are going to take proper precautions and measures to assure that there will be no problems and issues during and after the cleaning is being done.

The stains will be removed and the shoe will be as good as new to be worn on a long term basis. We’ll start from the things we need and then will explain the whole procedure in a step by step manner.

Things Required

• Bleach
• Bucket
• Water
• Shoe Brush
• Rubber Gloves
• Face Mask
• Ammonia

The following steps details a tried and tested technique for giving you clean shoes with bleach cleaning and without damaging them:

1. Pre-cleaning

Start by removing all dirt and dust from your shoes. This could be done using a stiff bristle shoe brush. For the rubber part on the sole, you can just wipe it with a damp cloth.

2. Preparing For Shoes Cleaning Using Bleach – Safety First

Bleach is capable of cleaning all stains and dirt from your shoes. It is quite an effective cleaning agent, but at the same time, it can be dangerous specifically for human skin. To best protect yourself, always use rubber gloves before starting with any such activity having bleach. Moreover, bleach is also known for having a very strong odor and it could be dangerous for asthmatic patients. It is therefore advised to always use a face mask while dealing with bleach, especially if you have asthma or other breathing issues.

3. Preparing Bleach Mixture

In a bucket, you need to add 1 part of bleach in 5 parts of water. This is how we dilute to make bleach more suitable for shoe cleaning. If you use it directly, this will surely ruin the texture of the shoe despite seeing the stain going off, you will also see the bleaching impact on the shoe color and texture immediately. So, make sure you keep it diluted that will remove stain gradually and will not harm the shoe in any way.

4. Shoe Cleaning Using a Bleach Solution

Take a soft and clean cloth piece of cotton and dip it in the solution you prepared in step 23. Wring it properly and then rub it over the issue. It is recommended for using the bleach mixture over the tight or hidden spots of the footwear. This would give you a safe idea if the solution is damaging the shoes or not.

5. Apply and wait

Once you have applied the bleach + water solution over the shoes with the cotton cloth then let it stay over it for a few minutes. After some time, take a dry and clean cloth and dip it in simple clean water. Then wipe your shoes with that cloth, which will remove all traces of bleach. After this step, you will see that your shoes are completely free from any stain, dirt or dust.

6. Air Dry clean shoes

After bleach-washing your shoes, hang them in the open air to dry them. Make sure that the air-drying open place is also a shady one. The proper or desirable cleaning results would come after the shoes have dried completely. Sunlight should always be avoided while drying especially if you have white or light color shoes. It is because the bleach-cleaned shoes in the drying phase could also get damaged by sunlight by turning them into yellowish color.

This detailed process discussed above is quite easy to implement as all fine details are mentioned. However, if you want to save yourself from the cleaning procedure and only want to use it once in a while, then you may look to use a stain repellent on your shoes. This will protect your shoes from stains and spots to some extent and wouldn’t require very frequent cleaning with bleach.

Conclusion:

Bleach can land you with sparkling white clean shoes with bleach usage. The main key step here is to dilute the bleach properly or your white shoes might end up yellowish with bleach cleaning.

The steps discussed above works for a lot of different types of stains, dirt, and spots over your shoes and wouldn’t cause any damage to the footwear at all. You can simply follow the steps and will be able to see the clean and clear shine on your shoes without leaving a fainted color effect on them. As most fabric shoes are delicate so it better to follow the process to avoid damages. You need to air dry your shoes after bleach cleaning to see the desirable results.