Guide to Keeping your Shoes Clean

I have had Lin’s Triple White Ultraboost 4.0 for just over a year now and I am constantly being asked how I maintain my them and keep them looking what I call close to deadstock.

Please note: This guide is overkill, this is what I choose to do, It is not for everyone but from what I have found it pays off for maintaining my shoes at a high quality and 1:1 deadstock looks ;). This guide is completely based on my personal experience.

If you are just here for the photos scroll to the bottom 🙂

There are two methods, Handwashing, and Machine washing. I wash all my shoes by hand except the ultra boosts and I will tell you why. I put the ultras in them machine one day and found the result was outstanding this was due to the shoe getting a much deeper clean in the machine and making the white really shine out compared to when I hand washed them (you will see in the images). However, this is not necessary for darker shoes nor will I put shoes such as my Offwhite Vapormaxes or Yeezys in the machine. A hand wash is more than enough however I continue to use the machine only for the ultra boosts as it works well.

Method 1 – Hand wash:

What you will need

Wool/Delicates Soap
Fine brush for uppers
Thicker brush for sole
Sponge
Cloth of your choosing (I prefer a microfibre one)

Photo of products I use

Steps:

1: Prep:

Remove laces
Get your sponge, wet it with warm water and lightly rub-down the shoe, getting it wet but not soaked.
Place your soap in a container and mix with hot water (you should be comfortable handling it)

2: Laces:

Get another container and fill it with warm water and soap
Leave the laces in the container to soak while you clean the shoes
Once you have cleaned the shoes come back and continue on
Take your laces out and with your hand rinse them under warm water, usually if the dirt is light it comes out however you may need a cloth and just run it down the lace to get out any dirt. If they are really bad you may wanna scrub them.
Once satisfied set out to dry (I tend to hang on a towel rack)

3: Bottoms:

Grab your thicker brush and dip it in the soap and scrub at the bottoms (this includes the boost in the case of ultra boosts)
Once you are satisfied with the bottoms get your sponge and rinse all the soap off, continuously rinse the sponge out with warm water
Once all soap is off the bottoms we move onto the uppers

4: Uppers:

Dip your fine brush in the soap and begin to scrub the uppers of the shoe (everything above the boost in the case of ultra boosts)
Once you have a soapy layer all over, rinse your finer brush with warm water and continue to work the shoe alternating between cleaning the brush and more soap if necessary, don’t be afraid to scrub hard if you need
Once you are happy that the uppers are clean get out your sponge and wet it again and get all the soap off, you want to continually rinse the sponge and keep wiping until all soap is gone.
Once satisfied set aside

5: Drying:

Set your shoes in a spot where they won’t get touched or interfered with.
I leave mine for 24 hours to dry usually before wearing
I have my laces from a towel rack and just lean the shoes against a wall on a towel.

6: Protection:

Once shoes are fully dried I spray 2 layers of Forcefield Protector and set to dry again, I prefer forcefield over Crep as I have seen cases where Crep leaves yellowing on the boost.

Method 2 – Washing Machine (how I get my ultras looking so crisp):

Please note: All machines are different, I got lucky with mine and it has done me well however as good as it can be I still recommend washing by hand.