No one buys white sneakers thinking they’ll stay bright and grime-free forever. But that doesn’t mean deep down inside you don’t hope to prolong the inevitable for as long as possible. Well, a new viral tweet is giving everyone hope that they can restore shoes to their original state — even after trekking them through dirt and the elements every single day.
Here’s what Twitter user @sarahtraceyy posted, revealing the before and after pictures of her Converse sneakers with the caption “I am a miracle worker.” Since her tweet has been retweeted almost 99,000 times since then, it’s safe to say the world agrees.
https://twitter.com/sarahtraceyy/status/919627555732275200/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.goodhousekeeping.com%2Fhome%2Fcleaning%2Fnews%2Fa46564%2Fhow-to-clean-white-shoes%2F
People have been responding to her post with comments like “God obviously saw me googling how to clean white shoes today and sent this tweet my way,” and “OMG, what kind of witchcraft?” Luckily, @sarahtraceyy shared her method with the world.
She started by rinsing the dirt off her shoes with water, then she mixed 1 part baking soda and 1 and a half parts laundry detergent together. She scrubbed the shoes with the mixture using a toothbrush, then let them sit. Finally, she rinsed them again, put them in the washer, sprinkled them with baby powder and let them dry.
But before you go throwing your shoes in the washer, Carolyn Forte, the director of the Cleaning Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute, says she wouldn’t recommend it and suggests hand washing them with a cloth or a brush instead — just to be safe.
And if you own leather or synthetic white sneakers, Forte recommends using a different method altogether: Hand wash them with a mild soap and water. Then, for the rubber soles and sides, clean them with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. “The dirt rubs right off!” she says.
