What to do if your sneakers turn yellow after washing
Your favorite white sneakers have turned yellow after washing, and their appearance is no longer attractive. What to do? Should I throw out my shoes and give up white forever? We think that you shouldn’t do something so drastic; we suggest trying to return the sneakers to their former whiteness. There are several ways to do this, we decided to share them with you.
Why do sneakers turn yellow after washing?
To return your sneakers to their former white color, you need to understand why they turn yellow in the first place. What is the nature of yellow spots? Maybe this will help in the fight against them. There can be several reasons for yellowness on shoes.
- One of the most common reasons is improper drying. Most shoe owners, in order to speed up the process, dry their shoes outside in the sun. Indeed, this way the sneakers dry faster, but after a while they begin to turn yellow under the influence of ultraviolet radiation. Perhaps not immediately, but after several dryings.
- Rinse in a small amount of water. In other words, the sneaker fabric was poorly rinsed with detergent, which after drying appeared in the form of yellow spots.
The water for washing and rinsing should be warm, but not hot! This can also cause your sneakers to turn yellow.
- Another reason is an incorrectly selected detergent or poor quality of such a detergent.
- Rarely, yellow spots can be caused by improper preparation of shoes for washing.
- The reason may be chemical reactions during the interaction of the powder and the sole material.
- Pay attention to the water in which you are going to wash your sneakers. Is it clean? It happens that water pipes are replaced in a neighborhood, and then small particles of rust appear in the water, and the water becomes cloudy.
Yellow spots can appear not only on the outside of the shoe, but also on the inside. People who suffer from excessive sweating may develop yellow spots due to sweat. If washed incorrectly, such stains will appear. No matter how careful you are, you will have to deal with these stains somehow.
A working method to get rid of yellowness
From the comments, we concluded that the best remedy for getting rid of yellowness is the method suggested by our site visitor Oksana. She described it at the bottom of the page in the discussion of this article:
“I tormented my sneakers for a long time. And finally I found a solution. So, we hand-squeeze the washed white sneakers or sneakers. Then we push the paper inside. And most importantly, take thin napkins and wrap them completely. So that the paper is saturated and sticks. Then you can put it in a regular warm place. All the yellow spots will remain on the paper, and you will be back in white sneakers. Good luck to all!"
Judging by the reviews, the method really works. You can thank Oksana below in the comment form.
Bleach and soap
The first thing that comes to mind when removing stains from white fabric is, of course, bleach. There are many of them, but it is best to choose oxygen. Before washing your sneakers with bleach, you need to prepare them:
- remove the laces and insoles;
- Wash the sole from dirt.
Remember! Only clean shoes are bleached, otherwise the desired effect will not be achieved.
Next, the shoes are soaked in warm water with the addition of bleach or washing powder with bleaching properties for a couple of hours. But this does not mean that they need to be put in water and left for two hours. From time to time, the sneakers need to be rubbed with a brush, you can use a toothbrush. We clean not only the top of the shoe, but also the inside.
If the yellow spots do not respond, we take tooth powder.Pour the powder onto the stain and clean with a brush. You can repeat the soaking procedure a couple of times, changing the water. As soon as the sneakers acquire the desired color, start rinsing them, sparing clean water.
If the yellow spots have just appeared and are of a light shade, then you can try to bleach them with soap. Just take bleaching soap instead of laundry soap. For example, soap “Eared Nanny”, “Sarma”, “Clean & White”. Shoes need to be wet, soaped and rubbed, leaving for 30-40 minutes, then rinse off the foam. Repeat the procedure several times.
Toothpaste and brush
Toothpaste works well for yellowing shoes. For such purposes, it is not necessary to buy an expensive one; a regular one with a whitening effect will do. The color of the paste itself should also be white, without blue or red particles. Otherwise, instead of bleaching, the sneakers will be stained.
We perform the procedure as follows:
- lightly moisten the surface of the shoe, it should not be wet;
- Apply the paste to a damp sponge, white cloth or toothbrush;
- three contaminated areas of shoes;
- leave the paste for 20-30 minutes;
- clean everything again;
- wash off the paste;
- rinse thoroughly;
- dry.
For your information! Toothpaste does a good job of whitening not only shoe fabric, but also rubber soles.
Peroxide and ammonia
An old proven remedy - ammonia - will help get rid of yellow stains on white sneaker fabric. Some people underestimate it due to improper use, but it still has its uses. Before the procedure, sneakers must be clean and dry. Take a bandage or cotton pad and moisten it with ammonia, rub the yellow area of the fabric. Leave for 20-30 minutes, rub again. The stains do not begin to fade immediately, so you have to repeat the procedure up to 10 times, which will require patience from you. Finally, the shoes are rinsed and dried.
You can restore the white color using hydrogen peroxide. To do this, it is mixed with vinegar and washing powder in a ratio of 1:1:1. The resulting paste is rubbed onto the sneakers and left to interact with the stains. After 30-40 minutes, wash off, rinse and dry.
Trying to paint over it
And finally, the last resort is to paint yellowed shoes. Stores offer special paint for shoes, which is very easy to use at home. The paint will hide not only yellowed areas of the fabric, but also other stains.
The paint is supplied in cans and instructions are included. Therefore, before use, read it carefully and do not neglect any point. As a result, you will receive new, snow-white sneakers.
Washing rules
If there are no small parts glued to the shoes, and the manufacturer allows you to wash the sneakers in an automatic washing machine, you can try machine washing. Some people are very afraid to wash any shoes in automatic mode, thinking that they will immediately end. This is not fair, because if you follow the rules for automatically washing sneakers, then such washing will cause much less harm to the shoes than hand washing. What rules are we talking about, how to wash shoes?
- Before washing the sneakers, you need to unlace them, remove the insoles, and then put the shoes in laundry bag and only then put it in the drum of the washing machine.
If your shoes are heavily soiled, you need to treat them with detergents before machine washing.
- Choose powders and cleaning gels that do not contain chlorine. A chlorine-containing “wash” will cause the sneakers to darken.
- Choose a gentle wash cycle, which will rotate the drum slowly. Spin must also be turned off.
- It is better to wash shoe laces by hand.If you throw the laces into the washer, there is a risk that they will slip into the tank and then get stuck in the drain pipe.
- If the washing machine has a drying function, do not turn it on under any circumstances. Forced drying in the drum of a washing machine will definitely cause your sneakers to turn yellow and become deformed.
- Use the extra rinse function.
When washing sneakers by hand, you also need to remember some rules. The main rule: do not use aggressive chemicals, especially those containing chlorine and acids. When washing shoes in a basin, do not use too much effort when scrubbing off the dirt - do not damage the shoes, also make sure that the brushes do not have rough abrasive surfaces and bristles. Wash and rinse products only at a temperature of 30-35 degrees. Rinse at least 5 times.
The more carefully you take care of your white sneakers, the longer they will last you. The less chance they will turn yellow. We hope you now know how to wash white rag shoes. Be careful!
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I struggled with my sneakers for a long time. And finally I found a solution. So, we hand-squeeze the washed white sneakers or sneakers. Then we push the paper inside. And most importantly, take thin napkins and wrap them completely. So that the paper is saturated and sticks. Then you can put it in a regular warm place. All the yellow spots will remain on the paper, and you will be back in white sneakers.Good luck to all!
Thank you so much! I didn't expect that you could get rid of stains so easily. Such a long article, but that’s all, I need to take your advice!
Thank you! The advice is actually effective.
Thanks for the advice! I tried it and it turned out great!
Your advice is wonderful in its simplicity and effectiveness. Thank you!
There is no price for you, Oksana! Thanks a lot!
Oksana, hello, yesterday I read about your advice and immediately tried it. This actually works. All the yellowness remained on the paper. And the sneakers became snow-white! Thank you very much, I was almost disappointed.
Useful article! Thank you!
Did you wash it by hand or is it possible to wash it in a machine too?
Yellow stains appear after washing sneakers, apparently due to hard water. If the last 2 rinses are done in warm filtered water or boiled water, there are no streaks. At least it helped me.
It's better to use white toothpaste and a toothbrush. Rub, leave for 20-30 minutes, rinse. Well, you can wash it once. The main rules: the water should not be hot, rinse thoroughly from detergent and dry not in the sun. So they will definitely turn yellow without you :)
I washed my sneakers yesterday, then threw them in the dryer and ended up with yellow streaks all over the edges. What to do, tell me?
Denis, take advantage of the advice from Oksana, which is in the first comment under the article. This is the ideal solution to your problem.
This yellowness is glue and dirt, which, along with water, rise up from the sole and insole through the formed capillaries, and settle anywhere on the white fabric of the sneaker/sneaker. We dry it with the sole facing up so that the fabric doesn’t touch anything (figure out how) and that’s it.
Thank you for such a simple and effective advice, the sneakers in the paper were dry, and not a trace remained of the yellow spots. I didn’t close the bookmark on purpose to check whether it was true or not. And leave a comment. Pure truth!
I also didn’t close the tab on purpose. After the machine, the sneakers became stained with yellow. I washed it again according to this advice. The sneakers are clean again!
Oksana, thank you, kind person! Your one comment is more valuable than all the articles on the Internet.
There are so many discarded white sneakers, why didn’t I find this article earlier? The method works 100%, the sneakers are snow-white, like new, no yellow spots after drying! Thank you very much for the advice!
I'm shocked! This method really works! Thank you very much, I'm delighted!
Thank you! The method works
Thank you!