How To Revive Your Old White Trainers

Having always worked in shoe shops the whole of my working life, I happen to know a thing or two about shoes. I can measure feet, check the fit of shoes, offer style advice as well as giving advice on how to care for your precious purchase. But despite this I found myself not taking my own advice and wrecking all of my favourite shoes because I'm too impatient to spray them with protector before I wear them. 

An example of this is my beloved Adidas Superstars, that after having been worn practically everyday for a couple of months and on a few nights out (sticky floors, spilt drinks and white trainers do not mix) were left looking dirty and brown. This is a far cry from the crisp white leather they were when I bought them and before buying a new pair I thought I'd try restore them to their former glory and share the process with you.

The first thing to note when cleaning leather trainers is that unlike canvas trainers (like converse) they cannot be put in the washing machine, I repeat DO NOT PUT THEM IN THE WASHING MACHINE!!! Putting leather trainers in the washing machine will ruin the leather and can result in holes, then if you try to return them to the shop because they are 'faulty' they will not give you a refund. What you can machine wash however is the laces, so your first step is to remove the laces and chuck them in the washing machine, or hand wash them in hot soapy water.

To clean the actual trainers I used a clean soft brush and Kiwi Whitener.

I then slightly wet the clean soft brush and started scrubbing the outside of the trainers to get all the dirt off of them and then wiped them down with a clean cloth. I also found that using a brush was better than using a baby wipe as the brush got in all of the nooks and crannies. As you can see from the picture above this made quite a dramatic difference on it's own but they still weren't a perfect white and there were a few grey marks around the front and on some of the stitching. 

Still with the laces removed I went onto use Kiwi's whitener white is basically a fast drying white paint for your trainers. It's just pigmented enough to brighten the trainers without looking patchy in places and the triangle sponge applicator means application is easy. Just make sure to avoid all of the black and gold details on the trainers as you don't want them ending up white. I made sure to use the whitener all over the shoe, including the tongue, front and outer sole. When your trainers and laces are dry (the whitener dries pretty much immediately) lace up your trainers and you're done!

This has made such a difference to my trainers and from the outside look practically brand new, so if you love your trainers looking white and want to save a bit of money this may be the perfect solution for you! My trainers are a bit worn on the inside at the back (I shouldn't of been so lazy and unlaced them properly everytime I took them off) so eventually I will need a new pair but they won't need throwing away just yet. I also used the same process on the white soles of my vans and it worked just as well on them so don't be hesitant to this use on other trainers.

What do you think of my revived trainers? Have you ever tried doing this with your shoes?

Eleanor xx