Can you wash Vans in the washing machine? Some of them, and Vans itself can't agree on how many. A US Vans guide allows all-canvas pairs on a cold, gentle cycle with air drying and still calls it risky, while Vans' UK help page warns that the machine can discolour the shoes or make the colours bleed. Anything with suede stays out. For most dirty pairs, cleaning by hand is quicker than the cycle and carries none of that risk.
SneakerSalt is not affiliated with Vans.
What Vans actually says about the washer
Vans has at least three pages on this, and they point in different directions:
- The UK help page leans against it. Its concern is colour: machine washing can discolour Vans and make dyes bleed.
- A US cleaning guide allows it for all-canvas shoes only, on cold and gentle, followed by air drying, and describes even that as a risk.
- A US shop page is the most relaxed: canvas can go in on a gentle, cold cycle.
Where the pages agree matters more. None of them extends the machine beyond canvas. Vans' cleaning guidance calls hand cleaning the safest option, warns that long soaks can loosen glue and warp the shape, keeps water on suede to a minimum, and rules out the tumble dryer. A wash cycle is a long soak with agitation, so the honest reading is: canvas pairs can be machine washed, but Vans would rather you didn't.
Vans isn't unusual here. Nike says it does not recommend washing shoes in a machine, and On's footwear team says it never recommends putting dirty running shoes in the washer or the tumble dryer. Our general washing machine guide covers what the drum does to any sneaker.
Model by model: which Vans can go in
| Your pair | Machine? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Authentic | Possible, at your own risk | Canvas upper, the only kind any Vans page allows. |
| Slip-On, plain canvas | Possible, at your own risk | Check the label says canvas all the way round. |
| Checkered or coloured Slip-On | Better by hand | The UK help page's colour-bleed warning is about exactly this kind of pair. |
| Old Skool | No | Suede toe cap and suede panels. Vans keeps water on suede to a minimum. |
| Old Skool Canvas | Not really | Canvas with synthetic leather, so it isn't the all-canvas shoe the US guide means. |
| Sk8-Hi, Knu Skool | Check the label | Check what each panel is. Any suede panel makes it a no. |
| Any suede Vans | No | Too much water marks suede, by Vans' own account. |
| Laces | Separately | Vans says to soak them on their own. |
High tops follow the same rule as low tops: it is the material that decides, not the height. Checkered pairs, in any model, carry the colour-bleed risk the UK help page describes. And suede Vans in the washing machine is the one combination none of Vans' pages allows.
Why the drum is hard on Vans
Three things go wrong, and Vans names all of them somewhere in its own guidance.
- Colour. The UK help page's warning is discolouring and bleeding. On a checkerboard or a two-tone pair, that means white parts that come out tinted.
- Glue and shape. A full cycle is a long soak, and long soaks are what Vans blames for loosened glue and warped shoes.
- Heat. Vans rules out the dryer and asks for air drying indoors at room temperature, so keep heat out of every step, the wash included.
If you machine wash Vans anyway
For an all-canvas pair that you have decided to put in, this is how to do it least badly.
- Check the label. All canvas, no suede, no leather overlays. If you aren't sure, it isn't going in.
- Laces out. Soak them separately, as Vans suggests. Take out any insole that lifts out.
- Brush off the dry dirt first. Let caked mud dry and knock it off outside, so the machine isn't churning it through the canvas.
- Use a mesh laundry bag or a pillowcase. It is the usual precaution, though nobody has shown that a bag makes the cycle safe for the shoes.
- Cold water, gentle cycle, mild colour-safe detergent. Cold and gentle is the US guide's condition. No bleach, which Vans says yellows canvas and rubber.
- Wash them alone. If any dye does run, you don't want it in your white T-shirts either.
- Never the dryer. Stuff them with paper and let them dry indoors at room temperature, away from heaters and sun. Re-lace only when they are dry all the way through.
The quicker option for most pairs
Most of what makes Vans look dirty is on the surface: grey canvas, a scuffed sidewall, mud on the toe. A no-rinse foam handles that in a few minutes without the shoe ever getting wet through. SneakerSalt Shoe Cleaning Foam is rated excellent on canvas and on rubber, and good, blot only, on suede, so it covers the Old Skools the machine can't. Pump, wait ten seconds, wipe with the cloth that comes in the box. The method for canvas in detail is in our canvas shoes guide.
The machine still has one fair use: an all-canvas pair that is dirty right through the weave, not just on top. Even then, a surface clean first shows you how much is really left.
Questions people actually ask
Can you put Vans in the dryer?
No. Vans says to air dry them indoors at room temperature, away from dryers, heaters and direct sun. That applies to every model.
What temperature should I wash Vans at?
Cold. Vans' US guide makes cold and gentle the condition for putting canvas pairs in at all, and its other advice is to keep heat away from the shoes.
How do I wash the inside of my Vans?
The machine doesn't help much with the inside. Take the insole out if it lifts, wipe the lining with a damp cloth, and let the pair air out fully. Our insoles and odour guide deals with smell.
Can canvas shoes go in the washing machine?
Plain canvas usually survives a cold, gentle cycle better than leather or suede does. It is still a soak, and the same rules apply: no heat, no bleach, air dry.
Skip the cycle: SneakerSalt Shoe Cleaning Foam cleans canvas, rubber and suede in minutes, $24 with a brush and a cloth, free shipping, and a full refund if it doesn't work.
