Grey New Balance sneakers are a suede-and-mesh sandwich, and the two materials want opposite treatment. Mesh is the easiest thing on the shoe to clean: foam, wait, wipe. Pigskin suede is blot only: light pump, press, lift, a second pass if needed, never a circular scrub. Get that distinction right and a grey pair stays grey instead of going patchy.
SneakerSalt is not affiliated with New Balance.
What you are dealing with
The classic running silhouettes, the 990 line, the 574 and their relatives, use pigskin suede overlays over a mesh base, with a large suede or synthetic N on the side and a foam midsole. Court styles like the 550 are mostly leather, with suede on some colourways. Check the tongue label and use your fingers: suede has a nap that changes shade when you brush it, mesh is a woven or knitted fabric with visible holes, leather is smooth. The method below is by material, so it covers all of them.
| Part | Material | Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Overlays, toe cap, heel, the N | Pigskin suede | Light pump, blot, brush the nap up when dry |
| Base panels, tongue | Mesh | Foam, ten seconds, wipe |
| Some colourways | Leather or synthetic | Foam, wipe firmly |
| Midsole | Foam (an EVA core with a firmer rim, sold as ENCAP) | Foam lightly, wipe |
| Outsole | Rubber | Knock out grit, wipe the edge |
| Laces | Flat or oval polyester | Foam in a cloth |
| Insole | Removable foam | Take out, wipe, air |
Suede overlays: the blot method
Pigskin suede is tougher than the fine suede on a dress shoe, but it still marks if you wet it unevenly. The rule is thin and even, then blot.
- Unlace the shoe and clap the soles together to shed grit. Dry dirt on suede often brushes off with your hand before you use anything.
- One light pump spread across the whole overlay, not a blob on the stain. You want the panel evenly damp so it dries evenly.
- Wait ten seconds.
- Blot with a dry cloth: press, lift, move along. No circles. Circles flatten the nap and push dirt down into it.
- Still marked? A second light pass. Two light passes beat one heavy one every time.
- Let it dry fully at room temperature. Only then judge the result, because damp suede always looks darker.
- If the nap has gone flat, brush it back up once dry with a soft brush or a dry cloth.
Grey hides a lot, which is part of why these shoes are grey. What it does not hide is a tide mark from soaking one patch and not the rest, so keep the foam thin and cover the whole panel. The suede and nubuck guide covers stains that are oil rather than dirt, which are a harder case.
Mesh panels: the easy part
Mesh is a fabric with holes in it, so foam gets in and grime comes out with very little effort. Two pumps over the panel, ten seconds, wipe with a dry cloth. Wipe along the weave rather than across it. On the toe, where the mesh sits over a fabric lining, wipe from the outside only; do not push a damp cloth in from inside. If light mesh has gone yellow, that is usually sweat and dust and it comes up; if it has gone yellow with age the fibre itself has changed and will not go back. The mesh and knit guide has more on the fabric.
One thing to watch: the suede overlay is stitched onto the mesh, so foam runs from one to the other. Do the mesh first, blot the seam, then do the suede lightly.
The midsole
New Balance midsoles are foam, not rubber. On the 990 line and the 574 you will see a firmer rim around a softer core, and the rim is what shows dirt. Foam it lightly, wait, wipe. Do not scrub a foam midsole with an abrasive sponge; it is soft enough to scar. Yellowing on an older midsole is usually oxidation of the foam or the paint on it, which is a chemical change, and no cleaner reverses it. Surface yellowing from grime does come up. The yellowed soles guide shows how to tell which you have.
Reflective trim on the 990s wipes clean. Do not scrub it; the reflective layer is thin.
Outsole, laces, insole
Outsole. Knock out the grit. Wipe the visible edge. Nobody sees the tread.
Laces. Polyester laces do not grey the way cotton does, but they hold dust. Foam on a cloth, pull each lace through, dry flat. Replace them when the tips split.
Insole. Almost always removable. Take it out, foam the top, wait, wipe, air it overnight. If the pair smells, the insole is where it lives; the fix is drying and airing, not more cleaner. The insole and odour guide has the routine.
What not to do
- Do not soak the suede. A bucket and a brush is how grey pairs go patchy. Water dries unevenly in the nap and leaves rings.
- Do not scrub in circles. On suede it flattens the nap; on mesh it snags the weave.
- Do not use a stiff brush on wet suede. Wet nap tears. Brush only when dry.
- Do not machine wash. The suede stiffens, the glue at the midsole can let go, and the foam midsole can deform in a hot dryer. Some pairs come out fine. You cannot know which in advance.
- Do not use a suede eraser on a damp shoe. They are for dry, set marks on a dry shoe, and even then go lightly.
- Do not dry on a radiator. Heat stiffens suede and yellows foam.
The reason a water-free foam suits these shoes is that you never have to choose between the suede and the mesh. SneakerSalt is the same two pumps on both; the difference is that you wipe the mesh and blot the suede. It is rated "excellent" on mesh and "good, blot only" on suede, and we would rather say so than oversell. The full method is on how it works.
Questions people actually ask
Can I use a suede brush on New Balance?
Yes, once the shoe is dry. A soft brush lifts flattened nap and knocks off dry dust. It does not clean a stain; that needs foam and a blot.
How do I keep grey suede from going darker?
Do not soak it, and clean it before dirt sets. Suede darkens when it is wet, and a patch that was wetter than the rest stays darker after it dries. Thin, even foam and a blot avoids that.
How often should I clean them?
Wipe the midsole when you see it grey. Do the suede and mesh every few weeks in normal wear, sooner after rain. The frequency guide has a schedule.
Clean the pair in sixty seconds: SneakerSalt Shoe Cleaning Foam, $24, free shipping, keep the bottle if it doesn't work.
