To clean shoe soles, start underneath: let any mud dry, knock it out, pick the tread clear, and scrub the bottom with a brush and mild soapy water. Then move to the sides, the midsole everyone sees, with a cleaner and a firm wipe, or a gentle blot if it is painted. Dry the shoes at room temperature, and the job is done in about ten minutes.
Which part of the sole are you cleaning?
"The sole" is really three or four parts, and they are made of different things.
| Part | Usually made of | How to clean it |
|---|---|---|
| Outsole (the bottom and tread) | Rubber | Pick, brush, soapy water |
| Midsole (the thick white or coloured layer) | Foam such as EVA, sometimes rubber, sometimes painted | A cleaner and firm wipe; blot if painted |
| Sidewall or foxing (the rubber band round a canvas or court shoe) | Rubber | As the midsole; melamine for scuffs |
| Insole (inside the shoe) | Foam, often removable | Out of the shoe, cleaned and dried separately |
For the inside soles, Nike's advice is to take them out, clean them with the same steps as the outside, and let them dry completely before they go back; replace them if the smell stays. Our insoles and odour guide goes further. The rest of this page is about the outside.
How to clean the bottom of shoes
- Let it dry. Wet mud in a tread smears; dry mud crumbles. Leave muddy shoes until it has set hard.
- Knock it out. Bang the soles together outdoors, heel to heel.
- Pick the grooves. A twig, a lolly stick or the handle of an old toothbrush clears stones and packed dirt. For football boots, Nike suggests a stick, putty knife or screwdriver between the studs.
- Brush with soapy water. A soft brush and a mild solution, which is Nike's method for soles. Keep the brush below the line where the sole meets the upper.
- Wipe it off. A wrung-out cloth takes away the suds without flooding the upper. If the shoe is all rubber, you can rinse it under the tap.
- Dry away from heat. Room temperature, not a radiator. Heat damages the glue that holds the sole on.
Gum and dog mess
Gum: hold a bag of ice against it until it goes hard, then prise it out of the grooves with something blunt. Don't warm it to soften it.
Dog mess: scrape the bulk off outdoors, then pick the tread clean with a stick or an old brush you won't use again, and wash the sole with soapy water. The CDC's advice applies here: dog poop "can carry germs that make people and animals sick", so wash your hands with soap and running water afterwards, even if you used a bag. Our foam can deal with the leftover surface grime once the rest is off; it doesn't make the sole germ-free and we don't claim it does.
How to clean the white part of a shoe sole
The midsole and sidewall are where a pair looks old or new, and they clean up faster than anything else on the shoe. We make a foam for it. Two pumps of SneakerSalt Shoe Cleaning Foam along the midsole, ten seconds while it loosens the grime, then a dry cloth with real pressure, turning it as it greys. A quick midsole wipe uses almost nothing from the bottle. It is rated excellent on midsoles, rubber or foam. Painted midsoles are the exception to "real pressure": blot them so the paint stays where it is. The rubber outsole is rated excellent as well, but packed grit in a tread needs the brush first, which is why the bottom starts with one.
For scuffs that survive that, a barely damp melamine sponge (the "magic eraser" kind) works on plain rubber. Its maker suggests focusing on the sole, toe box and wedge and testing a small area with light pressure. Nike also suggests toothpaste on an old toothbrush for marks on soles. Keep both off leather, canvas and paint.
Special soles
Clear and translucent soles
Icy or clear outsoles show two different problems at once. A cloudy, grey look is often grime in the surface texture, and cleaning clears it. An amber tint is the material itself, a slow yellowing usually put down to light and oxygen, and it stays after any clean. Our yellowed soles guide explains how to tell them apart and what restoration involves.
Running, gym and court shoe soles
ASICS starts its running-shoe clean with the shoes dry: brush the outsole first, and rinse the treads only if they need it. Brooks says the same about brushing the soles and is emphatic about the machine: no washing machine and no dryer, not even on a hand-wash setting, because the spin cycle can degrade the materials. On court shoes, wiping the dust off the outsole is commonly done for grip as much as looks; a damp cloth before you play is enough.
Crepe soles
Crepe is the soft, textured sole found on desert boots and some moccasin-style shoes, and it tends to collect grit and fluff. We couldn't verify any maker's care instructions for it, so we won't dress up a method as theirs. The cautious approach: brush out the loose grit when the sole is dry, spot-clean with a little mild soapy water on a cloth, and let it air-dry away from heat. Our foam hasn't been tested on crepe. Check the shoe's care card first.
Boot soles
Wolverine's routine for work boots is to wipe the upper and outsole with a damp cloth and brush the stitching, and to seal leather-edged outsoles with edge sealer, wax or polish. On safety boots, cleaning is also a chance to inspect: check the soles for embedded metal, cracks and wear. Electrical hazard soles lose their protection when wet or worn, so don't put them away damp.
Leather soles
Dress shoes and heels often have leather soles. Manolo Blahnik advises against even walking on wet surfaces, as water may alter the structure of the soles, so don't scrub or soak them. A dry cloth over the edges is enough.
Yellow or stained soles
Before scrubbing a yellowish sole harder, clean one small patch and look at the cloth. Dirty cloth and a lighter patch: it was grime, and our foam is rated good on that. Clean cloth and no change: the yellow is in the rubber or foam, and no cleaner reverses that, ours included.
Bleach is the tempting next step, and it's a bad one for soles. Textile guidance says chlorine bleach shouldn't touch polyurethane foam at all, and we found no source that says it is safe on rubber. Our guide to why bleach yellows shoes shows how it makes things worse.
Keeping soles clean
A thirty-second wipe of the midsole when you take your shoes off does more than a monthly scrub, because grime that sits for weeks is harder to shift. Let shoes dry fully before you put them away. Clear sole protectors and sole guards are sold for the bottom of sneakers; they are a separate product, and we haven't tested any.
Questions people actually ask
How do you deoxidise rubber?
Not with a cleaner. Long-term yellowing of aged rubber, usually put down to oxidation, is a chemical change that no spray reverses, ours included. The hobbyist route paints peroxide on and exposes it to UV; it is backed only by weak sources, and its reported risks, like brittle rubber and failed glue, are unverified.
Is dish soap safe for cleaning shoe soles?
Diluted, yes. It is a sensible mild solution for rubber treads. Keep it weak, because a strong dish-soap mix can discolour some materials, and wipe it off rather than leaving it to dry.
What can I put on my shoes to keep them from getting dirty?
For uppers, a protector spray suited to the material; for soles, a protector film or guard. Neither replaces a quick wipe. We don't make either.
For the part of the sole everyone looks at: SneakerSalt Shoe Cleaning Foam, $24, free shipping, brush and cloth included, and a refund if it doesn't clean your midsoles.
