Do you wash your shoes? (Read 1126 times)

Okay I know its silly but after paying for a good pair of running shoes I ran in the sprinklers on a clay track for 4 miles and needless to say they do not look the same. So my dilema, let them look nasty weathered and stop being so vain or wash them and get a little shine back? What do you do? Does washing them break down the integrity at all? Thanks for your time you have wasted on this question and I value your response. Derrick

I'll wash them if they smell bad, but not for aesthetics.

I'll hose my shoes off after a run, but I never wash them. If they stink, I leave them in the basement (where they normally go anyway) but I have no sense of smell so I don't usually know when they stink. I recommend against leaving your shoes in the sun or putting them near heat. I just put them on a wire shoe rack and let them dry off normally, and if they are really wet I might put a fan in front of them or stuff them with newspaper. I wouldn't put them in a washing machine. If you do want to wash them, then grab a sponge and a hose and let them air dry. This is a good time to get a second pair of shoes that you can rotate between while the original pair dries.

I put my shoes in the sun all the time. Dries them out and kills the stink. If they're really muddy, I'll hose them down, but I've never bothered to wash a pair of running shoes--they'll just get all messed up again anyway. There's a lot of conventional wisdom out there about the best way to care for running shoes. In my experience, none of it makes much difference. Pretty much no matter what I do--whether or not I rotate my shoes, or wash them, or leave them in the sun, or expose them to direct heat, run in them when they're wet--nothing affects how long my running shoes last except one thing; running in them. It turns out running in your running shoes is abut the worst thing you can do to them if you want them to last a long time. No matter how well or how badly I care for them, I pretty much get the same number of miles out of a pair of shoes (500-600 depending on model) and when they're shot, they're shot.

I do the sun thing too! Works great. I've never washed mine, but have hosed them off if they're muddy.

I recently had a pair of shoes (New Balance 767) that I needed to retire. I decided to throw them in the washing machine to see what would happen to them. I was very happy and surprised at the results. The shoes came out looking almost new, except for the lack of tread from using them for too long. I didn't put them in the dryer, I just put some newspaper in them and let them dry out. Afterwards, I took them out for one more run and they held up really well. I decided to try it out with another pair (Asics 2110) that still has a few hundred miles left in them, and they came out fine. Less smelly and looking way better. A friend saw me going out for a run in the washed pair of shoes and commented on me having to break in a new pair. She couldn't believe it when I told her the shoes already had a couple hundred miles on them. I wouldn't put them through the wash too often, but one time didn't seem to do any harm. And they surely smell better.

I'll wash mine if they get really bad. I just throw them in the front load washing machine and then let them air dry. Seems to work really well.

The only time mine get washed is during a rain run. If you can't resist washing yours I would recommend staying away from soaps and heat, just rinse them off in cool water and stuff 'em with newspaper to dry. Tom

Awesome,love all you r opinions and have decided as well not too wash. I know it seemed like a petty thing but this solves a discussion I was having with someone. Your comments were great. off topic- Jeff, I was and always will be a Navy Corpsman, Cardiovascular Technologist I have a funny thing to share about last nights run though. I watrying to stay under 130 bpm on mr HRM and for the life of me could not get my heart rate to go over 115-120. It was frustrating so I kept running harder. Well I did my 4 miles in my fastest pace 9:53mm, and did not feel too bad about it either. Well all said and done when I looked closer at my HRM I was only seeing my average Heart rate at the time. No wonder. Hope you all get a laugh out of it like I did. By the way my average ended at 145 bpm. Derrick