Maybe you referred to them as “tennies,” “sneaks,” or even “keds” growing up, but whatever you call them, your favorite white shoes tend to get really dirty, really fast. If your well-loved pair of white canvas shoes has seen better days, here’s how to make them look bright and clean again.
1. Grab Your Supplies
You’ll only need 3 ingredients to get your shoes looking new: baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and water. Aside from that, you’ll need a small mixing bowl, and old toothbrush, and a sunny day.
2. Remove Loose Dirt & Dust
First, bang your shoes together or knock them around outside to get rid of any dust or loose dirt. Then remove the shoe laces.
3. Mix & Scrub
After the loose stuff is outta the way, mix 1 tablespoon of baking soda with 1/2 tablespoon of water and 1/2 tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide. This should make a paste. Grab your old toothbrush and brush the paste into the shoes. Give them a good rub all over — and don’t forget the tongue! You can add another coat after the first, if you think you need to.
4. Now, the Laces
Pick up your laces and stir them into the remaining paste mixture. Agitate it well, like your washing machine would. Then, take your shoes and laces outside in the sun. The heat and light from the sunshine helps to mixture to penetrate and basically bleach your shoes back to their original shade. Leave them outside for 3-4 hours, until the paste is totally dry.
At that point, clap them together again to remove most of the dried paste. You’l probably need to rinse off your old toothbrush and use it to remove the rest. Now you can lace up and go — with shoes that are white again!
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