The best ways to clean white trainers

Here’s what you need to know to keep your most versatile shoes looking fresh

White trainers have become a mainstay in most women’s wardrobes, whether that’s to wear casually with jeans or styled with a summer dress. Ever since Phoebe Philo – still head honcho at Céline at the time – wore her adidas Stan Smiths to take her bow on the catwalk back in 2010, simple white sneakers, usually leather ones, have become as common in the average closet as a humble pair of Birkenstocks. 
But although white shoes are the absolute ideal in the summer months in some ways – versatile, classic, comfortable – they can be somewhat high maintenance when it comes to keeping them clean. So what to do if yours are looking decidedly more like a shade of Farrow & Ball’s Pavilion Gray than School House White?
Ever since the dawn of sneaker culture, keeping one’s kicks fresh has been a hot topic of conversation. During early hip-hop culture in the late 1970s and early 1980s, many New York sneaker connoisseurs would swear by Colgate – yes, the toothpaste – for keeping the whites of their trainers looking box fresh; others would use a household cleaner called Comet. 
They may not have agreed on the particular cleaning fluid, but all would carry a toothbrush for cleaning – Bobbito Garcia’s cult sneaker culture anthology Where’d You Get Those? even has an entire chapter dedicated to “The Toothbrush”. And rightly so: a toothbrush is a brilliant tool for cleaning trainers as the fine bristles will lift out the majority of dirt once it’s dry. Next, choose a non-gel, white toothpaste and work it into any dirty areas using the toothbrush (post rinse). Leave it for 10 minutes or so, then wipe clean with a damp cloth and you’ll have sparkling trainers with a minty fresh scent to boot.
Of course, the sneakerheads progressed from the DIY approach of the Eighties and as a result, there is a plethora of specific sneaker cleaning products on the market. My personal tried-and-tested favourite is Cure by Crepe Protect. I have the travel kit (£16), and it’s lasted me years, but when the liquid runs out I will buy a refill because it’s invaluable to me now. 
The method is simple: get a bowl of warm water, apply a few drops of the solution to the brush provided, and get scrubbing. Sturdy leather trainers like Nike AF1s can take a firm hand. It really works a treat and smells great. I’ve used it on white leather shoes that aren’t trainers, too, as well as my Blundstone walking boots, so it’s a very handy product to have in your shoe cleaning repertoire. 
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Helen Kirkum, founder and creative director of Helen Kirkum, a studio that upcycles old trainers into new pairs, is an expert in cleaning kicks that some may have thought beyond help. “I recommend removing any detachable components such as laces and inner soles, which can be soaked separately in washing detergent or cleaned using a specialised trainer cleaner,” says Kirkum. “We highly recommend Attirecare’s shoe cleaning set (£25) for this purpose.” 
And if your toothbrush isn’t quite up to muster (sneaker design has changed a lot since the Eighties, after all) you may need to add to your toolkit. “Prep your trainers by thoroughly dry brushing them with a coarse brush to eliminate any loose dirt and use a tool like a screwdriver or butter knife to remove debris from the tread pattern,” continues Kirkum. “After that, give them a good soapy scrub with your shoe cleaner and leave them to air dry in a well-ventilated area.” Like those pioneering sneaker connoisseurs, Kirkum is also a fan of trying household products. “As a quick hack for white leather shoes, a spritz of household bathroom cleaner can work wonders to get rid of scuffs!”
Canvas or flyknit white trainers will probably be just fine with some good old fashioned soap and water, the aforementioned toothbrush and a bit of elbow grease. Work your toothbrush in circular motions or in the direction of the knit to gently lift the dirt out of the fibres. It’s worth stuffing the shoes with newspaper first to absorb any excess water and avoid soaking your insoles. 
In fact, Kirkum recommends the newspaper trick for preserving trainers in general: “To promote longevity and keep your trainers fresh for longer, stuff them with newspaper at the end of the day. This trick absorbs excess moisture and helps maintain the shape, reducing creasing.”