How to clean shoelaces (including white ones)

Step by step: how to clean shoelaces

Safety first. Use bleach only on white laces, in a ventilated room, with gloves. Never mix bleach with vinegar, ammonia or other cleaners, and rinse laces fully before using a different product on them.

1. 1

   Take the laces out

   Unlace the shoes completely. Laces clean far better on their own, and you can clean the eyelets and tongue while they soak. Note how they were laced, or snap a photo, so relacing is quick.

2. 2

   Brush off dried dirt

   Run the laces under warm water and scrub off caked mud with a toothbrush. Sometimes warm water alone removes most of the dirt. Dry dirt brushed off first will not turn into muddy water during the soak.

3. 3

   Soak in warm soapy water

   Fill a bowl or plugged sink with warm water and add enough dish soap to make bubbles, or a small amount of laundry detergent. Submerge the laces for 15 to 20 minutes, swishing them by hand now and then. The water should turn gray as the grime lets go.

4. 4

   Scrub the stains

   Lay each lace on the edge of the sink and scrub any marks that remain with the toothbrush, working along the lace. Pinch and rub stubborn spots between your fingers with a drop of soap.

5. 5

   Brighten white laces if needed

   For white laces still looking gray, soak them for 5 minutes in a gallon of water with about 3 tablespoons of chlorine bleach, wearing gloves. Do not leave them longer. Skip this for colored laces and for leather or waxed laces.

6. 6

   Rinse thoroughly

   Rinse the laces under running water until no soap or bleach smell is left. Squeeze them gently in a towel to remove extra water instead of wringing them.

7. 7

   Hang them to dry

   Hang the laces over a towel bar or drying rack and let them air dry for a few hours. Skip the dryer: air drying prevents shrinking and keeps the plastic tips (aglets) intact.

Which shoelace cleaning method should you use?

Use the washing machine for easy, hands-off cleaning, a dish soap soak for everyday grime, and a stronger soak for stains. All three come from Nike’s shoelace guide.

Nike also suggests a 1:1 mix of water and white vinegar rubbed onto stains with a cloth or toothbrush as another bleach alternative. Use vinegar or bleach, never both.

How to get white shoelaces white again

Wash them first, then use a short diluted bleach soak or a baking soda paste on whatever gray is left, and rinse well.

• Start with a detergent soak; much of the gray is just dirt and comes out without bleach.
• For cotton and polyester laces, a 5-minute soak in diluted bleach usually finishes the job. Longer soaks can weaken fibers and yellow some synthetics.
• Work with gloves and good airflow. Poison Control advises using household products only as directed, wearing gloves and eye protection with bleach, and never mixing bleach with ammonia or toilet bowl cleaners.
• Dry white laces in daylight if you can, but not on a hot radiator.
• If the laces are frayed or the aglets are gone, replacing them costs less effort than cleaning. Clean shoes with new laces look new, as our white shoe guide shows.

Cleaning colored, leather, waxed and elastic laces

Keep bleach away from colored laces, wipe leather and waxed laces instead of soaking them, and hand wash elastic laces in cool water.

• Colored laces. Nike recommends a mesh bag on a cold cycle with regular detergent and no bleach.
• Running shoe laces. HOKA suggests soaking laces and insoles in warm water with a dash of mild detergent while you clean the shoes, then letting them air dry completely.
• Leather laces. Wipe with a barely damp cloth and condition them with the boots. Soaking makes them stiff and can bleed dye.
• Waxed dress laces. Wipe with a damp cloth. Detergent and hot water strip the wax coating.
• Elastic no-tie laces. Hand wash in cool soapy water and air dry; heat ruins the stretch.

Mistakes to avoid

• Using bleach on colored laces, or leaving white laces in bleach longer than about 5 minutes.
• Mixing bleach with vinegar or other cleaners in the same soak.
• Putting laces in the dryer, which can shrink them and crack the aglets.
• Washing laces loose in the machine, where they tangle around other clothes or slip into the drum seal.
• Soaking leather or waxed laces.