How to Clean White Shoelaces? Useful & Proven Tips

Dingy and dirty laces can drag the look of your sneakers to the ground. More so, the case if the laces happen to be white. The porous fabric of white laces means they show dirt faster than the rest of the shoe and impacting the appearance of your laces.

Without proper cleaning, your white laces will lose their shine, and overtime subsides into a shade of orange that is sore to look at.

Unfortunately, purchasing a new pair of white shoelaces every time your current one gets dirty is impractical. Still, we have an extensive selection of white shoelaces for all shoes if your pair is stained beyond redemption.

In this short and sweet guide, we will walk you through how to rid your white laces of the dirt and to restore their shine.

Using the Washing Machine

Since all our white laces are made from cotton, they are washable and safe to throw in the washing machine. Using the washing machine saves you the extra work of cleaning the laces. But you need to have a strategy to remove as much dirt and stains out of the laces.

What you need

A soft toothbrush
Bleach (if the laces are stained)
Mesh lingerie bag
Laundry detergent

Start by removing the laces from the shoes. Hold them under cold running water and use the toothbrush to remove solid dirt like mud.

If you observe any discolored areas, apply a stain treater to the discolored area, and allow the laces to sit for about 20 minutes.

After, place the laces in the mesh bag and close the bag. Toss the bag inside the machine, add some laundry detergent, and wash on cold. If you have some other laundry, you can add them as well. If the additional laundry is white, add a cap of bleach to get the best results.

Once the washer is done, remove the laces, and hang them to dry. It’s always better to let the laces dry than putting them in a dryer.

Washing White Laces by Hand

If you don’t have a full laundry load or you don’t want to use the washer, you can wash the laces by hand. This method gives you more control over how you wash the laces. In some instances, the results are better, but as you would expect, it’s more labor-intensive.

Things you’ll need

Soft toothbrush
Warm water
Stain treater
Bowl or sink
Laundry detergent (preferably liquid)
Bleach
Rubber gloves (if you prefer)

The first step is to remove visible dirt from the laces under cool running water followed by treating stained areas with a stain treater and leaving the laces sitting for a while before you start washing them.

While your laces sit, you can fill a bowl (or the sink) with warm water and add some liquid laundry detergent. Place the laces in the water and detergent solution and let them soak for about 30 minutes. If the laces are stained or appear yellow, you can add a teaspoon of bleach to liven up the color.

After soaking, use the soft toothbrush to scrub away the dirt and remove the remaining stains. If you add bleach to the solution, use the rubber gloves to protect your hands.

After you’re satisfied with the results, rinse the laces in clean running water, ring them out, and hang them to dry.

Cleaning Stained or Yellowed Laces

If your white shoelaces are dirtier than usual or seem to have lost their color over time, you should try to remove the stains and restore the color before replacing them. This quick and straightforward procedure should help to get the most stubborn stains out of the way.

Things you’ll need

Laundry sink
Bleach
Small plate
Mesh bag
Rubber gloves
Soft toothbrush

With your supplies in place, start by removing loose dirt from the laces using a toothbrush under running water. Try to get as much of the dirt out as possible.

Fill the sink with a gallon of hot water and add three tablespoons of bleach. Place the laces inside the mesh bag and submerge the bag in the water. Be sure to wear rubber gloves before placing the bag in the solution.

Let the laces soak for about five minutes. You shouldn’t let the laces stay soaked for more than five minutes, even if they are heavily stained. Longer soaking in bleach can cause the laces to have a yellow shade, and it weakens the fibers of the shoelaces.

Remove your laces from the solution and wash them by hand or in the washer, as described in either of the processes above. When washing, you can add half a cup of bleach in the washing machine if the laces still look stained.

Cleaning White Suede or Leather Shoelaces

If you have white suede or leather shoelaces, you don’t have to worry about stains and dirt nearly as much as cotton shoelaces.

Nonetheless, your white laces need a good scrub once in a while to keep them in the best possible condition and keep the stains at bay.

For leather laces, you only need a soft cloth and a leather conditioner. Apply the leather condition to the cloth and use the wet patch to rub the laces back and forth. This will get rid of the stains and restore the shine on the laces.

For white sued shoelaces, use a suede shoe cleaner and a cloth to clean and restore the laces. It’s vital to emphasize that you should never use bleach or detergents on suede or leather laces. These will only damage the laces further.

Another vital tip to remember when dealing with white shoelaces is not to use hot water when cleaning the laces. Hot water helps to set the stains in which makes them harder to remove.

Remember to rinse the laces multiple times every time you use bleach to get all the bleach out. Otherwise, your laces will start to turn yellow as the bleach burns through the fibers.

The takeaway

Give your white laces a new lease of life today using these excellent white shoelace cleaning tips. If you try everything but aren’t happy with the results, we have an extensive collection of white shoelaces that include flat white shoelaces, white rope shoelaces, and white waxed shoelaces and even white leather shoelaces. The laces come in different sizes for different sneakers. You can choose what works best for you.