We all need to know how to clean muddy shoes clear and shiny. To solve these issues we need to know the best possible solution for cleaning the mud without giving it more chance to get into the shoes.
You love your shoes but still they can be very roughly used at times.
Considering the usage of footwear, sometimes it is hard to avoid those muddy areas while walking outside.
Walking shoes, sneakers and canvas shoes are more likely to get into muddy spaces as we use them for walking on trails and for taking a casual walk by the road. Leather shoes and formal shoes are not taken to such spaces so hopefully, these may not be filled with mud of times.
Your shoes can be protected if you are good with their proper and timely cleaning. You can make your muddy shoes as good as a new one by following some tried and tested techniques.
We have compiled a proper way that will help you clean your shoes as best as it can be so that your shoes may not look worn out soon after use. Though the cleaning method for every kind of shoe material may be different.
Steps To Clean Muddy Shoes
The cleaning method discussed here can be used for any type of shoe. However, muddy shoes are usually the case for those fitness enthusiasts who do not skip their running fitness routine, no matter if it is raining or any other type of severe weather conditions.
1. Wipe Your Shoes As An Early Treatment
You must have caught that mud somewhere in a park or jogging track. Once you are done with your activity then stomp or rub your feet on the grass. The idea here is to get off as much mud as possible.
You may not rub the top of the shoe on the grass as it will get things worse. The sole of the shoe can be rubbed and cleaned but detailed cleaning must be done at home.
If you are going to sit in your car after that then a spare pair of shoes in the car will be helpful. Just change your shoes and put your dirty shoes in some plastic bag. This would help in keeping your car or perhaps your home clean as well once you make an entry there.
2. Allowing The Mud To Dry
We are getting in so much detail with a plan for a reason. Mud is not easy to clean. So you need to give it a good time with every step followed. Patience is the key here as now you need to give your shoes for the mud to dry. An ample amount of time should be given before you begin to brush off the dirt. Waiting on the mud to dry up would allow in taking off the thick mud much easily.
3. Banging Together Your Shoe Soles
Once the mud has dried up then just bang your shoes together a few times. This would take off the thick dried up mud cakes quite easily. Now it comes to the rigid and fine cleaning part. To make the next steps much easier, try to tap off as much dirt as you possibly can.
4. Cleaning With A Scrubbing Brush
A scrubbing shoe brush with thick and stiff bristles is what you need to have in here. Some other blunt tools having similar properties might also help here but nothing works better than a specialized brush for the job, which cleans while safeguarding your footwear stuff as well. Start scrubbing off the mud using the brush and it would allow to clear off dirt quite deep and into some tight corners as well. However, in some cases, you need to go even further than using a stiff shoe cleaning brush.
You might use a spare spoon to scrape off those hard to access stubborn spots, which might not be accessible with the scrubbing shoe brush. Sometimes, a nail file also becomes an essential and handy tool here. But, be extra careful in using that tool so that the stuff of the shoes doesn’t get torn or tampered at all. At this point and ensuring everything as discussed, your shoes would be free of all the major mud stuck. Some fine cleaning may still be warranted, which is discussed in the below step.
5. Using a Dry Towel
Your shoes by this step are already clean from mud. There would just be some loose or residue but left on the footwear, which needs to be treated. This is probably the easiest step of all that we discussed above. You need to have a clean and dry towel in this step. The towel should be used to lightly scrub the footwear. This would work at a very fine level and would eliminate all residue mud or any leftover dust in your shoes.
Point to note:
Make sure to use the cleaning procedure that is suitable for your specific type of shoes. The above procedure works well for running shoes.
The leather or the rubber shoes could easily get free of mud by using a damp cloth. But, not to be done with the suede or fabric shoes as that would affront the mud right into the shoe material and will end up with stains all over.
Suede shoes may need more effort and care in case if the mud gets on them and stay on the surface for a longer period.
Conclusion:
Shoes need thorough and timely cleaning if you have got them dirty in the mud. There are some prerequisites to be done there and then by taking off the fresh mud by wiping your shoes on the grass.
Then a rigorous procedure is followed by starting with a stiff shoe brush and using some other tools for fine leaning. Finally, wiping the shoes with a dry cloth would make it clean and free from mud.
Sometimes if your shoes have synthetic leather surface and have gotten larger chunks of mud, they get off easily when dried and detailed cleaning is made easier.
