(Cleaning white colored laces)
Washing machine method works to some extent. It’s best if you use a side loading washing machine so that there’s less chances of fraying and destroying the laces. Just toss them in with your whites. Or get some laundry detergent put it in a big bowl mix it with some hot water then put your white laces in there. If you want to put some bleach go ahead.
Scrub the laces together, rinse and repeat. Then you can use a hair dryer or just hang them up to dry. Just make sure you squeeze out the water before you hang them, it might cause them to stretch.
You can also put your shoe laces in an empty water bottle, (Brian™’s Method). Add some laundry detergent and hot water. Shake the water bottle every now and then. You may have to drain the water out and repeat the steps over again for better results.
(Still being tested)
You can substitute laundry detergent for Bar Keeper’s Friend. It seems to remove more of the dirt stains than laundry detergent.
White shoes or white parts of shoes
The simplest way to clean is to use a clean damp towel.
It seems like if you brush too much on white shoes that they start to fade, chip, or peel away. Hot water gets deep stains out but after a while the white will fade out, so I stay with cold water.
Mr. Clean Magic Eraser comes in handy for this. But be careful not to over do it. Magic Clean Eraser can be abrasive enough to take off the layer of paint on shoes. You can also use the eraser from the Suede/Nubuck kit for quick touch ups while you are on the go.
White Leather
You can use a damp towel or basic cleaning to clean white leather. If there are persistent smudge marks and dirt, you can clean it off with a wet Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Do not squeeze out the water. Just lightly go over the area with the wet Magic Eraser, that way you don’t end up stripping the paint.
White Stitching
Use a toothbrush and some dish soap, dampen the stitching you want to clean and scrub. You may have to repeat this process a couple of times to see results. Then just rinse the area with water and dry with a towel.
If it’s really bad what you might want to do is use some shoe whitener and a paintbrush and carefully paint it on the stitching. Then get a damp towel and wipe it off. It might take several attempts before the stitching is whitened without becoming stiff. What you want it to do is to absorb the whitener, cleaning it off with a damp towel will make the stitching not as stiff. The only downside to this is that the white colors won’t really match. Either the leather white or the stitching white is lighter than the other.
Scuffs
Scuffs on white shoes can be taken cared of by using the customizer’s method. Clean area off with acetone or the one that Turtlefeathers.com sells, then paint over with Angelus paint. Refer to the Custom’s Sticky for how to properly prep and paint your shoes.
Inner Liner
(White AF1’s and others)
Probably one of the most annoying areas of a shoe is the white inner liner.
Lightly spray the liner with waterproofer or stain guard while the liner is still clean.
Always clean the liner after every wear or when you notice light dirt marks. You can clean it using a damp towel or using a damp toothbrush (and pat dry with a towel). A quick note, you might want to clean this area after every wear or if you notice light marks. This way it doesn’t build up and become harder to remove later down the road.
Black Leather
(AJ XVII and others)
(AJ XVII and others)
If you want to make it shiny or add luster, you can either get the creams intended for leather or use baby oil or hand lotion. Just apply then wipe the excess with a towel. The downside is it will attract dust and lint to the shoe. But if you just want to clean it, just wipe the leather down with a damp towel and dry.
-(Tire Shine/Polish attracts dirt and grime, baby oil attracts lint and dust)-
Patent Leather
(AJ 11, 16 and other shoes)
Clean with a damp or moist towel, then wipe dry. If you want to make the patent shine and gloss, apply hand lotion and wipe off with a towel.
For quick touch ups carry a hand towel with a corner that is moisten with lotion.
For light scratch marks or white scratch marks, you can use a little bit of rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover on one end of a Q-tip and lightly go over the area with the scratch. Use this at your own discretion. If you are not sure, post a picture of your scratch in the corresponding sticky.
-(Windex is said to eventually crack the patent leather. Baby Oil is a bit too messy on patent leather. Car wax, I haven’t tried it)-
Mesh/Canvas
(AJ XI and others)
First off, take out the insole if you wish and put a dry towel inside the shoe. Have another dry towel on hand just in case. After that, you want to dampen the area that is dirty. Then put a dab of dishwashing soap and dampen your toothbrush/brush before you start brushing the area. Brush lightly at first. Depending on your brush, you might fray the mesh, so use caution. As you brush, wash off the soap from the brush from time to time and continue brushing. I usually wipe the soap off of the shoe with a damp towel and press the dry part of the towel onto the mesh to absorb any water. Keep doing that until there is no more soap present. Then air dry with an electric fan to dry it more quickly. Do not put the shoes out in the sun or use a hair dryer, it’s possible that you might end up warping the shape or cause potential damage to the leather and materials.
Bar Keeper’s Friend (BFK)
I’ve never personally used it, but the directions are:
Get a container such as a cup. Put some BFK and mix it with warm/hot water until it gets pasty, then brush it on to the mesh and lightly scrub. Don’t let it sit too long. Finally wash it off.
From what I’ve noticed in pictures, BFK seems to dull the shininess of the nylon mesh in XI’s.
Also, there has been cases where black/blue spots appearing on the mesh. I’m not quite sure what causes it, but it might be from the black liner from inside the shoe bleeding through the mesh. That’s the main reason why I haven’t personally tried it.
Variated Version of Mesh/Canvas Cleaning
You can substitute using a toothbrush/brush with a clean white towel. In most cases it might be safer to use a towel instead of a toothbrush since it can cause fraying depending on how you scrub or the type of toothbrush you use. This can be used in inner liners similar the Air Jordan XII (French Blue).
AJ VII (French Blue) & (Olympic) Yellowed Toe. Same as Playoff XII, AJ IX.
A quick fix is to use sandpaper (200 or more grit) and lightly sand off the yellowing. However doing so will cause the exposed layer to eventually yellow as well. So use at your own risk.
In certain cases Mr. Clean Magic Eraser may or may not remove the yellowing.
Sea Crystals (Nike Dunk High) and Stussy (Nike Dunk Low – the pink area).
Apparently the suede part gets dirty really easily. I do not have a definite answer. The only thing I can suggest is to use a Nubuck/Suede Eraser. The main factor is the severity of dirt/stains on the suede.
AJ XIII Midsole Separation (other shoes can be done in a similar fashion).
Use Shoe Goo or Goop. You can apply it using a toothpick for tricky areas. Make sure you clean off any excess glue. You need to clamp down the shoe for 24 hours so that the glue can properly cure.
AJ XI Scratched/Scuffed/Creased Patent.
First off there’s nothing much you can do about creasing, just move on.
Most scratches/scuffs can be removed by using a small amount of nail polish remover on a Q-tip end. Just make sure to squeeze out excess nail polish remover. When cleaning the area make sure to lightly scrub a certain part first. Never over scrub because you can ruin the finish and the patent leather.
Smell/Odors.
There are many options. Deodorizing Balls that they sell at most shoe stores. Disinfectant spray such as Lysol and Febreeze. In other cases you might have to clean the insole.
To prevent it:
Wear clean socks. If your feet sweat easily replace your socks throughout the day or use moisture-wicking socks.
After each wear, air dry the inside of the shoe and/or take out the insole and fan out with an electric fan for faster results.
For nasty cigarette odors, I used fabric softener sheets like Snuggle and left one inside per shoe for about a week or 2. Make sure it’s inside the shoe and not touching laces or anything. I haven’t fully tested it, so I don’t know what the consequences of the method will do if the sheet is left in contact with leather or any other type of material. It did slightly over-masked the cigarette odor but not completely. Perhaps leaving it in the shoe longer might come out with better results.
I compiled this due to the mass amount of similar questions being asked.
Air Jordan I
85-94 editions with white nylon tongues
-use the mesh cleaning method. If it’s yellowed, there’s not much you can do about it as of right now.
2003 Patent edition
-refer to the patent leather cleaning section
Midsoles and soles can be cleaned with basic cleaning.
Air Jordan II
2004 Retro
-refrain from using Magic Eraser on the plastic parts because it can scratch the surface. Also refrain from using it on the colored midsole part.
Air Jordan III
2001-2003 Retro
-if the white midsole looks faded or has stubborn dirt stains that won’t come off, it’s possible that the factory paint has faded. That means your only option is to just strip it all off with rubbing alcohol and repaint or just simply leave it alone.
-Nubuck Elephant Print gets dirty. Just clean it with a nubuck/suede eraser.
-once the heel tab goes yellow it’s permanent unless you want to paint it.
-the grey sole starts to get dark. No solution as of right now.
Air Jordan IV
-midsole issue similar to III’s.
-grey sole problem similar to III’s.
2004 White/Green
-netting yellows. Only option is to carefully paint over it.
Air Jordan V
-Clear soles/plastic netting: only answer is Sea Glow at the moment.
-3M Scotch Lite material is dirty. First off determine whether it’s “scuffed” or “dirty.” I’ve noticed many people asking this question since the Retro 5’s were released again. The safest way to go is to clean it with a nubuck/suede eraser or a damp clean white towel. This should wipe off any residue that might be on the material, however it might not clean off any bad stains.
Air Jordan VI
-Clear soles: only answer is Sea Glow at the moment.
Air Jordan VII
2002
-black/red (or citrus) toe is faded or grayish. That’s because the nubuck material is supposed to give off a “charcoal” effect. It’s not supposed to entirely be black.
Avoid contact with water and foam nubuck/suede cleaners to begin with. It seems that this particular material on AJ VII’s seem to be sensitive to cleaners. So avoid getting that part of the shoe dirty. If you have to clean it, use a dry brush.
Air Jordan VIII
2003
-plastic panels yellow. Can’t do anything about it.
-soles yellow. Sandpaper if you want, but it will yellow again.
-straps frayed. You can trim off any loose frays.
Air Jordan IX
2002
-midsole paint cracks. Can’t really do anything about it other than to prep and repaint it. Chances are the paint won’t hold up very long after so many wears.
-soles yellow.
Air Jordan X
-Squeeking. So far baby powder under the insole works. Puncturing the Air Sole is quite an unintelligent thing to do to an “Air” Jordan. Doing so kills the purpose of the shoe being called “Air” Jordan.
Air Jordan XI
Let me differentiate. Many people jump to using Bar Keeper’s Friend to solve a simple dirt stain. Keep in mind BFK ruins the luster of the nylon mesh and gives it a pasty flat dull look.
-nylon mesh is dirty. Clean it with the mesh cleaning method.
-nylon mesh is yellowed. You have the option of using Bar Keeper’s Friend, but use it at your own discretion. That stuff is toxic.
-yellowed lace loops. This you can pretty much fix with Bar Keeper’s Friend without much worry. Just make sure to cover up any exposed areas with a dry white towel to prevent any accidental BFK overflow.
-yellowed clear soles: only answer is Sea Glow at the moment.
Air Jordan XII
-yellowed white soles. You can use sandpaper or leave it alone. Sandpaper exposes rubber from underneath the yellowing, which will yellow after a while anyway.
-dirty pods: You can use basic cleaning or a magic eraser.
-yellowed pods: Can’t really do anything. You can lightly paint over it but the paint probably won’t hold up that long.
Air Jordan XIV
-“teeth” parts creased. Honestly you can’t really do anything about that.
-faded suede toe
Air Jordan XVI
-creased patent leather. Another thing you can’t do anything about.
Air Jordan XVII
-the clear part of the midsoles get scuffed up. You can use Rubbing Alcohol or Nail Polish Remover and lightly go over the scuffs.
Air Jordan XVIII
Lows
-leather is creased. Well what can I say is the leather is much softer than most so it’ll probably end up looking worn a hundred times after just wearing it a few times.
All
-when I wear them they squeak. That’s usually due to the insole or sockliner being loose. However, what I did was fold a paper towel in half lengthwise and stuck it under the insole. The squeaking was drastically reduced to almost no sound.
Air Jordan XIX
-to prevent the spandex material in the back from fraying, just simply use you fingers to stretch out the material, cover it with your fingers while you safely guide the strap in to minimize fraying.
Air Jordan XX
Mids
-my Velcro strap doesn’t stick well anymore. Clean the Velcro with a dry brush. Otherwise you can purchase Velcro that can be cut to any size and stick them on top of the existing one to keep the straps in place when worn.
Air Jordan XXI
-possible yellowing on white soles.
Air Jordan XXII
-clear sole.
