When autumn and winter are in full swing,
it's highly likely that your running shoes are going to end up getting mucky and
wet, even if you didn't mean to.
And you just get caught in a sudden downpour. I'm Anna,
and today I'm going to be giving you all the tips you need to look after your
running shoes,
and no, it's not as simple as just bung them in the washing machine.
So make sure you keep watching for our top tips and your top tips too. While you're here,
please do hit subscribe and tap the bell icon,
so you get notified when we upload new videos,
all about running to The Running Channel, which we do every single week.
If you've been out on a particularly muddy run than my usual trick is to bung
those mucky shoes in the back of my wardrobe,
forget about them until the next time I run,
then the mud's dried, and you can just bang them and they'll come off,
or the mud will come off when you're running. And that's absolutely fine.
But if you've been on like a really,
really muddy run and I'm talking like trails, cross country,
claggy, stuck on, hard to shift mud.
Then you probably are going to have to do something about your shoes.
And like I mentioned at the start,
it's not as simple as just bunging them in your washing machine.
Now you've probably spent a fair bit of your hard-earned cash on your running
shoes. You know, running is a free sport to do,
but we do tend to spend a lot of our money on our shoes.
Cause that's the one thing that can help our running, right?
So, before you put them in the washing machine,
even if there is a sports shoes mode on it,
just have a little think, because the heat and the detergent and being submerged
in water for a long time can actually do some pretty terrible things to your
running shoes. It can make the material shrink.
It can cause the bonding to come undone.
All kinds of damage can be done to your running shoes.
And that is the last thing that you want.
So, we know that a query about what to do with muddy running shoes is
something that has been on your minds because in our Facebook group,
Giorgia asked exactly that. So don't you worry, Giorgia, we have come to the rescue.
And actually, so of all you guys with some incredible suggestions,
which we're going to run through in this video.
And, if you haven't already joined our Facebook community group,
make sure you do.
So the first suggestion is just to give them a bit of TLC in the sink or in the
bath, whatever's handiest for you. So get some lukewarm water, a scrubbing brush,
or maybe even an old toothbrush -
obviously not the one that you're currently using to do your teeth - that would be
rank, and give them a bit of a scrub. So get your detergent,
give them a bit of a scrub.
Some people even swear by toothpaste to whiten
white trainers that have got brown. So, basically like brushing your teeth,
but brush your shoes. And then once they are clean,
you can then shake off any excess water and leave them to dry naturally.
The next suggestion, try using a Boot Buddy.
So this is a device you might've seen it on the TV program, Dragon's Den.
And even in our 'Products, You Never Knew You Needed As A Runner' video.
So this is a great one if you're on the go.
You can keep it in your boot of your car,
if you're driving somewhere to go and run, or you can keep it in your kitbag,
if it's after a race. I've used it after cross country, for example,
just to get the worst of the mud off. It's environmentally friendly as well.
It only uses around 300 milliliters of water.
So it saves your tap running constantly. And the bristles on the end of it,
get all of the dirt out of your shoes. So why not try using a Boot Buddy?
One of my favorite suggestions from our Facebook group came from Donna McAllister,
which was simply go in a loch afterwards and wash the mud
off. You can do the same with a pond or a stream or whatever,
just be careful around open water.
But it's a really good way to get rid of excess mud.
And if they're not too bad, then you can, like I said,
right at the start of this section,
leave them to dry and then just use a cloth to wipe the dried mud off and bang
them together to get any of the extra mud off once it's dry.
Okay, so, maybe your run wasn't that muddy,
but it absolutely chucked it down.
And now your shoes are soaking wet. What's the best way to dry them? Well,
you might think similarly to washing them, stick them in the tumble dryer,
but the same can be said for tumble dryers as washing machines,
that the heat can get to the different components of the shoes.
It can make them shrink. It can make the bonding come undone, any glue.
And so it's not really the best idea,
if you want to prolong the life of your shoes. Instead, our Facebook
community group have come to the rescue with some more, top tips for drying your
soggy shoes.
Screwed up newspaper inside your shoes will help them dry out much
quicker. So, if you've got wet, soggy shoes,
best thing to do is open them right up,
take out the laces and take out the insoles.
Then grab some pages of newspaper,
scrunch it all up and shove them inside the shoe.
If they are particularly wet,
then you'll find that newspaper will absorb quite a lot of moisture.
And so you might need to take out the first lot and put a new lot in to
soak up all the extra moisture as well.
Then, to speed it up a little bit further,
leave them somewhere warm and dry to dry out a bit further.
So maybe an airing cupboard or underneath a radiator.
Importantly, we say underneath the radiator,
because with the same sort of idea, as the tumble dryer,
being too warm for your running shoes,
you don't want to put your shoes on a radiator and risk the heat
affecting the materials. Another great suggestion that came in for
drying wet soggy shoes as well, is to use cat litter.
So if you're a cat person and you've got some cat litter handy,
then stuff a handful of cat litter in some old tights or an old sock, tie up and
then shove that inside the shoe and leave that overnight too.
You can also get scented cat litter.
So might even leave your shoes smelling a little bit fresher.
So with all this talk of wet and muddy shoes.
There's also the small issue of stinky running shoes.
And Amy got in touch in our Facebook community to ask for some help for
what to do, if your shoes are a bit stinky and these,
are the tips that you came up with.
Similarly to when we talked about cleaning your muddy shoes,
there are products out there to help you with stinky ones too.
So one example is Boot Bananas.
So the cotton fabric is designed to absorb those wiffy
smells. And if your shoes are particularly bad, you can give them a shake.
And it releases a powder which helps to speed the process up a bit.
So they have nice smells in them, courtesy of things like lavender, tea tree,
and essential oils.
And they even turn brown like real bananas the more you use them.
So you know, when it's time to replace them.
Some other great ideas for getting rid of the stink in your running shoes
came from our Facebook community group.
Mary said she likes to sprinkle mouthwash on the tongue. That's of her running
shoes, not her own tongue.
And there were also a lot of suggestions for essential oils.
Things like lavender oil and that kind of thing.
So you might've heard the advice to put an open box or packet of baking soda
or bicarbonate of soda or baking powder,
whatever it is that you call it, into your fridge to absorb unpleasant smells.
Well, the same can be said for putting it into your running shoes as well.
So sweat has a bit of an acidic pH to it.
Whereas baking powder, bicarbonate of soda is more alkaline.
So it balances it out.
And baking powder also has antibacterial properties and can act as a
fungicide. So win-win for putting it into your shoes.
And Kelly said, pop some orange peel in your shoes to leave them smelling fresh.
Now it doesn't have to be specifically orange peel. It can be any citrus peel,
but it has essential oils in it.
And so if you pop some citrus peel in your shoes overnight,
then it will help to neutralize any odors.
So hopefully that's given you a few ideas of how to look after your running
shoes. Is there a particular one that you swear by?
Maybe you're guilty of not giving them as much love and attention as they
deserve. Let us know in the comments. It's okay. We'll be gentle with you.
We know that not everybody looks after their shoes properly,
but maybe,
just maybe you found a tip in amongst all of those that you're going to give a go
yourself and we'll see you next time on The Running Channel.