How To Clean Your Shoes Post-Festival

Festival season. What a time to be alive, but not for your footwear. 

Dancing through muddy fields, drink spills, and messy food. You may be living your best life, but your shoes are slowly turning into beaters before your eyes. 

But rest assured festival goers, this is where we step in. From scuffs, dirt, spills and anything between. We’re going to supply you with some handy tips for cleaning your shoes post-festival.

Tip 1: Allow Any Mud To Dry On Shoes Before Cleaning Them

SXSW got the best of your shoes? Give ‘em a deeper clean

This may sound unusual (or criminal), but this is the easiest way to tackle the cleaning process. Once the mud sets, it will create a brittle and crack-like effect on your footwear, making it a lot easier to brush away any dry dirt and debris. 

Use the Crep Protect Cure Travel Kit as a starting point. The brush is perfect for removing loose dirt and stains, then follow it up with a deep clean with our Cure solution. All you need is a bowl of warm water; this will be where you will dip the brush into (once rinsed off). Once the brush is wet, apply a few drops (3 to 4) of the Cure solution to the brush. 

Cleaning The Uppers:

Start cleaning your shoes in circular motions and you’ll see that the solution will start to foam up. This will indicate that the solution is activated, effectively removing any dirt and stains.

Start with the uppers of your sneakers and add more cleaning solution to the brush if needed on those tougher stains. Use the microfibre cloth provided to wipe down the shoe, removing any further stains or foam buildup on the shoe.

Top Tip: Take extra care of delicate materials like suede and nubuck, we recommend that you use less water, as these materials are prone to color bleeding.

Cleaning The Outsoles & Midsoles:

Once you’ve cleaned the uppers, apply a little more pressure on the brush for the midsoles and outsoles, still working in circular motions until all dirt has been removed. Go in with the microfiber towel once again and push down on the groves on the midsoles to remove stubborn dirt (You can use your fingertips to help apply pressure too).

Cleaning The Laces:

If your shoes have laces, we recommend that you remove them from the shoe before cleaning them, as it makes it easier to wring all the dirt out of them. Start by replacing the water and applying a few more drops of Cure solution. Dip the laces into the bowl and use your palms to rub out all the dirt and stains. Repeat until desired results are achieved and allow them to dry.

Tip 2: Wipe Down Any Small Dirt & Stains  

Cleaning up after Coachella? We've got you.

Smaller stains & scuffs? It’s best to give them a touch up with Crep Protect Wipes. Perfect for on-the-go, it makes wiping dirt off your shoes, post set a breeze. They’re dual sided, which means they have double the cleaning power.

Use the smooth side for smaller stains, while the textured side is perfect for tougher stains. Plus, they’re individually wrapped, so you can take them wherever you go without them losing their freshness. 
 

Tip 3: Freshen Up Your Shoes With Deo

Post-festival funk getting you down? We’ve got the solution to your smelly shoe problems. Instead of throwing them in the washing machine and hoping for the best, it’s more beneficial to get to the root cause of the issue, and that’s when Crep Protect Deo comes into play.

Our shoe deodorizers eliminate odors from the source and leave your festival shoes smelling invigorated and fresh from the inside out.

All you need to do is place the can into the center your shoe with the bi-directional nozzle face down, then push down on the can for around 10-15 seconds to release the fragrance in both directions for even heel to toe fragrance coverage.

 No drying time needed, just instant results, lasting up to 24 hours. Re-apply when needed to maintain the freshness.

For any further sneaker care tips and tricks, head over to our Crep Daily's 'How To' section here