Muddy Shoes

So yesterday my friend, Emily, and I took our four kids to the park around the corner. Since we had two straight days of rain it was pretty muddy and since Morgan is Morgan she jumped in every muddy puddle. So, by the end our time at the park Morgan's Nike's looked like this.

I knew that washing them was an option, but I had never washed shoes on purpose in my washing machine before. I did wash one of Matt's shoes a few months ago...big trouble. It dried fine, but is a slightly darker color than his left one. Sorry Matt!

So I found this tutorial: http://www.sportsmomsurvivalguide.com/2015/02/20/the-best-way-to-clean-tennis-shoes/#_a5y_p=3387142

From that tutorial this is what I did:

First, remove the shoe laces.

You can see from the tongue just how white her shoes were. I would be more concerned (freaked out) if I paid full brand new pricing for these cute shoes, but I picked them up at the thrift store for $3.50. Yep, they were hardly used.

Next, I put them in a sink with warm water and soap. I used my Myers Dish Soap and just used my hands (not a toothbrush because we didn't have a spare) to get all the lose dirt off.

After that I used  my Shout gel with a scrubber top to really scrub the fabric. Looking better all ready.

Then I popped the shoes and laces into a lingerie bag. If you do not have one of these or are washing adult sized shoes then you can use a pillow case.

and threw them into the washer on the hand-wash cycle.

Let's all cheer for snazzy washing machines! They make life so much easer!

Bekah was super concerned about me putting shoes in the washing machine.  We've had many talks lately about washing machine safety.

So, while those were washing I dealt with this mess. 

So, maybe washing dirty mud filled tennis shoes in the bathroom sink wasn't the best idea. I really hope I am not calling my father in-law to come help me unclog another drain.

Once the shoes were washed I popped them into the dryer. We have this great rack that you can use for things like this (and sweaters, it's great for sweaters).  In the tutorial I linked above she will show you how to dry them if you do not have one of these. 

I ran them for about 70 minutes on medium heat and then 70 more minutes with just an air dry. I also let them sit in the dryer over night (because I forgot about them).

So, let's see my end results.

Here is the before:

and here is the after

They aren't completely back to their original perfectness, but they are great for a two year old!


So, I have to say after all the mud pond hopping I really thought my girls would sleep all afternoon, but that was not the case AT ALL.

Morgan slept for about 30 minutes.

I can't believe she will be two tomorrow.

This one didn't sleep at all. 

Wide AWAKE!

Well I hope this little tutorial helps you to keep you kid's shoes clean and hope your nap time is better than mine!