How to wash shoes in the washing machine

A 5 step method from Mudroom Co.

Most Australian families already wash their shoes in the machine. We do not tell you to. We give you the tools, and the method, to protect your shoes and your machine when you do. The machine cleans. The bag protects.

What you will need

Tools: The Shoe Wash Bag, a drying rack, and a front loader or an impeller top loader without a centre agitator. If you have The Shoe Wash Kit, you'll also have a pair of adjustable shoe trees and the Uppers Shoe Brush on hand for the steps below.

Supplies: liquid laundry detergent, bicarb soda, and shoe cleaner for any stubborn marks.

Step 1. Prepare your shoes

Knock the loose dirt off first. Before the wash, brush or rinse any clumps of mud or dirt off the soles and the uppers, because loose mud sticks to the drum. Use a soft brush on the uppers (the Uppers Shoe Brush if you have it), and a separate medium bristle brush for the soles. For stubborn scuff marks the machine will not shift, work a little shoe cleaner in with a cloth before you wash. A toothpick clears debris out of the tight grooves in the soles.

Heavily soiled white shoes usually need this pre-treat to come back properly white. We will always tell you that.

The Shoe Wash Bag has three compartments: two outer compartments, one for each shoe, and a centre compartment for the small items.

Step 2. Put them in

Take the insoles out, and loosen or remove the laces. Insoles hold water if you leave them inside a closed shoe, so they need to come out. Put them in the centre compartment. Laces can stay tied loosely or come out entirely; either is fine, and if you take them out they go in the centre compartment too. For stubborn marks, scrub the insoles and laces by hand first, with a little detergent and a soft brush.

Then place one shoe in each outer compartment, close the zip, and fasten the metal locking clip into the D-ring.

Step 3. Wash

Put the closed bag in the washing machine. Wash in cold water, on a gentle or delicate cycle, with the spin set to 600 to 800 rpm. Cold water helps prevent shrinking and damage, and 600 to 800 rpm is fast enough to draw the water out without stressing the shoe. Use half the dose of liquid detergent you would use for a load of clothes. No bleach, and no powder detergent, which can lodge in the shoe if it does not fully dissolve. The cycle can take up to an hour.

One tip worth knowing: run the bag with a load of old towels. Not new ones, which can leach dye. It fills the machine, keeps the load balanced, and gets an extra wash done at the same time.

Step 4. Take them out

When the cycle finishes, take the shoes out and stand them on a drying rack, shoe trees inserted if you have them. Air dry only, indoors or in indirect light. Direct sunlight yellows white sneakers. Take the insoles and laces out of the centre compartment too; these can go out in the sun, which helps them dry and freshen.

One tip for the insoles: sprinkle a little bicarb soda over them while they dry. It deodorises, and it helps draw the moisture out.

Step 5. Done

Give the shoes 12 to 24 hours to dry, depending on humidity. Never tumble dry. The heat and the rotation warp the structure and weaken the glue. Once they are dry, they are ready to wear.

What you can wash in The Shoe Wash Bag

Canvas runners, mesh trainers, synthetic sneakers, kids' canvas school shoes, gym trainers, trail runners after a brush or rinse to remove any mud or clumps of dirt.

What you cannot wash

Leather shoes, suede shoes, work boots, dress shoes. Leather softens when wet, glue weakens, the shape collapses. We do not promise what we cannot deliver.

Why the Bag works

Three compartments stop the shoes hitting each other. The Chalk chenille is tested to ISO 105-C06 grade 4 colour fastness, so the colour stays in the fabric rather than on your white runners. The zip is engineered with a metal locking clip into a D-ring, teeth facing inward. The bag is stress tested to 50 cycles at 60°C and 1400 rpm, without structural failure. That is a durability test, not a wash instruction.

Waitlist pre-orders open Monday 31 August 2026. Public orders open Thursday 3 September 2026. Waitlist members get 72 hours of early access to the launch run of 500 bags, and it is not too late to join. Join the waitlist for early access when The Shoe Wash Bag goes live.

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