How to clean suede sneakers at home

Why suede is different

Suede and nubuck have a soft nap, a surface of tiny fibres. Water and hard scrubbing flatten it and leave a darker patch where the wet part met the dry part. Canvas forgives that. Suede does not, which is why most pairs we see have been damaged by the attempt to clean them, not by wearing them.

How we wash suede: foam, not water

Any moisture on suede has to be minimal. You are not washing it with water. You are cleaning with foam.

1. Mix the solution. Use hot water, add white vinegar and a little salt, and let it cool down. The vinegar acts as a fixative that helps the suede hold its colour. It does not stop bleeding completely, but it keeps more of the colour in.
2. Add your soap and work it into a foam. Clean with the foam only, not the liquid.
3. Let it dry. Suede often goes hard once it dries. That is normal.
4. Bring the nap back. Use a suede eraser or a medium brush to puff it up again.
5. Rehydrate it. Finish with a mink oil spray. Our go-to is the Plush brand. It moisturises the suede so it ends up soft and buttery rather than rough.

If a mark is still there after one careful pass, stop. Every extra round of scrubbing makes the next clean harder.

What ruins suede

• The washing machine. Nothing recovers the nap after that, and the heat and tumbling soften the glue holding the sole.
• Soaking it. Suede holds water, dries stiff and leaves a tide line.
• Liquid soap and a hard brush. It flattens the nap and takes the colour with it. Use foam and a soft touch.
• Heat. A heater, a hairdryer or a day in the sun hardens the material and warps the shape.

When to hand it over

Pay for it when the mark is oil or a water ring, when the stain has set, when the insoles are white, or when the pair matters to you. Those are the jobs where a mistake costs more than the clean.

Suede is not a separate service here. You book the clean the pair needs, a Basic Wash at R100 or a Deep Clean at R170, and a suede surcharge of R50 is added because it takes longer and is done differently. Basic Wash is for multicoloured insoles only. White interiors need a Deep Clean.

Every pair is washed by hand, never in a machine, cleaned according to its material, then dried, bagged and stickered. Ready in 2 to 3 working days. Some marks do not come out of suede, and we will say so before you book. Details are on our suede cleaning page.

Questions people ask