5 Reasons Shoes Lose Their Shape After Cleaning

A pair of trainers often comes out of a wash misshapen not because it was washed, but because of how it was washed, dried and put away. Here are the five reasons it happens, and the simple habits that help prevent it.

You know the feeling. The trainers went into the machine looking tired but recognisably themselves, and came out clean, and somehow wrong. The toe has flattened and there is a crease across the top that was never there before. Clean, but not the same shoe.

It is one of the main reasons people give up on washing trainers altogether, and it is almost entirely avoidable. Shoes lose shape after washing for a small number of reasons, and every one of them has a straightforward answer.

Below are the five that come up most, followed by a simple routine for how to keep trainers in shape for longer.

The 5 reasons shoes lose their shape after cleaning

Trainers lose shape after washing for a handful of reasons, and they are the same whatever the brand. If your trainers lost shape after washing, one or more of these is usually why.

1. 1

   They move around too much in the washing machine

   If you have ever heard the thud of a shoe in the machine from the next room, you have heard this one. Washed loose in the drum, a trainer spends the whole cycle knocking against the metal and against everything else in the load. Knocks land on the toe, the heel counter or a seam, and over a full cycle that adds up. A purpose-built shoe washing bag changes this. It cushions the shoe and keeps it contained, so it is washed rather than thrown around.

   
2. 2

   The wash temperature is too high

   Heat can soften adhesives and stress foam. Use a low temperature and a gentle programme. A cool wash is enough for most trainers, and it asks far less of the glue.

3. 3

   They are dried with too much heat

   Radiators, tumble dryers, hairdryers and hot windowsills all do the same thing. They dry the outside of the shoe fast and hard while the inside is still wet, and materials that dry unevenly can stiffen, shrink or pull out of line. Follow the manufacturer's drying instructions. For most trainers that means somewhere airy, at room temperature, with patience.

4. 4

   They are left to dry without support

   A damp trainer is soft, and a soft trainer settles into whatever it is resting on. Left flat on its side, the upper can slump and the toe can crease as it dries. This is where a shoe shape preserver, sometimes called a shoe shape protector, earns its place. It supports the shoe from the inside while it dries, holding the toe and the heel in position rather than letting them settle into the shape of the floor. Think of it as the job a shoe crease protector does during wear, done for the drying rack and the shelf instead.

   
5. 5

   They are stored crushed or compressed

   This one has nothing to do with washing, which is why it gets missed. Trainers stacked under other shoes, squashed into a gym bag, or left in the bottom of a wardrobe under a pile of things gradually take on the shape of whatever is pressing on them. The habits that keep shoe shape are not only for the day they are washed. Storage is an everyday habit, and a little internal support goes a long way.

Why protection during washing matters

Of the seven steps above, the wash bag is the only one working while the machine is running. Everything else is a decision made before or after.

Skovasken's Shoe Wash Bag, sometimes searched for as a sneaker washing bag, was built for exactly this. Its padded walls sit between the trainer and the drum for the whole cycle, absorbing the knocks that would otherwise land on the toe, the heel and the seams. Inside, thousands of soft microfibres stay in contact with the shoe and lift the dirt gently, so the bag is doing the cleaning as well as the protecting. It is the difference between a trainer washing bag that cleans and a plain mesh bag that simply keeps the pair together.

• Cushioned protection for the whole cycle
• Soft microfibre construction that cleans as it protects
• Reduced knocking inside the machine, and a quieter wash
• One shoe per bag for better protection and better cleaning
• Reusable design, wash after wash
• Suitable for many washable trainers and casual shoes, whatever the label assumed about a loose wash

The bag is fully reusable. Shake the dirt out after a wash and it is ready for the next one, so protecting a pair of trainers becomes the normal way to wash them rather than a special occasion.

Every order is backed by free tracked delivery and a 365-day money-back guarantee.

What people say after the first wash

Reviews published on skovasken.com.

A better shoe-care routine

The routine is simply the steps in order:

• Protect trainers during washing. One shoe per wash bag, so the shoe is not knocking against the drum.
• Use an appropriate gentle wash method. Cool water, gentle programme, mild detergent.
• Reshape them immediately afterwards. The simplest way to reshape shoes after washing is a few seconds with your hands while the shoe is still damp.
• Dry them correctly. Airy, room temperature, no direct heat.
• Support their shape during drying and storage. Something inside the shoe to hold its form while it dries and whenever it is put away. A shape preserver does the job neatly.

Do that every time, and the question of how to keep shoes in shape mostly answers itself. It is possible to wash shoes without damaging them, when the label allows it and the method is right, and a good pair holds its shape for a lot longer.