In 2024, the global sports shoe market size exceeded 135 billion US dollars, and the transaction volume of second-hand limited edition shoes increased by 28% year-on-year. The surge in high-value shoes highlights the need for washing and care.
However, the traditional laundry process is generally used by the laundry industry, which lacks systematic regulations for the shoes’ material, structure, and the risk of aging, causing the complaint rates to be high. (North America 7.3%, Asia Pacific 9.1%). Establishing more than 12 replicable standard processes has become the key for all laundries to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and enhance premium prices.
The laundry shops use complete processes to achieve deep cleaning and care. The core steps include:
Classification and Pre-inspection
- The classification of the materials
Common shoe classifications include: suede shoes, smooth leather shoes, artificial leather shoes, fabric shoes, and mesh shoes.
- Suede shoes (Including suede, nubuck, brushed leather, etc.)
If these types of shoes are not dirty, then dry-clean them. If they are heavily soiled, use special wet cleaning agents. If color aggregation occurs, the shoes must be soaked in anti-color-aggregation soft oil after washing.
- Smooth leather shoes
If these kinds of shoes are not dirty, people can wipe them with a stain-removing cleaner. After thorough cleaning and drying, you can apply shoe polish. If they are very dirty and have a strong odor, you can clean them with a “Super-Soft Wet Cleaner” (which also replenishes oil).
- Artificial leather shoes
The sneakers are mostly made of microfiber. The soaking time of these kinds of shoes is about 10 minutes, and then the normal wash and care can be done. People can directly use neutral laundry powder to soak and wash the shoes.
- Fabric shoes
Shoes that are made of canvas, cloth, or other fabrics. These kinds of shoes can be cleaned regularly. When handling special stains on canvas shoes, people need to be very careful, and they can use a soft-bristle brush to gently brush the stains, or it will easily cause partial color fades. The white shoe surfaces must be treated with neutral detergents, and the residual must be rinsed thoroughly after washing to avoid the yellowness of the shoes.
- Stains record
Take photos to record the stains, blemishes, and areas where the glue comes apart on the shoe surface to avoid responsibility conflicts. There is a table for the common stains on the shoe surfaces.
- Pre-treatment
Wash shoelaces and insoles separately. If there are stubborn stains, people should spray the stain remover and let it stand for 10 minutes.
- The color mixing of the fabric shoes and mesh shoes: Use a cotton-linen stain remover (wipe-clean) or a dye remover.
- Paint on the upper of the shoes: Use a paint remover
- Glue on the upper of the shoes: Use a glue remover
- Blood on the upper of the shoes: Use a bloodstain remover. (Do NOT soak major bloodstains in warm water. )
- Unknown stains on the upper of the shoes: A multi-purpose remover should be used.
Deep Cleaning (Machine washing plus hand washing)
- The standardized machine washing
The fabrics or mesh shoes should be put into the bag to avoid friction during washing. The dosage of the detergents should be adjusted according to the level of dirt. (Usually, 30 grams for each pair of shoes.) Also, the water temperature should be less than 30℃.
- The delicate hand washing
Luxury shoes and aged shoes should be scrubbed in one direction with a soft-bristle brush and neutral detergent to avoid cross-staining at the color-blocked areas.
- Neutralize the residue
The shoes, after rinsing, need acid treatment because alkaline residues can easily cause oxidation and yellowing of the soles. For suede shoes, a reducing fatting agent should be added to prevent fading.
Scientific Drying and Shaping
- The dewatering and formation
After high-spin dehydration, the shoes should be hung with the toe facing down for ventilation. Stuff silicone shoe supports or newspapers to absorb moisture and prevent deformation.
- Low-temperature drying
Dry for 2 to 4 hours at 45℃. The white shoes should be air-dried in the shade until they are half dry to prevent yellowing.
Disinfection and Maintenance
- Use the blue light to do the sterilization and deodorization.
- Spray brightening agent on suede shoes
- Apply care oil to leather shoes to prevent cracking.
Conclusion
In the trend of the global shoes consumption moving to the high-end, personalized direction, professional laundry shops should use standard technology as a core competitiveness to develop the shoes care services. They should continuously upgrade the cleaning technology, optimize the service process, and use digital tools to attract customers to choose them. In the end, this can achieve both the development of industry value and store revenue.
