We Tested Two Ways to Clean White Sneakers. Here’s the Winner.

I love white shoes. If you’re reading this, you probably love white shoes.

But with white shoes comes one major problem: they don’t stay white for very long.

You wear them for one day, and bam! there’s the first scuff mark.

By the end of the first week? Those white shoes are starting to look a little off-white.

And if you’re like me, you may delay time in between cleaning until your white sneakers look like brown sneakers…

Oops.

Luckily, there are ways to clean your white shoes. But which method works better? My daughter and I tested two of the most popular ways to clean white sneakers.

Here’s what happened.

Cleaning White Slip-on Sneakers

Our first test subject was my white slip-on sneakers. I’ve been wearing these consistently for over a year and have never tried to whiten them, which means…well, you know what it means.

Here’s how they looked:

BAKING SODA + DISH SOAP

For the first test, I mixed up Dawn dish soap with baking soda until it became a thick paste. I then took an old toothbrush and scrubbed the shoe. I rinsed the shoe, gave it a second scrubbing, and then rinsed it off again.

WHITENING TOOTHPASTE

I took the other shoe, squirted Crest 3D White all over it, and scrubbed it with an old toothbrush. I then rinsed it off and gave it a second scrub and a final rinse.

Here are the results.

Cleaning White Crocs

My next test subject was my daughter’s white Crocs. She’s had these for almost exactly one year and wears them A LOT. And the fact that she wears these Crocs to gymnastics and cheer practices (so that she can change to cheer shoes) is a bit embarrassing.

Because they are dirty, dirty – as most white shoes eventually get.

Here’s what we were working with.

BAKING SODA + DISH SOAP

I mixed up baking soda with Dawn dish soap until it became a thick, gritty paste. I handed it over to Kailyn, along with an old toothbrush, and she scrubbed away. She rinsed after the first scrub and then did one additional cleaning with this mixture.

@cabinlane

How to clean white Crocs. #cleaningtiktok #cleaning #crocs

♬ LIMITS THE SKY – Mpax

WHITENING TOOTHPASTE

The second shoe was cleaned with Crest 3D White. She did two scrubs on this one as well, rinsing in between.

Here are the results.

And the winner is…

Though it may be hard to tell from the photos, there was a clear winner.

But first, the good news: both methods work. So, if you’re looking to whiten some sneakers or Crocs (NOT canvas sneakers) and you have either baking soda or whitening toothpaste, you can do it.

But baking soda and dish soap were the clear winners on both test subjects. The baking soda’s abrasiveness really helped lift the caked-on dirt and scuff marks from the shoes.

So, if you need to clean up some white shoes or Crocs, I can confidently recommend either of these methods for a quick cleanup.

Related posts: How to Clean Your Dishwasher and Dishwasher Filter