I recently went for a six mile hike wearing my TOMs canvas shoes on a muddy day. By the end of the hike, my TOMs were totally caked in mud.
What made me wonder: Can you wash TOMs canvas shoes in the washing machine?
The answer is yes; you can easily and safely machine wash TOMs canvas shoes. Let me show you exactly how to do it.
Rinse Off the Chunks
We want to make sure that our shoes are the canvas ones before we start. If you have suede or leather TOMs, don’y put them in the washing machine!
Assuming you have canvas TOMs, you can start by popping out the insoles, and then rinsing the big chunks of mud or dirt off the shoes in your sink, or outside using a hose.
Put in a Pillowcase or Tote Bag
We will put our shoes inside of either a pillowcase or a tote bag. This will keep them contained and prevent them from bouncing around too much in the washing machine.
Put in the Washing Machine
We will put our shoes in the washing machine. We like to wash them separately and then adjust the cycle to something mild.
Lots of people like to use the Delicate cycle. My washing machine has smart features, so I used the Normal cycle, knowing it would detect the shoes and treat them gently.
Don’t use bleach–I recommend a gentle detergent like Tide Free and Clear.
Stuff with Paper Towels and Dry Out
Once the cycle is done, we like to stuff some paper towels in our shoes to help dry them out and keep the form of the shoe intact.
Then, we can put them in a warm place like on top of the dryer. After a few hours, our shoes will be good to go!
You can also put them outside in the sun. Just remember not to put them in the dryer after you wash them–the high heat can damage them. Machine wash, but air dry!
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Key Takeaways
- You can clean Toms canvas shoes in the washing machine.
- Before washing, take out the insoles and rinse off the big chunks of dirt.
- Put shoes in a pillowcase or tote bag before putting them in the washing machine.
- Set the washing machine to a delicate cycle or normal cycle with cold water.
- Stuff paper towels inside of the shoes after the cycle is done to help dry them out.
- Put shoes in a warm place to dry them out.
FAQ
It depends on what setting you want to use, but you can use the delicate cycle or a normal cycle with a cold temperature of water.
After the washing cycle is done, stuff some paper towels in the shoes to help dry them out and keep their form intact. Then, put them in a warm place, such as on top of the dryer, and let them dry out. Never put them in the dryer.
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Video Transcript
Can you clean Tom’s canvas shoes in the washing machine? The answer is yes, and I’m going to show you exactly how to do it.
These are my Tom’s canvas shoes. Before you do this, we’re going to take the insoles out first. If those get dirty, you can just wipe them down, but most of the dirt is probably going to be on the outside of the shoe.
Let’s rinse off the big chunks first. You can see there’s still a bit on there, but we got rid of the big stuff. Now we’re going to put them inside of either a pillowcase or a tote bag, anything to keep them contained a bit.
Now we’re going to go ahead and put those inside of our washing machine. I like to wash them separately and then adjust to whatever cycle we want. You can do delicates or just a normal cycle, depending on what you want to run. Change it to the cold temperature of your water.
After the cycle’s done, I like to stuff some paper towels in there to help dry them out and keep the form of the shoe intact. Then, put them in a warm place, like on top of the dryer where there’s a little residual warmth, and let them dry out. They’ll be good to go!