Hoka makes some of the best running shoes on the planet – footwear designed to keep your feet safe and comfortable when running on pretty much any surface imaginable.
These shoes are great for pounding the pavement, running on trails, going hiking and backpacking, and even just getting in some training sessions in the gym.
As well-made as they are going to pick up dirt, gunk, mud, and stains along the way.
Luckily, though, learning how to wash Hoka shoes is a whole lot easier than most people realize. These shoes are a lot more durable than most people think (even though they are super lightweight and made with some advanced fabrics, textiles, and technical materials). Cleaning them is a breeze.
Below we run through just about everything you need to know about washing these shoes and bringing them back to better than brand-new condition in a hurry.
How to Wash Hoka Shoes
Step 1: Breakdown Your Shoes
The very first thing you’ll want to do when getting ready to clean your shoes is to break them down into their core components.
Pull out any liners and insoles you might have inside your Hoka shoes. Slide the laces completely out as well. You want your shoe components to get cleaned separately for the best results.
Step 2: Scrub Your Laces Separately
Laces can be chucked into a regular load of laundry to speed things up. Just slip your laces (untied) into a sock so that they don’t get tangled up for lost in the machinery.
You can’t dry these in the clothes dryer, though. You want to pull them out and let them dry naturally (or lace them up damp, it won’t make that much of a difference).
Step 3: Knock Off Dirt, Mud, and Debris
Next, you need to knock off as much of the dirt, mud, and debris that’s caked on the surface of your Hoka shoes as possible before you start scrubbing.
Use a dry paper towel or a dry piece of cloth to get rid of all this surface gunk. Do your level best to get as much of it off as possible before you start spraying down with a cleaner.
If your shoes are especially muddy it’s not a bad idea to let them dry completely and that mud to cake before you attempt this.
Everything will break off in chunks (with just a little bit of dust) and you’ll be able to clean up a lot faster.
Step 4: Scrub Down Your Shows with a Non-Abrasive Cleaner
100% dye free laundry detergent, mild dish soap, and even shampoo designed for folks with dandruff mixed in some cool water works wonders when cleaning your Hoka shoes.
You want a pretty good level of dilution (maybe 10 parts water to one part cleaner) and you want to be sure that your cleaning agent is perfectly mixed through your water before you get started.
From there, simply dip a paper towel or rag into your cleaning solution and then get to work on your shoes.
You don’t want to dip your shoes or soak them, though – that’ll make things a lot harder to clean and prolong the drying process.
Step 5: Wipe Down with a Damp Rag
After you’ve clean things up it’s a good idea to soak a rag with warm water and then wring it out until it’s just a little damp.
Wipe down your shoes completely (from top to bottom, toe to heel) to get rid of any soapy residue left behind – including residue you wouldn’t have spotted on your own until it started to dry and stain your shoes.
Do this a couple of times (rinsing your rag each pass) and you should be good to go.
Step 6: Stuff Your Shoes to Dry Faster
The only thing that’s left to do here is to dry your shoes.
Blot them with a paper towel until you get the outside nice and dry. This will only take a couple of seconds.
After that, stuff new paper towel inside your shoes (just as much as you can fit) and then let them sit overnight.
Closing Thoughts
Cleaning your shoes will only take a couple of minutes of “active time”, but you should expect it to take about 12 to 18 hours for your freshly cleaned shoes to dry completely.
If you’ve got to speed that drying process up for one reason or another follow the steps we outlined above to the letter and but then toss the still disassembled shoes into your washing machine and use the “spin only” cycle to pull moisture from them fast.
You’ll be surprised at just how well a single spin cycle dries your newly cleaned Hoka shoes off!