Dry Shoes Quickly

Walking around in wet shoes can lead to blisters on your feet and mold in your shoes. If you only have a few hours to spare, you can dry your shoes in a clothes dryer, with a fan or with newspaper. The method you choose should depend shoe construction and material to avoid irreparable damage.

Steps

Using a Clothes Dryer

1. Look at the construction of your shoes. If they are synthetic or cotton, without hard or gelled soles, they can go into the dryer. Leather, gel-core athletic shoes, clogs and Gore-Tex should not go into the washer or dryer.
2. Wash them first if they are caked with mud. Either rinse them with a garden hose or put them through an entire washer cycle. Pad the washer with plenty of old towels.
   • Use warm water and a mild detergent to get them clean. If they are already wet, it may be the perfect time to clean them.
3. Untie the laces if you haven’t already.
4. Fill the dryer with a few dishrags or towels. It doesn’t need to be very full.
5. Open the dryer door. Pair your shoes side by side with the toes up. Set the soles of the shoes against the inside of the dryer door.
6. Loop your shoelaces up around the top of the dryer door. Then, carefully and firmly shut the door. Your laces should extend out of the dryer when the door is closed.
   • Hanging the shoes on the door will keep them from knocking around in the basin. If they are left to tumble, they may ruin the dryer or the shoe’s soles.
7. Set the dryer to complete medium or low cycle of no more than 60 minutes. Open the door and check that they are dry after the cycle is finished.

Using a Fan

1. Check the construction of your shoes. If they are durable leather or gel-soled athletic shoes this method will work well. Suede shoes may need to be dried more slowly.
2. Remove caked on dirt with a garden hose or a tap. Shoes may be wet, but shouldn’t be too dirty.
3. Find a sturdy floor or table fan. It should be taller than the length of your shoes and sturdy enough to allow the shoes to hang from the fan.
4. Set up the fan in a garage or utility room. Place a towel below the front of the fan to catch excess water as it dries.
5. Remove thick insoles or orthotics. Set them on a radiator to dry or place them on a low cycle in the dryer for a few minutes if they aren’t leather.
6. Take an old wire hanger and a wire cutter. Cut two six-inch (15.2 cm) lengths of wire using your wire cutter.
7. Bend the wire so that it is in an “S” shape. It should have a smaller hook on one end to clip to the fan and a larger hook on the other end to hold the shoes. Use pliers if your hanger wire is hard to bend.
   • Repeat with the second hook.
8. Hook the small ends on the fan. Keep them approximately nine inches (22.9 cm) apart so that the shoes are separated.
9. Loosen the laces on the shoes. Open up the shoes so the inside of the shoes will get as much air as possible from the fan. Hand them from the inside heel on the larger hook.
   • The fan air should reach the inside of the shoes and move around the outside.
10. Run the fan on medium to high for 1 to 2 hours to dry your shoes completely.

Using Newspaper

1. Figure out if your shoes are delicate. If they are leather or suede, this is the gentlest method for drying them quickly. Hard-soled clogs should be dried with this newspaper method.
2. Find an edition of the newspaper. Discard any pages with dark ink or pictures. The ink can sometimes bleed onto the shoes.
   • The ink can easily be buffed off on dark leather shoes.
   • If you are worried about ink damage, place them upside down in a box filled with one inch (2.5 cm) of rice. Close the box tightly and check them in 2 hours.
3. Rinse your shoes if they are caked with dirt. You can also remove dirt with a damp dishcloth.
4. Ball up newspaper and stuff it in the toes of the shoes. Continue with each shoe until the entire insole is filled with balls of newspaper.
5. Wrap the exterior of the shoes in flat pieces of newspaper. String a rubber band around the midsection of the shoe so that the newspaper will stay.
6. Set the shoes, soles down, in a well-ventilated area of the house.
7. Discard the newspaper and repeat the process with dry paper in one hour. If your shoes were soaked, the newspaper will need to be changed several times.

Tips

• If you're using the dryer method with heavy sneakers and the laces won't hold them up on the door, tie them to a coat hanger. The coat hanger on the outside of the door will prevent the laces from slipping through the door of your dryer.
• If you are drying suede shoes and there is dirt caked on them, use the newspaper drying method. Then, buff the dirt of with a shoe brush after they are dry.

Things You'll Need

• Clothes dryer
• Fan
• Wire hanger
• Wire cutter
• Pliers
• Towel
• Newspaper
• Rubber band
• Hose
• Dishcloth
• Rice
• Box
• Shoe brush

Sources and Citations

See also

• Remove Dye from Suede Shoes
• Clean Flats
• Scuff Up New Shoes
• Clean Wrestling Shoes
• Scuff Up Boots
• Re‐Ice Shoe Soles
• Clean Muddy Shoes
• Clean Hiking Boots
• Clean Shoe Insoles
• Clean White Converse

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