Last Updated on October 4, 2026 by Umar Farooq
Can you wash shoes in the washing machine? Some shoes, yes. Some, never. And there is a third question the shoe guides skip entirely: what the shoes do to the machine.
Canvas trainers and mesh runners generally survive a machine wash. Leather, suede, wool and anything beaded or embroidered generally do not — water and agitation break down the material or the adhesive holding it together, and no cycle setting fixes that. That much is fairly settled.
What is far less settled is whether you should do it at all, and if you go looking you will find the advice contradicts itself. Footwear makers tend to advise against machine washing; detergent brands publish step-by-step guides for it. Both are giving honest advice from where they stand — one is protecting the shoe, the other is selling the wash. Neither is thinking about the drum.
That is the gap this page fills. A shoe is a dense, hard, unbalanced object being spun at speed inside a thin steel drum behind a glass door, and if it comes loose it does real damage. The precautions below are not fussiness — most of them exist to protect the machine as much as the shoe.
Can you wash shoes in the washing machine? The short answer, by shoe type
| Shoe type | Machine safe? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Canvas trainers, plimsolls | Usually yes | Woven fabric, tolerates water and gentle agitation |
| Mesh running shoes | Usually yes | Synthetic mesh dries fast; check for glued overlays first |
| Cotton or synthetic laces | Yes, in a bag | They tangle and jam if loose — bag them separately |
| Machine-washable slippers | Only if labelled | The label is the authority, not the material |
| Leather or faux leather | No | Water stiffens and cracks it; stitching and glue fail |
| Suede and nubuck | No | Water permanently marks the nap |
| Wool, including wool slippers | No | Felts and shrinks, irreversibly |
| Beaded, sequinned or embroidered | No | Decoration detaches, and the pieces end up in the pump |
| Rubber or vinyl shoes | No | Nothing to gain, and they hammer the drum |
| Anything with a “do not machine wash” label | No | Settled |
| Insoles and orthotics | No | Remove them; foam compresses and delaminates |
If the shoe carries a care label, that label outranks every general rule above.
What a loose shoe actually does to the machine
This is the part that gets left out, and it is the reason the mesh bag is non-negotiable rather than optional.
A wet trainer is a dense object with no give. During spin it is thrown against the drum wall repeatedly at speed, and it does not deform or distribute the way laundry does. Samsung’s own guidance is direct about the purpose of the bag — place the shoes in a mesh laundry bag or pillowcase “to prevent them from causing damage to the washing machine tub” (wash sneakers and tennis shoes in your Samsung washer). That is a manufacturer telling you the shoe can damage the machine, not the other way round.
Three specific things go wrong.
The drum and the door glass take the impact. On a front-loader the glass is directly in the path of anything thrown forward. It is toughened, but a hard sole striking it repeatedly at spin speed is a genuine risk, and a cracked door is not a cheap repair.
Laces and small parts reach the pump. A loose lace is exactly the kind of long, thin object that finds its way past the drum and winds around the drain pump impeller. So are eyelets, beads and detached sole fragments. If you have ever wondered what actually ends up in a pump filter, this is a large part of the answer — see drain pump humming but not draining.
The load cannot balance. Two shoes are a small, heavy, oddly shaped load, which is close to the worst case for the balance system. The machine will attempt the spin, detect the imbalance, redistribute, and try again — which is why shoes so often produce a cycle that runs long or a spin that never properly starts. Whirlpool sets out what an off-balance load costs you: “noise, vibration, reduced spin speed, longer cycle times, and decreased washer performance” (Whirlpool Product Help — vibration, washing a single item). The banging people report is the load hitting the drum, and it is the same mechanism as washing machine shakes during spin.
How to do it without damaging either
- Remove the laces and the insoles. Both wash better separately, and both are the parts most likely to tangle or jam. Put the laces in their own bag or a pillowcase.
- Knock the loose dirt off first, outside. Dried mud goes straight to the pump filter otherwise.
- Put the shoes in a mesh laundry bag or a pillowcase. This is the step that protects the machine, and it is the one people skip.
- Add several old towels. Samsung’s guidance is to add “a few towels or other soft items” specifically “to prevent excessive noise and vibration.” They cushion the impact and give the drum enough mass to balance against.
- Wash no more than a couple of pairs at once. Samsung is explicit: “Avoid overloading the washing machine with too many shoes at once. It is best to wash only a couple of pairs at a time.”
- Use a gentle cycle and cold water — “a gentle cycle, such as Delicates or Hand Wash, and a cold water setting.” Cold protects the adhesives; gentle keeps the impact down.
- Use the lowest spin the cycle allows. Spin speed is what turns a shoe into a projectile, and shoes are going to air dry anyway, so extracting more water buys you nothing.
Stop-use warning: never wash shoes with an unsecured hard toe cap, steel toe, or metal cleats. Those are not a balance problem, they are an impact problem, and a drum or door is worth more than the shoes.
Drying, which is where most shoes are actually ruined
Heat is more destructive to a shoe than the wash was. Adhesives soften, soles separate, synthetic uppers distort, and none of it is reversible.
Air dry them, stuffed loosely with paper to hold their shape, away from direct heat and out of a tumble dryer. Samsung allows for the dryer as a compromise — “choose a cycle with low heat and place the shoes on a drying rack” — but the rack is doing the real work there, keeping the shoes from tumbling against the drum. If you have no rack attachment, air drying is the safer answer.
Expect a full day, longer for thick soles. A shoe that feels dry on the outside is usually still wet in the midsole.
When it is not worth the risk
- The shoes are leather, suede, wool, or carry decoration that can detach.
- They are expensive enough that replacing them costs more than a hand clean is worth.
- The sole is already separating anywhere — a wash will finish the job.
- You cannot find a mesh bag or a pillowcase. Wait until you can.
- Your machine already has a balance problem. Shoes will not reveal it gently.
FAQ
Can I wash shoes on their own?
You can, but do not. Two shoes cannot balance a drum, so the spin will struggle. Towels are not optional padding, they are what makes the load work.
What cycle should I use?
A gentle one — Delicates or Hand Wash — with cold water and the lowest available spin. The same logic that applies to delicates and activewear applies here, for a different reason.
Will washing shoes damage my washing machine?
Bagged, cushioned with towels, cold and slow — the risk is low. Loose, at full spin, with no padding — the risk is real, and it is the drum and the door glass that carry it.
Can I put shoes in the dryer?
Only on low heat with a drying rack, and air drying is better. Heat is what separates soles.
My machine banged loudly and stopped. That is the balance system reacting to a load it cannot spin. Redistribute, add towels, and restart on a lower spin.
What about the laces?
Separate bag, always. A loose lace is one of the more common things found wrapped around a drain pump impeller.
