Method1Lightening Your Converse with Bleach
1Remove the laces from your shoes. If you leave them in place, they may become discolored or prevent the canvas from evenly bleaching in areas where the laces touch the shoes.[1]If your laces are dingy, you could bleach them separately if they are white, put them into the washing machine, or consider purchasing new ones.
2Use a wet rag to wipe away any visible dirt from the shoes. To help your shoes bleach more evenly, clear away as much visible dirt and dust as you can. If there is a lot of caked in dirt, you may even want to use a scrub brush and cold water to loosen and remove it.This applies to the base of your shoes, too, as the entire shoe will be submerged in bleach, not just the canvassed section.
3Put the shoes facedown in a clean, plastic tub. Take your shoes and tub to a well-ventilated area, like an open garage or an outdoor patio or yard. Make sure there are no cracks in the plastic tub to prevent bleach leaks.[2]If you don’t have a plastic tub, you could also use a bucket or a large plastic bowl.
4Pour equal amounts of bleach and water into the tub to cover the shoes. Wear plastic gloves and clothing that you won’t mind ruining in case you accidentally splash the bleach. Never use 100% bleach on your Converse shoes—it’s really abrasive and can eat away at the canvas or actually turn them yellow rather than white. Diluting the bleach 50/50 with water prevents those things from happening.[3]You do want the shoes to be completely submerged in the bleach-water mixture so they bleach evenly.
5Leave the tub outdoors or in a well-ventilated area overnight. Or, if you started the bleaching process in the morning or afternoon, set a timer for 8 hours and check your shoes after that time. Leaving them in for longer won’t hurt them. If your goal is to completely whiten your colored Converse shoes, the longer they spend in the bleach, the better.[4]If you are simply looking to lighten a darkly colored pair of Converse shoes, try leaving them in the bleach for 2-3 hours and then check the progress to see if they’re light enough yet.
- 6Remove the shoes from the bleach and scrub them with soap and water. Wearing your rubber gloves and old clothes, remove your Converse shoes from the plastic tub and take them to a kitchen sink. Rinse them in warm water, and squirt some laundry detergent onto the canvas. Use a scrub brush to clean them.[5]
If you don’t have a scrub brush, you could use an old toothbrush.
The bleach will have already done its work, so you won’t be undoing anything, but it’s important to rinse away the bleach residue so it doesn’t transfer onto other fabrics.
Don’t forget to scrub the soles of the shoes as well as the canvas!
- 7Repeat the process 1-2 more times if your shoes aren’t light enough. Depending on how light or white you want your shoes to be, and how dark they were to begin with, you might need to repeat the bleaching process. Remember to always wear gloves when working with bleach and to keep the plastic tub in a well-ventilated area.[6]
If you were simply re-whitening dingy, white Converse shoes, 1 round in the bleach tub should be enough.
8Never put your Converse shoes into the dryer or in front of a heat source, as the heat will weaken the adhesive and change the canvas texture.
