$3.50 Scrub Daddy hack cleans white sneakers in just two minutes
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Keeping the soles of your sneakers clean is no small feat, but we’ve found a product that rubs away dirt stains quickly with nothing but water.
The Eraser Daddy is the rectangular brother of TikTok-famous smiley face sponge, the Scrub Daddy, and is great for lifting scuff marks and stubborn dirt off your kicks.
If you’re not already familiar with the Scrub Daddy, it’s a sponge made out of a magical material that goes soft in warm water, and stays firm when run under cold water for stronger scrubbing power.
They only landed in Australia a few months ago, and while the original Scrub Daddy has been selling out at Coles, the sneaker cleaning eraser is less well known.
It’s basically half Scrub Daddy, half magic melamine eraser, and all you need to do is dampen it with water and it’ll rub the marks off your sneaker soles like it’s pencil on paper.
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I tested it out on a few pairs of sneakers with pretty impressive results. All I did was go over the soles with the Scrub Daddy side while dry to brush off any debris, then again after dampening it with water.
Then I flipped over to the eraser side and just rubbed off all the remaining marks. No chemicals, no baking soda concoctions, and no washing machine needed.
But there’s a catch
The only downside is that the eraser side is pretty flimsy and disintegrates if you’re scrubbing vigorously, so you’ll need to pull out your vacuum cleaner when you’re done.
One eraser will easily clean a pair of sneakers but don't expect to get much more than one use out of it unless your shoes are already in pretty good nick.
I used two erasers to clean three pairs of very dirty sneakers and had each individual sneaker clean in under two minutes.
I need to disclose that I am not a sneaker fanatic - as I think you can tell from the state of my shoes in the before photos - and I actually came across this product while trialling household cleaning products for another story.
It worked so well on the scuff marks on my walls that I thought I’d try it out on my sneakers, especially as the packet says, “dampen with tap water to spot-clean door frames, baseboards, switchplates… even white sneaker soles!”
You can get your hands on one of these at Catch.com.au or CleanHQ, or for something similar, other sponges made of melamine eraser are available at Coles and Bunnings.
Another product for getting sneaker soles clean quickly
If you’re serious about keeping your sneakers clean, you’ll want to protect them with a spray that’s suited to the material your shoes are made of. Regularly reapplying this will make the cleaning process much quicker and easier.
But for a quick and easy cleaning solution you can take on the go, lots of shoppers swear by Jason Markk’s Quick Wipes.
A three pack retails for $5.25 and comes with glowing reviews like these; “These are the easiest and best way to clean your sneakers and keep them looking fresh,” “I never leave without one handy. I often hand them out to sneaker people as a gesture”, and “I bring these with me everywhere especially if I’m wearing the shoes I really care about.”
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