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The flip-flop or sandal can be the very center of your ready-set-go lifestyle.
Be it for a quick trip to the grocer’s, a leisurely walk along the beach, or even a casual shuffle around your house. Wherever you go, chances are your sandals will follow.
But with this degree of extensive use, your flip-flops and sandals are also far more likely to get dirty than any of your other footwear.
This makes it all the more important that you clean and maintain them properly.
Thankfully for you though, memory foam flip-flops are fairly low maintenance.
It might take a little bit more than the old soap-and-rinse module, but you can definitely fit a regular cleaning system into a busy schedule. Now all that’s left is the know-how.
Here are some quick hacks on how to clean memory foam sandals and slippers, both at home and on the go.
How Often Should You Wash Your Memory Foam Footwear?
Before you get into the details of how to clean memory foam sandals, it’s important that you understand why this is so necessary.
Because memory foam is a fairly absorbent material, it gets dirty faster than the standard plastic or rubber slippers.
Any dirt or mulch they encounter essentially clog the pores of your memory foam sandals, whereas this kind of debris normally just slides of their rubber counterparts.
A decent cleaning cycle would be once or twice a fortnight for regular maintenance.
If they’re damaged by particularly strong colorants like wine, coffee, or curry, get to cleaning fast.
The quicker you get to work on the stains, the better your chances are of getting them completely off.
How to Clean Memory Foam Sandals – Deep Cleaning Hacks for Memory Foam
If a stain or swipe of dirt did somehow miss your notice and is now a more permanent feature of your flip-flops, deep-cleans might be the next call of action.
Here are some tried-and-tested tricks that will teach you how to clean memory foam sandals or flip-flops when dealing with tougher stains:
1. Baking-Soda-and-Brush It All Away
Before you get down to actually cleaning your sandals, make it a point to brush or wipe any fresh dirt off them. This makes the cleaning process is more effective.
This, of course, applies to all of the following methods as well.
When you’re satisfied by the relative cleanliness of your slippers, rub some dry baking soda over your problem areas. Sprinkle some water in drops only over the applied soda.
Let the mixture soak into the sandal for ten to fifteen minutes. Then, scrub at the patches in circular motions with an old toothbrush.
Brushing for three to four minutes should be enough to remove even the toughest of stains.
Once fully clean, rinse the paste off with cold water and your flip-flops should be as good as new.
2. Vinegar to the Rescue
Another neat home-based trick for effective memory foam deep cleans is to use white vinegar.
If your sandals have a lot of detailing or are in general of a more delicate construct, then this should be your to-go method.
Vinegar is a fairly gentle cleaning agent. It doesn’t require aggressive scrubbing or brushing like the other techniques.
You can either pour the white vinegar directly onto your sandals or soak them in a solution of vinegar and water.
The second option is far better suited for your more delicate footwear.
Soak the slipper anywhere from five to fifteen minutes based on how concentrated the vinegar is. Then gently rub at the stains with either a rag or a toothbrush.
In the case of particularly difficult stains, you can soak it up to two hours, as long as the vinegar solution isn’t too concentrated.
Rinse with cold water and air dry before putting your now brand-new sandals back to use.
3. Hydrogen Peroxide
Homely tricks like baking soda and vinegar not strong enough? You could always try hydrogen peroxide.
It is famous in the fabric industry for being the solution of all things stained, but its reputation extends to memory foam apparel as well.
However, for the best results, it is best to treat your memory foam sandals like you would cloth.
Soak your sandals in some cold, clear water before shifting them to soak in hydrogen peroxide.
Because it is such a strong cleaning agent, a couple of minutes should be more than enough.
Leaving your flip-flops to soak for too long can lead to discoloration or even slight hardening of the foam.
After treating them with hydrogen peroxide, gently wash the slippers with regular detergent and leave them out to dry.
4. Magic Cleaning Sponges
If you’re not in the mood to wait for results, look no further than a magic cleaning sponge.
It isn’t very effective on strong or dried stains, but if the damage is mild and fresh, these magic sponges are heaven-sent.
Gently soak the sponge in clear water. Scrub in slow circles at the discolored sections until you see the stains starting to give.
Between scrubs, you can also alternate a stain eraser to make sure that you don’t have to scrub till the original color fades.
Because the magic sponges can be abrasive, avoid using them near areas that have decals or any 3-D decorative details.
An accidental swipe or two shouldn’t be an issue, but if you pay too much attention their way, these details can fade or peel off.
Rinse your slippers thoroughly and air dry for them to be back in mint condition.
5. Tumble Wash and Air Dry
If you don’t have the time to be sitting around making detailed (but effective) concoctions, it’s time for the trusty old washer to step up.
Soak your slippers in cold water and then simply load them into your washer. Use regular detergent and a gentle cold-wash cycle, just like you would any delicate clothing.
When the cycle is completed, leave your ’flops out to dry in mild or indirect sunlight.
This is, without doubt, the most commonly used method, but it has its own limitations.
Machine washes are brilliant if you have a bunch of sandals that aren’t very heavily stained, and just need a light wash for maintenance.
However, if you have one pair that needs heavy de-staining, putting it in the washer is both wasteful and borderline ineffective.
Something you definitely don’t want to do after any of the above methods is to use a hair-dryer on your memory foam sandals.
But a quick dry isn’t the only thing you’ll get out of the package.
Not only is memory foam bound to harden from up-close exposure to heat, but it also becomes increasingly difficult to clean with every round of hair-drying.
Because the pores begin to close up, the water that seeps in can’t fully dry out and so only the surface appears dry.
If this is left to happen long enough, it can even lead to bacterial or fungal growth in your slippers.
All this hassle can simply be avoided if you make sure your slippers dry naturally.
It’s easy enough to just wash your slippers after you’ve scrubbed them clean and leave them out under the sun to dry.
If it’s that urgent for your slippers to dry immediately, use a hairdryer on low heat to speed up the air-drying process. Be very careful to not overheat your sandals, and only attempt this is absolutely necessray.
How to Clean Memory Foam Sandals on the Go
Cleaning your sandals becomes a chore only when you let them get too dirty.
Keeping a habit of regularly wiping your slippers with damp tissue or baby wipes is highly effective when it comes to maintaining good sandal hygiene.
Carry a pack of wipes when traveling. Being able to wipe off any dust, grime, or stains as they occur helps both keep your slippers clean and reduce the chances of them staining.
Another very helpful tool to have on you is a stain eraser stick or pen, especially if your sandals are white.
Not only do these eraser sticks make for a squeaky-clean finish, but they also reduce your cleaning time back home by half.
How Do You Get the Smell Out of Memory Foam Sandals?
If your flip-flops spend a major portion of your waking day in contact with your feet, they’re bound to get smelly.
Not to mention the days of exposure to grass, dirt, sand, or any other terrain you walked over.
Because of this, badly maintained flip-flops are festering grounds for all kinds of nasty microorganisms.
However, this can be easily remedied. Regular soap and water washing, especially with baking soda or hydrogen peroxide, work wonders against the odors that seep into your memory foam.
If you’re working with smells that are well above the ‘funky-smelling league, it helps to pre-soak your sandals in either dishwashing liquid solutions or with warm water and a cup of baking soda.
A particularly helpful tip in flip-flop maintenance is to keep a desiccator sachet near or on the pads of your ’flops.
If desiccants are too much of a commitment, you could also stuff newspapers balls into your sandals.
The point is to minimize moisture content, which is otherwise a major factor behind your smelly footwear.
Takeaway – Clean and Comfy Memory Foam Sandals Wherever You Go
And there you have it! Follow the above cleaning methods regularly for your memory foam sandals to be as clean and fresh as when you first bought them.
Now that dirty sandals are no longer keeping you up at night, what else could you put your mind to? Rocket science? World peace, perhaps?
Take on every new challenge that comes your way armored in comfortable, squeaky-clean memory foam sandals.
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