Alright, let me tell you about this thing I did recently. Found myself digging around in the attic, you know how it goes, looking for something else entirely. And bam, tucked away in a dusty old box, I found them. My old Reebok basketball kicks from back in the 90s. Man, seeing those things brought back some memories. Think they were the Kamikazes, the black and white ones. Shawn Kemp wore ’em, absolute beast on the court.
They weren’t looking too pretty, though. Covered in dust, obviously. The white parts, especially the midsoles, had gone all yellow and kinda sad looking. The leather, or whatever it is, looked dry. Laces were grimy. Honestly thought about just chucking them back in the box, but something stopped me. Felt like a bit of a project, you know? See if I could bring ’em back a little.
Getting Started
So, first thing I did was bring them downstairs. Gave them a good whack outside to get the loose dust off. Then I grabbed an old towel and just wiped them down gently. Got rid of the surface layer of grime. Pulled out the laces, they were nasty, tossed them straight into a bowl with some warm water and laundry soap to soak while I worked on the shoes themselves.
Next, I tackled the uppers. Didn’t want to use anything too harsh. Found some mild dish soap, put a little bit in some warm water. Got a soft brush – like an old toothbrush – and dipped it in the soapy water. Started scrubbing the black and white sections gently. Had to be careful not to soak the material too much. Went over them section by section, wiping off the dirty suds with a damp cloth as I went. It took a while, getting into all the little grooves and stuff.
The Yellow Soles Issue
Okay, the midsoles. That yellowing is tough. I’ve seen stuff online about special sauces and UV lights, but honestly, I didn’t have any of that handy and wasn’t about to order it just for this. So, I just tried scrubbing them hard with the soapy water and the brush. It cleaned them up, got the dirt off, but the yellow tint? Yeah, that wasn’t really budging much. I sort of just accepted it. They’re old shoes, right? They’re gonna show their age. It’s part of their story now, I guess.
After cleaning the main body of the shoe, I went back to the laces. Swished them around in the soapy water, gave them a good scrub against each other, rinsed them really well under the tap, and then hung them up to dry. Clean laces make a big difference, surprisingly.
- Pulled shoes from dusty box.
- Did an initial dry wipe down.
- Removed laces and soaked them.
- Gently scrubbed uppers with soft brush and mild soap solution.
- Wiped clean with damp cloth.
- Attempted to clean yellowed midsoles (results were meh).
- Cleaned and rinsed the laces thoroughly.
Finally, I stuffed the shoes with some paper towels to help them keep their shape and absorb any leftover moisture inside. Left them somewhere cool and airy to dry out completely, away from direct sunlight. Took about a day.
Once they were dry, I put the clean laces back in. Honestly, they looked way better. Not brand new, not even close. The yellowing was still there, a few scuffs wouldn’t come out completely. But they looked clean. They looked like someone cared about them again. Felt pretty good, actually. Didn’t take much, just a bit of time and some elbow grease. Holding them felt like holding a piece of history, my history. Good enough for me.
