My favorite pair of shoes got ruined this weekend… thanks to my new, high waisted, wide leg trouser jeans.
FAIL. After tromping around Manhattan for a few hours I noticed that the ink from my new denim rubbed off onto my lovely DV by Dolce Vita suede espadrille sandals and dyed them blue!
I considered them a total loss but pretended not to be upset about it because they gave me a massive blister and I couldn’t bear the thought of putting them on my feet again.
I reluctantly packed them in my suitcase thinking I’d toss them in the trash when I got home but last night decided, while cleaning the rest of the house, that I would try to salvage them. I googled “removing denim dye from suede” and came across a variety of home remedies.
- Rub with a rubber eraser
- Scrub with vinegar
- Find a fancy cleaner that has the means to clean your item for you and expect to spend $40+
- Throw the item out
- I tried #1 but stopped because the suede started getting even more discolored.
- I had no vinegar so #2 was out.
- I only paid $65 for these shoes and was not willing to spend $40+ to maybe have the stain removed
- #4 was a last resort.
With no vinegar in my cabinets though I decided to do the only thing that came to mind…
I pulled out my handy, cleaning toothbrush and using a little dish soap and water, started brushing.
After that, I used an old towel to really scrub the straps ince the soft bristles can only do so much.
I rinsed, blotted and hoped for the best….
Ta-da! My crazy soap and water method seems to have worked, for the most part, on my beloved red suede sandals. Here’s a before and after.
I took a chance since I basically considered them a lost cause and am happy that I’ve revived them!
Do you have any good fabric/stain cleaning tips?
This evening I have nothing but a whole lot of relaxing on tap since I was up at 5:15 this morning for a run! My relaxing may or may not involve baking a banana bread. I love getting my workouts over with early in the day – it frees up the entire evening for fun activities!
WD-40 will lift virtually any stain out of any fabric, including suede
I have pink suede Adidas that got ruined by 2 pairs of jeans. I mixed vinegar with the dish soap and the toothbrush. Worked really well. Thank you!
I came here trying to figure out how to get the stains out of my pink suede adidas! They are a nightmare…
Thanks for this! Broke out some suede sneakers for the first time today and was so bummed when I thought I’d ruined them.
Thanks for this simple inexpensive tip! I added a little vinegar for extra power. Looks like my tan suede boots will look much better than before.
Thank you so much for this tip Elle! Last night I got home and realized my favorite and most comfortable light nude suede high heels’ back straps had become blue because of my jeans. I really thought there was no fix. I found your blog and tried it right away. Since I didn’t have an extra toothbrush on hand, I went straight to rubbing the dish soap with the wet towel. I even targeted some old little stains… To my surprise this morning when I woke up, all stains were gone. I’m so happy thanks!
MY ADIDAS got ruined from my stupid jeans.Im glad i read this to help me.
Glad to hear that! I have a pair of shoes that has been destroyed by a pair of pants.It has been going on for over a year, so I do not know if I can make it better, but I will try!
Thank you for this information I just realized my jeans have faded on my tan suede shoes I will be trying as soon as I get home.
Well I have some black and white Pumas and they are pretty beat up and I don’t know what to do at this point but use your method and I hope it works thank-you
I had same problem although it was dye on ma puma’s but the ereaser worked a treat it thank u ?
Got some jordan 11 greys, hope this real and not fakes
Ive just try the soap and toothbrush method on my light grey monsoon boots and its all gone. Thankyou I have my boots back
This gives me so much hope!
so useful! Im goign to try this on some boots i have and a pair of BCBG red flats that got ruined by the rain.
I’ve tried the eraser, but it got the color off.
Thanks!
Has anyone else tried this method? I have suede DVF pumps that are *not* $65 lol so I am not willing to just take the toothbrush to them. I was thinking a cleaner but I have major trust issues even with heel repair people.
Blue dye in suede shoes— is all lost?!
If you are that worried, take them to a cobbler. They will know how to get it out.
Thank you so much for this because I just bought a beautiful pair of suede tan boots today 4/1/15 and my new jeans left dye all over them so I was so upset so im going to try this and I really hope it works so thank you so much!!!!!!
Did it work?