Follow the same steps as those listed above—remove the laces from the shoes, rinse off loose surface soil, pretreat with heavy-duty detergent or an enzyme stain remover. Now you’re ready to hand wash the laces.

Mix a Cleaning Solution
Fill a sink or bucket with four cups of hot water. Add 1/2 teaspoon heavy-duty liquid laundry detergent. If you are washing several pairs of laces, double the amount of water and detergent.

Submerge the Shoelaces
Add the laces to the detergent solution and swish them around for a few minutes to wet them thoroughly and make sure they are submerged in the solution. Allow the laces to soak for at least 30 minutes.

Check the Laces
Give the laces a final swish through the detergent solution and then rinse with cool water. If they are clean and bright, they are ready to hang for drying. If not, it’s time to do a bleach soak in either water and chlorine or oxygen-based bleach following the instruction above.

Rinse and Dry
After washing and/or bleaching the laces, give them a final rinse in cool water and hang to drip dry.