How to Clean Trail Running Shoes

Why cleaning trail shoes matters

• Mud and grit act like sandpaper. Left to dry inside the mesh, they break down the fabric fibres from the inside out with every subsequent run. A rinse removes the abrasive material before it does damage.
• Salt from sweat corrodes materials. Modern trail shoes use adhesives and synthetic materials that degrade over time under repeated salt exposure. Rinsing after every run removes it before it takes hold.
• Wet shoes left to dry slowly breed bacteria and smell. Shoes that take 4–5 days to dry give bacteria plenty of time to establish. Fast, proper drying is the most effective odour prevention — and it starts with the routine below.
• Clean shoes last longer — and that saves you money. Trainers typically cost £130–160 and last 600–800km. The shoes in the photo above have done 1,057km of fell running — 57% more than the typical lifespan. That's roughly £70–£90 of extra mileage, from a £15 Trainer Drainer and a 5-minute routine. Even if you add just 20% more life to your shoes, you're well ahead.
• Good for the planet. Running shoes can't be recycled — and 33 million pairs go to landfill in the UK every year. Keeping your shoes running for longer is one of the most meaningful things you can do as a runner to reduce your environmental footprint. Every extra hundred kilometres on a pair of shoes is one fewer pair in the ground.

Remove the insoles

Mud and grit get trapped underneath the insoles and won't wash out if they're left in. Cleaning them separately means a proper clean all the way through — and both shoe and insole dry much faster on their own.

You don't need to remove the laces. That's not a gift to future you — just rinse properly and tuck the ends into the Trainer Drainer to catch the drips.

Rinse until the water runs clear

Clean the mud off the tread first — a brush helps if you're not using a hose — then rinse out the uppers inside and out. A hose or running tap means you can see the sweat, mud, and fine grit being washed away.

Rinse until the water runs clear. This is the most important step. Clear water means the mud that does the damage is gone. Usually three to five rinses does it. It's a proper deep clean that extends the life of your shoes.

Rinse the insoles too. They hold the most odour, and a regular rinse with water will stop bad smells developing.

Cool water is fine. Avoid really hot water as it softens the bonding agents that hold your shoe together. An outdoor tap or hose is ideal for really muddy shoes — an indoor sink is fine for a lighter clean.

Drip dry naturally

Drying shoes naturally is best for your shoes. Pop the wet shoes straight on the Trainer Drainer. Designed for natural drip drying, the water drains out naturally from the heel, air circulates through the full interior, and the drip tray catches everything underneath. No puddles on your floor. No mess on your radiator.

Compare this to the alternatives

We think the Trainer Drainer is the best value, most practical, easiest to use and most environmentally friendly option available. Quite simply it works — but there are other options:

• Balanced against a radiator — the sole and lower upper sit in direct contact with intense heat, which degrades foam and glue, gives you radiator melt lines in your shoes, and drips down the wall onto the floor.
• Stuffed with newspaper — absorbs some moisture but blocks the airflow that actually dries the interior. And who has a newspaper these days anyway.
• Left flat on the floor — water pools in the toe box, stays damp for days, and the smell sets in by day three.
• Electric dryers — if you're back out on another run in the same shoes in 40 minutes you may need one of these. For everyone else, make the eco choice and dry without unnecessary electricity use.

How to use the Trainer Drainer:

1. Clip the foot profile into the tray mount — push the back of the clip in and roll forward until it clicks
2. Place the shoe onto the foot profile
3. Tuck the laces into the drip tray (or lay them over the shoe)
4. Check the heel is positioned above the tray — this is where most of the drip comes from
5. Place the insole on top of the shoe to dry separately
6. For large shoes (size 13+), pull the laces snug before mounting to keep the heel over the tray

Squeeze and leave

Once mounted, give the tongue and heel another squeeze — these padded areas hold a surprising amount of water, and the drip tray catches it all. Then leave them to dry.

Place the Trainer Drainer wherever suits you — on a windowsill, above a radiator (see below), on the floor. The design works anywhere.

Shoe design influences drying time significantly. A shoe with lots of heel padding will take longer to dry than one with minimal foam padding.

What about radiators?

Most advice says avoid radiators — and that's correct if your shoes are sitting directly on the radiator metal. The concentrated contact heat degrades the foam midsole and the adhesives that hold the shoe together. Radiators can have a surface temperature of up to 70–80°C. Shoes get damaged above 50°C so direct contact is not recommended.

The Trainer Drainer holds the shoe above the radiator, not on it. The warm air rising from the radiator circulates through the open shoe naturally, drying from the inside out.

In testing, internal shoe temperature when used this way reaches only 34°C — well within the safe range for shoe materials. Electric shoe dryers go up to 45°C.

The distinction matters: it's not about avoiding warmth, it's about avoiding direct contact heat. The Trainer Drainer gives you the benefit of the radiator's warmth without the damage of sitting on it.

Dealing with smell

Trail shoe smell comes from bacteria that thrive in damp, enclosed spaces. Shoes that take 4–5 days to dry give bacteria plenty of time to establish — and once they have, the smell is very hard to shift.

The fastest fix is quicker drying. Using a Trainer Drainer solves this problem as shoes don't have time to develop the conditions bacteria need. This is why the drying step matters as much as the cleaning step.

If you're dealing with existing smell:

• Spray the inside with equal parts white vinegar and water after washing, before drying — an effective natural deodoriser
• Always dry insoles separately — they hold the most moisture and the most odour
• Never put trail shoes in the tumble dryer — the heat sets the smell and damages the materials at the same time

How long should trail running shoes last?

The generally quoted lifespan for trail running shoes is 600–800km. But that figure assumes typical levels of use and running on roads. For trail running in dust and mud, that puts extra wear on the fabric — which for most runners means leaving muddy shoes to dry slowly and incompletely between runs.

With a consistent rinse-and-dry routine, shoes last significantly longer. The Saucony Peregrine 11s shown at the top of this page have done 1,057km of fell running in the Peak District. Rinsed and dried on a Trainer Drainer after every run. Still going.

At £140+ a pair, that extra mileage is worth about £70 in real money — and it means fewer pairs of synthetic, non-recyclable shoes heading to landfill.

See the Trainer Drainer →

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to rinse my trainers in summer?
Yes — it's good to rinse your shoes after every run in summer too. Think of how often you wash your socks. It's the dust and sweat that cause damage, and a rinse washes them away. It's not as obvious after a dry dusty run compared to a wet muddy one, but dust gets into the fibres and acts like sandpaper, and sweat accumulation leads to smells.

How often should I clean my trail shoes?
After every run. In the Peak District, the Pennines, or any run with mud or dust, a 5-minute rinse after each run prevents the cumulative damage that shortens shoe life.

Should I let mud dry before cleaning trail shoes?
No — rinse while they're still wet. Dried mud is harder to remove and more abrasive once embedded in the fabric. The sooner you rinse after a run, the less damage accumulates.

Do I need to remove the laces to clean trail shoes?
No. Remove the insoles — mud and grit get trapped underneath them and won't wash out otherwise. But laces don't need to come out if you rinse properly and dry with a Trainer Drainer. Save yourself the faff.

Can I put trail running shoes in the washing machine?
No — and this applies to fell shoes too. The heat, agitation, and detergent combination degrades the adhesives that hold the shoe together, collapses midsole foam, and shortens shoe life significantly. It also uses electricity and wears out your washing machine. There's no need. Hand rinsing with cool water is all you need.

What about electric shoe dryers?
Electric shoe dryers do dry shoes faster than air drying — but they come with trade-offs. They require more resources to produce, use electricity every time you run them, and with multiple components and mixed materials are difficult to recycle at end of life. The Trainer Drainer is designed and made in Sheffield with near zero waste, uses a single material in production, no electricity in use, and can be recycled and reused. If fast drying is the priority, placing a Trainer Drainer above a radiator dries shoes overnight without any additional power at all.

Can trail shoes get wet?
Absolutely — they're designed for it. The key is drying them properly afterwards. Most trail and fell shoes are mesh-based and handle water well; it's the prolonged damp that causes damage and odour, not the initial wetting.