Cleaning VFF?

[barefoottpt]

So jw jst to make sure you can machine was VFF I know that but when you do do you just put in some era and what temperature do you set the water too???

[tak555]

hold on, i think you can machine wash speeds, but maybe not the other ones... not sure though

[equiraptor]

All of mine have come with directions saying they can be machine washed. I toss them in with the cold stuff (when I do) and then follow with a soak in a baking soda / hydrogen peroxide solution (which kills any remaining stink). It doesn't always get out all the brake dust, but brake dust is difficult stuff. This combination certainly kills the stink and cleans out the inside quite effectively.

[dirkverelst]

Yes you can clean all of your VFF's in the washing machine low temperature (not the dish washer as some have tried!).
There is a lot of talk on this subject, check out the forums. Make sure you clean the yellow footbed with a sponge or something before washing them to get that pristine yellow back.

[barefoottpt]

Awesome thanks guys

[mike1346]

All of mine have come with directions saying they can be machine washed. I toss them in with the cold stuff (when I do) and then follow with a soak in a baking soda / hydrogen peroxide solution (which kills any remaining stink). It doesn't always get out all the brake dust, but brake dust is difficult stuff. This combination certainly kills the stink and cleans out the inside quite effectively.

Is this a mixture of baking soda and peroxide? How long roughly is your "soak"?

Thanks

[equiraptor]

Is this a mixture of baking soda and peroxide? How long roughly is your "soak"?

Formally, "peroxide" is not the same as "hydrogen peroxide". What I'm referring to is H2O2 (well, with appropriate sub-scripts), as sold is the local drugstore/pharmacy. It's the 3% dilution used to clean wounds. The baking soda is sodium bicorbonate. What you actually want is sodium percarbonate. While it's not hard to get, it's harder/more expensive than hydrogen peroxide and baking soda and mixing them. I mix and dilute in water, per the "homemade oxyclean" recipes one can find online. They soak for "a while" - I generally try for around 30 minutes, but it varies depending on my distraction level. I wash first and then use this stuff, so there's less organic material for the mixture to attack. As a result, I tend to use a fairly weak dilution of it (so leaving them in longer is less of a risk). The stink vanishes, and on all the shoes I've used it on, the color has stayed true.

[barefoottpt]

So i cleaned my vibrams in the washer but now I've started noticing some brown stuff idk it's weird I guess I can only describe it as the consistency of starburst or something right after I take my vibrams off but if I let em sit it jst becomes hard and chips off idk how to explain it really and I can't really get a picture but just wondering if anyone can tell me what it is possibly it just seems to be some kind of dirt or something I'm just wondering if anyone knows about it?

[kaydee]

Hi barefootpt,

(what does idk mean? and I don't quite get the meaning of starbust either)

I think that brown stuff is dirt. Skin flakes, mixed with dirt from the road and sweat. Have you never worn shoes without socks before? Better clean it out quickly, it's a funk preserver.

[barefoottpt]

Thanks honestly thats what I figured it was I just wanted someone else to say it instead of just me lol

[noelbodwell]

Hi barefootpt,

(what does idk mean? and I don't quite get the meaning of starbust either)

I think that brown stuff is dirt. Skin flakes, mixed with dirt from the road and sweat. Have you never worn shoes without socks before? Better clean it out quickly, it's a funk preserver.

I believe idk means I don't know.

[kaydee]

Thanks noelbodwell, as easy as that, huh?, but I just couldn't get it.