The Best Way to Clean Your UGG Boots
Ugg boots are ubiquitous in the winter, although they go from being genuinely fashionable to ironically trendy and back again quite regularly. However, sheepskin boots and slippers are a staple, although they get pretty dirty in the slush and salt. Uggs sells a cleaning kit, but after spending all that money on the shoes themselves, you probably don’t want to spend another $35 when you can just take care of them at home for less. I tested two DIY methods for cleaning UGG boots on a pair of my moccasins to see which was better.
First I tried cleaning my UGG boots with vinegar.
There are a lot of things you shouldn’t clean with vinegar , but (at least according to DIY bloggers) Uggs aren’t one of them. You may have read that you can clean sheepskin shoes with distilled vinegar and lightly blot them with a suede brush to remove dirt and debris from the material. I used an old toothbrush which worked great.
After cleaning my Ugg boots with a toothbrush, I lightly dampened the outside of the shoe with a damp cloth. You don’t want it to be completely wet at any point, so this part was surprisingly harsh: the water didn’t spread evenly across my shoes, but instead soaked into stains at times. After that, I mixed one part cold water with one part distilled white vinegar and used another cloth to gently blot the stains. It was really effective for me and I saw dirty drops of vinegar water running down my shoes. I then went back to my first wet rag and wiped away the dirt and vinegar. If you have boots, you can stuff them with newspaper or cloth to keep their shape while they dry, preferably overnight.
Then I tried cleaning my UGG boots with baby shampoo.
Baby shampoo is also often mentioned in the blogosphere when shoe fanatics discuss ways to clean their sheepskin products. You just need to mix a few drops with a little warm water and then gently rub the mixture into the outside of your boots, then use a brush to scrub away dirt and (again, gently) agitate any stains. I did this and then used the wet rag method again, stuffed them with bubble wrap (feel free to use newspaper, of course) to keep their shape, and let them dry overnight.
Other tips for cleaning UGG boots
Before I announce the winner, here are some additional tips:
- Rub in one direction only, no matter what solution you use to apply or what kind of solution it is.
- I used a rag to wet one shoe and a sponge to wet the other to see if it made a difference in how wet each shoe got, but it didn’t help. Be careful how you wet your shoes so they don’t get too wet.
- The outer surface dries unevenly, making it difficult to know at first how effective cleaning is. It will remain dark, damp and patchy for a while.
- Although I washed shoes and not boots, I stuffed them with bubble wrap in case moisture settled on top. Even if you’re dealing with moccasins, it doesn’t hurt to stuff them while they’re drying.
Baby shampoo cleaned my Ugg boots best
In my test, baby shampoo was the clear winner. Firstly, vinegar smells bad and I don’t like cleaning my clothes with it, and secondly, the shampoo worked better on stains on my shoes. Vinegar also removed stains, but not as thoroughly. I’d just warn that if you use shampoo, you’ll really have to thoroughly scrub off the lather, which may take two or three passes with a damp cloth.