Even those who have some knowledge of maintenance, such as "cleaning = use a sneaker cleaner" may not understand when people say "preserve".
Please use it as a reference in order to keep your favorite sneakers for a long time.
Cause of deterioration
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There are many factors that can cause deterioration, but here are three common causes.
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dampness
accumulation of scratches and dirt
ultraviolet rays
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I will explain how these affect sneakers.
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Dampness: cause of hydrolysis
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The biggest enemy of sneakers is dampness.
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One famous degradation caused by dampness is hydrolysis of the sole of sneakers.
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For cushioning and weight reduction, sneakers often use materials such as foamed urethane on the sole, and dampness enters small holes during the manufacturing process, leading to deterioration of the material.
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As a result, the sole part may be worn out, or the adhesive that sticks the sole to the body may deteriorate and the sole itself may come off.
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dampness also cause "disgusting smell" of sneakers.
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accumulation of scratches and dirt: permeant stains
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Sneakers, which are always close to the ground, can easily get small grains of sand and mud.
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The dirt scratches the surface and accumulates on it, resulting in further scratches, which eventually result in scratches that cannot be removed even with a cleaner.
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Also, if you leave mud or oil on mesh sneakers, dirt may get deep inside the fabric, making it difficult to solve the problem on your own.
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Ultraviolet rays: Cause of color fading
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Due to the strong energy of ultraviolet rays, the dye of sneakers is broken down and cause discoloration, which leads to yellowing and fading.
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People tend to think that "ultraviolet rays = direct sunlight", but in fact, ultraviolet rays are also emitted from the lighting in the room.
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Therefore, even if it is stored indoors, it cannot be said that it has nothing to do with yellowing or fading, so you need to be careful.
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Preparation
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Preparations have a major impact on the preservation of sneakers.
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In order to prevent deterioration and maintain cleanliness, we must prepare thoroughly.
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What do we need to do?
simple: clean off the dirt as much as possible.
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That's the key to preserve sneakers in good condition.
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As explained in the reason why sneakers deteriorate, sneakers worn outside have many small deterioration factors such as fine sand, mud, and dampness.
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Whether it's dirt or damp, if you leave it as it is, it could become fixed on sneakers, so it's important to remove these causes as much as possible before preserving them.
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Depending on the material of the sneakers, such as mesh, canvas, synthetic leather, and nuback, there are suitable ways to clean them so keep that in mind.
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However, if you store it in a sealed or closed space immediately after cleaning, it will be locked up with the dampness you need to be most careful of.
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After cleaning, let's dry it completely in a well-ventilated place before storing it.
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The correct way to preserve sneakers
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After carefully cleaning and drying, we will proceed to the preservation in the following order.
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Deal with the dampness
Select items to use for storage
Selection of storage location
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Let's take a deeper look.
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After cleaning and drying well, we need to do more for dampness?
Of course, it is necessary because dampness is also in the air in the room.
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To store as it is now, we are going to use desiccant such as "silica gel".
By doing so, the desiccant absorbs dampness from the air.
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One thing to note is that the moisture absorption effect of the desiccant decreases over time, so it needs to be replaced regularly.
Therefore, I recommend to use a "long-lasting, cost-effective" desiccant
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In addition to the desiccants, there are items needed for storage.
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Shoe keeper to prevent shape damage
Wrapping film to protect against dust and dampness
A shoe box that can also used an interior decoration
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You need to chose depending on how often you wear those pairs.
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Some boxes and wrapping films are UV-proof.
If you want to prevent discoloration, it is recommended that you make good use of such items.
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For the place, decide it by how often you wear it.
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If you wear them frequently → Box (or shoe rack) + desiccant
If it's a collection item→ Wrapping + Dryer + Sho keeper + Box
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If you aren't going to wrap it, dampness tends to accumulate downwards, so I recommend to store it as high as possible.
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Why do so much to preserve?
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There's two reasons.
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To prevent deterioration
To keep the resale value
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I have already repeatedly warned about deterioration.
It's not only bad for your personal use, but you also might have lost the chance to resell them.
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The more rare the sneakers are, the more beautiful the sneakers must be to resell.
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It's shocking if the price of rare sneakers were quite low because of the deterioration and bad condition.
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The closer it is to the new condition, the higher the resale price will be, so preventing deterioration is a must, not to mention when wearing it but also when storing it.
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Conclusion
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Thank you for reading.