Don't Throw Your Shoes In The Dryer — Try These Tips Instead For Minimal Damage

As tempting as it can be to throw your shoes in the dryer after a wash, it's really not a good idea. Women spoke exclusively to Ocean Van, owner of Coco Laundry, a premium laundry and wash-and-fold service based in Long Beach, California, who explains why, while also sharing his best tips for drying your shoes and ensuring they (and your appliances) stay in good form.

Van tells Women that one of the best methods is to let your shoes air dry. "We [at Coco Laundry] avoid direct sunlight and place the shoes in a well-ventilated, shaded, or indoor area. In our opinion, this is the safest way to dry shoes," he says. Remember to remove any laces or insoles first, so every part can dry as quickly as possible. Of course, this may take a while, so ensure you leave plenty of time before wearing your shoes again. How long will depend on the type of the shoe and the material, but, in most cases, it will take a solid few hours for them to dry, so try leaving them out overnight. If you don't have that kind of time, though, Van suggests placing your wet footwear in front of a fan to speed things up. Leave them upside down or on their side to allow the air to circulate all the way around and inside; just leave a safe distance between the shoe and the fan.

But this method won't work for every shoe in your closet. "For shoes made with special materials like suede or leather, we recommend taking them to a dry cleaner for proper cleaning," Van says, which is a great tip for washing summer 2025's sandal trends.

Another way to dry your shoes is via the newspaper hack. That involves inserting crinkled newspaper (or paper towels/white paper if you're worried about the print rubbing off) inside your shoes to remove excess moisture as they air dry. Though it should be pushed all the way down to the toe, don't use too much, as it's crucial that the air still circulates inside. Then, just replace the wet newspaper with a dry one as many times as you need to.

Now that we know the best ways to dry our footwear, let's get into what could happen if we ignore Ocean Van's advice, because there are several reasons why our footwear should stay far away from the dryer. "[The dryer] can warp and change the shape of the shoes. We've seen some of the rubber parts on the bottom of shoes get damaged from excessive heat, especially in athletic shoes," Van exclusively explains. Intense heat could also loosen any glue used to bond the shoe together, and you may find that fabric shoes come out of the dryer wrinkled or scrunched up. In most cases, once your shoes are damaged, there's no going back.

But it's not just your footwear you're risking in the dryer. "We've seen shoelaces get stuck in the dryer drum. In the dryers we use at our laundry service, there are metal mesh panels where laces can get caught, causing clanking noises and even damaging the metal parts of the drum," Van says. That could mean, at a minimum, you'll need to buy new shoelaces (and that can be pretty annoying when you're trying to put your best foot forward in one of 2025's shoe trends). Worst case, you may need to buy a brand new dryer — and that could be pricey.