Is Sunscreen The Secret To Whiter Sneakers? Why You Should Think Twice About This Viral Hack

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There's something about a pair of perfectly white sneakers that can make you feel both comfortably casual and elegantly elite at the same time (even if you're just running errands on a Saturday and not brunching along Rodeo Drive). Unfortunately, that fashionable feeling fades with a few scuffs or a run-in with a mud puddle. Worse, you might have tried to clean them and ended up with a yellowish pallor to your formerly brilliantly white shoes. One social media influencer claims the secret to whiter sneakers is to stain them with sunscreen. Is she right? Is the answer to whiter sneakers right there in your summer beach bag? The lotions may be thick and white, but they also can be slippery and full of chemicals, so don't grab one just yet. You should think twice about this viral hack and try a different process.

The TikToker didn't use the sunscreen to clean the sneakers, but to stain or tint them white. Sunscreen does have a few alternate uses. For example, it's a genius hack to remove stains from a wall, but that doesn't make it a panacea for every mucky stain, including those on sneakers. And obviously sunscreens aren't formulated as a sneaker stain. They're made either to physically block ultraviolet rays or chemically absorb them. While that doesn't mean that some ingredients won't cause staining, it isn't specifically formulated to do so the way something like Kiwi Shoe Whitener is. Detergent manufacturers promote methods to eradicate sunscreen stains, descriptions of which include words like rusty, yellowish, oily, and sticky, so this hack could leave such stains on your shoes. Let's explore sunscreen staining pros (if any) and cons, for sneakers made with any material.

The influencer's shoes looked whiter after being smeared with sunscreen lotion and rinsed under running water, but we were left with lots of questions including what kind of sunscreen was used, would they stay white, which shoes were recommended (hers had mesh), what temperature was the rinse water, and whether the method would cause other problems. Unfortunately, the influencer gave no answers, so we dug in our toes to find more info, beginning with a little bit about the kicks. Most sneakers are made of combinations of leather, rubber, textiles (like cotton for canvas shoes), plastics, and synthetic materials (various foams and mesh, which is often polyester or nylon). Staining or cleaning could be different for each, like the best way to keep your white shoes in like-new condition might be to use a Magic Eraser on the rubber sole. Thus, the first strike against sunscreen use is that it's unlikely to work effectively on every type of shoe or every part of the shoe.

But that's the tip of the toe compared to the dilemma of the sunscreen ingredients, which aren't described as having whitening properties; if anything, the opposite is true. Many sunscreens contain a chemical called avobenzone. It may leave dark reddish stains on your shoes. If you live in an area with hard water, that problem is even more likely to occur. As if that isn't enough of a warning, there are oils in sunscreen, and they could damage or permanently stain your shoes, especially if they're leather. The chemical composition and oils are enough to leave sunscreen in our beach bags.

Perhaps the sunscreen hack was born out of necessity because the social media influencer needed a quick fix for her shoes upon leaving the beach, but couldn't take the time to buy the right product or go home to get whatever staining or cleaning solvents she already had. Sunscreen lotion might sometimes look white on your skin, but that isn't reason enough to put it on your sneakers. Whitening solutions abound, but sunscreen isn't among the peroxides, baking sodas, dish soaps, and toothpastes. If the reason the sunscreen hack appealed to you was because you might need something to perk up your white sneaks while you are at the beach or the pool, keep a tube of toothpaste (the plain white paste variety) in your beach bag. Rub it into any smudges, let it dry for 10 minutes, then brush it off or rub it off with a slightly moist paper towel. While it's a cleaning agent rather than a stain, it nonetheless will result in whiter, brighter shoes.

If you do not need an on-the-go remedy, you can keep white sneakers looking fresh with a popular household essential, which doesn't contain a drop of sunscreen. To make your sneaks whiter, you'd actually combine two household essentials — hydrogen peroxide and baking soda – into a paste. The powerful duo works in 30 minutes, leaving behind brighter shoes. No matter which methods you decide to try, however, remember that it's always a good idea to test it first in a small inconspicuous area before covering the entire sneaker.