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Welcome to Skimm Tested, where we put products to the test and then give 'em a report card. (Check out all of our tried and tested faves here.)
The assignment…
To see if the Pink Miracle Shoe Cleaner ($18.97+) truly works to restore our dirty, beat-up shoes and sneakers to a sparkling-clean version of themselves. PS: Skimm’rs get an exclusive 10% off with code THESKIMM through August 31.
Straight A’s in…
Value. A little goes a looong way. While the bottle doesn’t specify exact amounts, you’ll need only a few drops diluted in water. We used four or five drops in about a quart or so of water, a ratio that seemed to work well.
Effectiveness. To use the cleaner, you simply dip the included brush in the cleaning solution and then scrub away at your shoes, wiping them with a cloth or paper towel when you’re through. It requires a fair amount of elbow grease, but we found it worked quickly and thoroughly to remove both grime from normal wear-and-tear as well as caked-on dirt.
Versatility. Pink Miracle can clean an array of fabrics — from washable leather to vinyl to canvas. (While we did not test it on suede or nubuck, it is said to be effective on those materials as well.) Just to be safe, you’ll wanna test it on a small, ideally inconspicuous area of your shoe first to make sure it gives ya the intended results. Psst...check out the video below to see it in action.
Room for growth…
Knit fabrics. We found that Pink Miracle was not as effective at thoroughly cleaning one pair of our sneakers designed with a knit upper. While it did reduce a few minor stains, we didn’t notice as drastic of a difference as we did with our shoes made of leather and canvas.
With nail polish. This stuff really works — a little too well, tbh, if you’re wearing nail polish. We initially started testing the cleaner without wearing gloves and noticed that it had slightly removed one tester’s new gel polish top coat when it made contact with her nails. So make sure to wear gloves when in use.
Arm power. If you’ve really got some caked-on grime on your shoes, it’ll take some effort to scrub it all away. We don’t think this is a dealbreaker in the least, but just be aware that it won’t work like a magical instant eraser.
Plays well with…
Any washable (i.e., you can wet the material and scrub without damaging it) leather, vinyl, canvas, nubuck, suede or cloth. But remember: Testing a small area first is always recommended for best results.
Gets extra credit for…
An included brush. (But if you’d like a multipurpose brush with three different bristle types, you can find one here for $12.97.)
Being available in two different sizes: a 4-ounce and an 8-ounce bottle.
How we did our homework…
We asked HQ’rs to bring in their dirtiest white sneakers — of varied fabrics — to put to the test. We also took a pair of white loafers and muddied them up in a nearby park to see how well Pink Miracle would work on an extremely grimy pair with caked-on dirt. Then we diluted the solution as noted above (four drops in approximately a quart of water) and went to town scrubbing several different pairs. We noted the difference between the original, dirty shoes and their cleaner counterparts, and also took into account how much time and effort it took to thoroughly clean each shoe.
Footnotes...
Use code THESKIMM for 10% off your purchase
Need to dilute
Nontoxic
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