Tennis shoes are as important for a player as much as his tennis racket. The shoes are responsible for a player’s movements, flexibility, swing, in fact, his entire performance.
Tennis shoes often get dirty as players play in different fields clay, grass, and hard courts.
Those of you who play tennis regularly pretty well know how important and tough it is to maintain their tennis shoes. Tennis shoes need to be washed and dried at least thrice each week.
Many players have tried an alternative way of dealing with this problem. Wet shoes can be a problem both for the player’s feet and also for the game, hence players tried drying them in the drier to make it less time consuming and convenient.
Drying tennis shoes using the dryer only takes about 50 minutes or a bit more, but the real question is – “can you put tennis shoes in the dryer?”
The answer is yes, you can but there’s a catch!
Can You Put Tennis Shoes in the Dryer?
You can dry your tennis shoe using your dryer but in the right way. Air drying is the best way of drying them. Your shoes should be empty, cleaned of any dirt, stones, grass, or debris.
After washing your tennis shoes, make sure to drain most of the water out of your tennis shoes before putting them in your dryer.
How To Dry Tennis Shoes in the Dryer
There are a few ways to make sure you can properly dry the tennis shoes in the dryer.
1. Check The Label
First of all, you need to check the shoe’s labels to determine whether they can be dried using the dryer or not. The information or label is usually noted down on the inner heel.
Most tennis shoes contain a square with an X or circle in them. The X mark indicates that the shoe cannot be put in the dryer, Wherelese the circle indicates it can be dried using a dryer.
2. Determine Shoe Material
Your tennis shoes need to be made of cotton, polyester, or canvas if you want them to be dried in a dryer. Some shoes have nylon that may cause a problem, as they melt in high heat.
If your shoes are made of animal fabric like suede or perhaps leather dryer it in the dryer will make it crack. On the other hand, drying them with sequins may cause your tennis shoes to fall off.
To those unaware, there are various types of tennis shoes available in the market as discussed here.
3. Tie Your Shoelaces
Before drying your shoes always remember to tie the shoelaces into a knot. Hold the laces and drape them over the dryer door keeping the shoes in the dryer only.
4. Protect Your Shoes While Drying
Keep the laces over the dryer door and close them, this will not cause your tennis shoes to fall into the dryer.
If your dryer has an extra drying rack you can place your tennis shoes on them to dry.
Do not toss your tennis shoes over into the dryer. Putting them in the dryer will cause loud noises and bang the walls of your machine. Worse case, your dryer may get damaged in the process.
If you cannot hang your shoes in the dryer by its laces, we would advise you to warp them in a laundry bag, along with several thick towels. This would reduce the banging impact on your dryer.
5. Adjust The Temperature
Most dryers have an air-dry system in its setting. It is better to air dry your tennis shoes. In case your dryer machine does not have that option it’s better to set it at its lowest temperature.
Low temperature helps tennis shoes dry evenly and does not cause the shoe fabric to shrink.
Alternatively, you can also purchase a shoe dryer device. These are available in several different types and use very low heat to dry your tennis shoes. Here’s my recommended tennis shoe dryer:
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How Long Does It Take to Dry Tennis Shoes Using a Dryer?
It is essential to check your tennis shoes every 20 minutes. Turn your shoes or change their position after every 20 minutes. Your tennis shoes should take about 1 hour to get completely air-dried.
Make sure your shoe does not get over dried as that would cause damage and eventually make them non-wearable.
Do Tennis Shoes Melt When Put in a Dryer?
Not in all cases, but the temperature is a big factor. The material of your tennis shoes also needs to be considered.
Most tennis shoes contain nylon in them along with some additional material to make them flexible and stretchy.
The elastic stretchy material does make your tennis shoes highly comfortable, but it shoes its downside when you put them in your dryer.
Make sure you check the labels and find out if you have nylon in your shoes, if it does, you should set your dryer at a low temperature.
At high temperatures, nylon will easily melt. If your shoes are made of polyester, then the temperature is not a factor.
Do Dryers Damage Tennis Shoes with Foam/Gel Soles?
Unfortunately yes, tennis shoes that contain foam or gel-like material in their soles to help players cushion bouncing and jumping, tend to easily fall apart when kept in the dryer.
Foam and gel get melted by the heat and may even produce a slaggy material when put in the drier.
Bottom Line
Now that you have read our article you should know that you can put your tennis shoes in the dryer, but there are a few measurements or precautions you must take.
Once again do not put them in the dryer blind-sighted, read the labels in your shoes and also the note which comes with your tennis shoe box.
Dryers do not take much time and save players from a lot of hassle. Nothing beats a clean pair of dried tennis shoes and best of luck with your match!
Read More: Tennis Shoes vs Sneakers: What’s The Difference?
My name is Reagen and I started AllTennisGear (earlier AllTennisShoes) as a way to share my humble experience and help new Tennis players. Thank you for spending a few minutes of your day here and know that your feedback is always welcome.