The Best Method to Clean the April SB Dunks
The April SB Dunks released back in November of 2023 and quickly became a sought after shoe. The hidden details, premium materials and chrome swoosh made them not only interesting, but an extremely good looking shoe. The icy bottoms feature a rose design that stand out from the crowd and the insoles are incredible. However, cleaning them is not easy.. Today we will go over how to clean them properly and the precautions needed.
(Images via @YankeeKicks)
First... Here's how to protect them to avoid dirtying them.. The April SB's are the perfect shoe for our Water + Stain Repellent. The Turbo Green suede and white mesh are the top 2 materials to use Repellent on. For this you need to apply 2-3 coats directly to the shoe and avoid unwanted stains! Don't forget to reapply every couple of weeks for optimal results.
On top of protecting the uppers it is VERY important to protect those icy bottoms. Now we know this product is copntreversial, but let's be honest icy bottoms when they get dirty are not it. Plus they may NEVER get back to where they were when you bought them. For this you're going to want to apply Reshoevn8r's Sole Shields. Check out our full Youtube video on how to properly apply these to your shoes. As you can see in the later video the shoe yellows quick, so just apply them!
How to Properly Clean The Shoe:
Before we get into it we will give you the issues right up front.. These shoes WILL bleed. Prior to even getting them wet we noticed the blue suede bleeding into the white mesh; which made this cleaning process very complicated.
Now if the shoes aren't overly dirty you can always use our Dry Suede Method. This includes using the Suede Eraser to remove trapped in stains and the Suede Brush to ensure the texture remains smooth. Follow it up with Mink Oil to bring the vibrant color back into the blue.
The pair we cleaned in today's Youtube video was a little dirtier, so we relied on the Dry Suede Kit and the Essential Cleaning Kit. First Vick blew off the dirt with the air compressor before erasing the deeper stains with the Dry Suede Kit. For the Essential Kit he cleaned the midsoles and outsoles with the Medium and Stiff Brush. For the uppers it was a little hard to get that wet due to the color bleeding. For this Vick relied on the Sneaker Wipes to remove deep staining on the white leather, midsole and more. For the rest of the materials on the uppers such as the white mesh and white leather Vick relied on the brush and solution. Now it was INCREDIBLY important not to hit that suede which means this was going to take some serious precession and patience.
The suede is where things got tricky.. The suede on this shoe needs to be cleaned panel by panel and dried as you go or it will bleed onto the materials. We recommend not to oversaturate the suede areas and make sure you are shaking the brush off EVERY TIME.
Last step is going to be to apply Mink Oil and reset the nap. This cleaning isn't going to be a quick clean you WILL need at least 30 minutes.
Now that you know the precautions needed and the best method to clean. Go take on the shoe!