Yes, you can put COOPS in the washing machine. Put them in the wash bag that comes in the box, wash cold on a gentle cycle, and let them air dry. Skip the dryer. That’s the whole routine.
Most shoes end up in one of two piles. The nice ones you keep clean by not wearing them much, and the comfortable ones you wear until they’re gross. We wanted a pair that didn’t force that choice, so we made the whole shoe washable. Not a removable insole, not a wipe-clean finish. The shoe goes in the machine.
How do I wash COOPS?
- Knock off the loose stuff. Clap the soles together outside or brush off dried mud. Grit in the drum is bad for everything else in the wash.
- Bag them. Put the pair in the COOPS wash bag that came in the box. It stops them banging around and protects the knit.
- Cold and gentle. We recommend a cold or cool delicate cycle with a normal amount of regular detergent. No bleach, no fabric softener. Softener coats the yarn and makes the knit less breathable.
- Air dry. Take them out of the bag, pull them back into shape and leave them on a rack or by an open window. Don’t use the dryer or a radiator; heat is hard on the rubber and the knit.
Give them time to dry all the way through before you wear them, which is often overnight. Stuffing them loosely with a dry towel for the first hour helps.
Why can a knit shoe go in the wash when a sneaker can’t?
A regular sneaker is a sandwich of foams, glues, stiffeners and overlays. Put it through a hot wash and the glue can soften, the foam soaks up water like a sponge, and the shape can come back slightly different. Some sneakers survive it. Plenty don’t.
COOPS are built differently. The upper is knit, the footbed is part of the shoe rather than a loose insole, and the outsole is real rubber. There’s much less to soak up water or come apart, so a gentle wash and an air dry brings them back to how they started. That’s also why we put the wash bag in the box. We expect you to use it.
Is it actually worth washing your shoes?
We think so, and not only because clean shoes look better. Shoe soles pick up a lot from the ground; a systematic review of 13 studies, mostly in hospitals, found soles can carry bacteria such as MRSA and C. difficile from place to place.1 The inside of a shoe is warm and damp, and a review of 33 studies found that shoes can harbor the fungi behind athlete’s foot.2
Here’s the honest part. A cold wash gets out dirt, sweat and smell, but it isn’t a disinfection cycle. Lab studies on socks found it took a 60°C (140°F) wash to reliably kill athlete’s foot fungus; at 30 to 40°C some survived.34 COOPS are made for a cool wash, so think of washing them as everyday hygiene, not a treatment. If you have a foot infection, see a doctor or pharmacist, and follow their advice for your shoes.
How often should I wash them?
When they look or smell like they need it. If you wear COOPS around the house and on short trips out, that’s roughly every few weeks. If you wear them barefoot every day, more often. With two pairs you can wear one while the other dries, and a second pair is cheaper with the two-pair price.
Where washable shoes really earn their keep
- Dog walks and gardens. Mud, wet grass, the occasional surprise. See how people wear them on dog walks and errands.
- Kids and kitchens. Spilled milk, bath splashes, sticky floors. More on family mornings.
- After shifts and workouts. The pair you change into at the gym or after work gets sweaty fast. Here’s our page on post-workout shoes.
- Dorms and shared spaces. Hallways and shared bathrooms. Wash your clothes, wash your COOPS too.
Are COOPS waterproof?
Only the sole. The rubber outsole is waterproof, so water won’t come up through the bottom, and a wet floor or a damp sidewalk is fine underfoot. The knit upper isn’t: it breathes, which is what keeps it comfortable, and that also lets water in. Skip puddles and heavy rain, and if the knit gets soaked, let them air dry the same way you would after a wash.
