How to clean and care for gel insoles

Insoles spend their working life in a warm, closed and often damp place, pressed under the full weight of your body. It is not surprising that they pick up moisture, dust and odour. The good news is that looking after them takes very little: warm water, a mild soap and enough time to air dry. The part most people get wrong is not the cleaning itself but the drying, and the shortcuts taken to speed it up.

In this article

1. Why insoles get dirty and start to smell
2. A simple cleaning routine
3. What not to do when cleaning insoles
4. Dry the footwear, not just the insole
5. Rotating two pairs and storing them properly
6. When cleaning is no longer enough

Why insoles get dirty and start to smell

Feet perspire, and closed footwear traps most of that moisture inside. Add a pair of socks, several hours of walking and a shoe that never fully dries out between one day and the next, and you have the conditions in which odour develops: warmth, damp and the bacteria that live quite happily on skin.

The insole sits at the bottom of all this and takes the brunt of it. On top of the moisture, it collects dust and grit carried in on socks, lint from the lining of the shoe and the fine debris that works its way in through the laces. None of this is a sign that the insole is failing, but left alone it builds up, and a dirty insole starts to feel tacky underfoot and smells long before it stops cushioning.

Certain situations accelerate it: long shifts in safety footwear, training sessions in closed sports shoes, wet weather, and any job or activity where the footwear stays on for hours at a time without being aired.

A simple cleaning routine

You need almost nothing: a basin or a sink, warm water, a mild soap such as a gentle hand soap, and a soft cloth or a soft brush. Nothing abrasive, nothing aggressive.

1. Take the insoles out of the footwear

Always clean them outside the shoe. Cleaning an insole while it is still in place soaks the lining and the midsole, which then take far longer to dry than the insole itself.

2. Brush off the loose dirt first

Tap the insole to shake out grit and wipe away dust with a dry cloth. Removing the loose material first means you are not rubbing it into the surface once everything is wet.

3. Wash with warm water and mild soap

Dampen the cloth or brush in warm, not hot, water with a little soap and work over both faces of the insole in gentle circles. Pay attention to the heel area and the forefoot, which is where most of the residue collects. There is no need to submerge the insole or to soak it for a long time: a light surface wash does the job.

4. Rinse and squeeze out the excess water

Rinse with clean water until no soap is left, then press the insole between a towel to take out most of the moisture. Press, do not wring or twist it.

5. Air dry, completely, before putting them back

Stand the insoles on their edge or lay them flat in a ventilated room, away from any heat source, and leave them until they are dry all the way through. Putting a damp insole back into a shoe undoes the entire exercise, because the moisture simply stays trapped where it started.

Some models include a merino wool layer, such as the thermal insoles range. Treat these more gently still: a damp cloth over the surface rather than a soaking, no rubbing at the wool side, and plenty of time to air dry naturally.

What not to do when cleaning insoles

Most damaged insoles are not worn out, they are cooked, bleached or wrung out. The list below is short and worth respecting.

• The washing machine. The drum combines heat, prolonged soaking and mechanical agitation, and can deform an insole or separate its layers.
• The tumble dryer. Heat is the fastest way to ruin a gel insole.
• Radiators, heaters and hot air from a hairdryer. Same problem: drying by heat rather than by air.
• Direct sunlight. Leaving insoles on a windowsill or in a car dries the surface unevenly and can make materials brittle.
• Bleach and other strong household cleaners, which are far harsher than anything an insole needs.
• Solvents, white spirit, acetone and alcohol-based cleaners, which attack the surface of the materials.
• Very hot water, even without soap.
• Hard brushes, scouring pads and abrasive powders, which scuff the surface.
• Wringing or folding them to squeeze water out. Press between a towel instead.

If the smell is the main problem rather than visible dirt, resist the temptation to reach for something stronger. Clean gently, dry thoroughly and air the footwear itself. Odour that keeps coming back is usually a drying problem, not a cleaning one.

Dry the footwear, not just the insole

A clean, dry insole put back into a damp shoe will smell again within days. Whenever you take the insoles out to clean them, treat it as an opportunity to dry the footwear properly too.

• Loosen the laces fully and open the shoe as wide as it will go, so air can reach the inside.
• Leave the insoles out while the shoes dry, rather than drying both together.
• Stuff wet shoes loosely with newspaper or absorbent paper and change it once it is damp.
• Dry them in a ventilated room at room temperature, not on a radiator and not in front of a heater.
• Keep them away from direct sun, which hardens and cracks uppers over time.

Working or training in damp, cold conditions

Outdoor work, wet commutes, muddy pitches and rainy walks all mean footwear that never gets a proper chance to dry. If you are on your feet all day in work boots or safety footwear, make taking the insoles out at the end of the shift part of the routine, in the same way you would hang up a wet coat. It costs five seconds and it is the single most effective habit for keeping both insole and boot in good condition.

After training, do the same thing: get the insoles out of the sports bag rather than leaving damp shoes zipped up inside it overnight. A closed bag is the worst place a wet insole can spend the night.

Rotating two pairs and storing them properly

If you use insoles every single day, the most useful thing you can do is keep two pairs and alternate them. While one pair is in the footwear, the other is airing out. Nothing ever goes back in damp, odour has much less chance to develop, and cleaning becomes a quick wipe rather than a rescue operation. It is the same logic as rotating two pairs of shoes, and it applies just as well to people who wear the same boots for every shift. You can see the models grouped by use in the Footgel catalogue.

Rotation also helps if you use different footwear for different things: a pair for work and a pair for sport, each cut and seated for the shoes it lives in, rather than moving a single pair back and forth between boots and trainers every day.

Storing them between uses

• Store them flat, or standing on edge, never folded or rolled.
• Do not put anything heavy on top of them while they are stored.
• Choose a dry, ventilated place at room temperature, not a sealed plastic bag or a damp cupboard.
• Make sure they are completely dry before they go away, particularly if you are putting seasonal footwear into storage.
• Keep them out of the car, where temperatures swing a long way in both directions.

When cleaning is no longer enough

Cleaning keeps an insole hygienic and comfortable, but it does not restore one that has already done its work. At some point the materials stop responding the way they did, and no amount of washing changes that.

The signs are physical rather than cosmetic:

• The insole stays compressed instead of recovering its shape, particularly under the heel.
• You can see permanent creases, thinning or a visible dip where you press hardest.
• The edges are splitting, or layers are starting to separate.
• The surface has worn smooth and the insole slides inside the shoe.
• Your feet feel more tired at the end of the day than they used to in the same footwear.
• An odour returns immediately after a proper clean and a full dry.

How quickly this happens depends entirely on how you use them: hours on your feet, the surfaces you walk on, your weight, the sport, the weather. We look at the signs in more detail in when to replace your insoles. And if foot pain persists even with insoles in good condition, it is worth speaking to a healthcare professional rather than assuming it is a footwear problem.