Keen on Keens, or How to Wash Your Keens

Keens are fantastic shoes. The Little Men each were given a pair by their grandma this summer. They loved them! They wore them nearly every day of the summer for nearly every activity: from playing in the yard, hiking in Devil's Tower & the Black Hills to going fishing. The shoes held up to every test they were put to this summer.

**notice the Keens in action in the Badlands. The Little Men hiked way up high with no problems!** However, after a summer of rough and tough wear and tear, they stink. Literally. SO gross! I have washed off and rinsed them a few times over the summer, as well as wiped the soles with tea tree oil. It was a temporary fix at best. Our Keens have needed some help, big time!

After looking online at the Keens website, I discovered that they can be washed in the washing machine. Using my own homemade laundry soap (more about that soon!), which is incredibly gentle and contains Borax (which is a god-sent product that kills all kinds of odors!), I threw them in the wash, along with 4 drops of Tea Tree Oil for extra disinfecting.

I actually washed them once, then soaked them in a Borax/Washing Soda bath, then washed them again with a few more drops of Tea Tree Oil. Next, I used the coolest feature of a high efficiency front loading dryer: the drying rack. I set the Keens on the rack and ran the dryer on Air Dry. Please note: The Keens site recommends NOT using the dryer, but with the drying rack it was merely like having the wind blow the Keens dry. They did not get tumbled or heated up in the dryer. Use a regular dryer at your Keens' peril! After an hour on the drying rack, the Keens were as good as new! I am so pleased with how easy it was to return them to a non-smelly state!