I have a pair of white, leathery-looking sneakers that I really like, and that I try to keep at least mostly white. While I've had luck with the leathery part of the shoes, the rubbery white part that makes up the base and covers the toes is pretty much refusing to get clean. It just stays a gross off-white-to-yellow color. I've tried Soft Scrub and bleach, and nothing is returning this rubber to its previously white state! Am I stuck getting new shoes and being (much, much) more regular with my cleaning, or is this something that you know how to fix?

And while you're at this particular problem, how do you clean your sneakers? I feel like I'm not exactly being efficient about it.

The other day a girlfriend asked me to explain what a Magic Eraser is made of. "Melamine foam," I told her. "Oh sure, obviously," she responded. (She's a good friend, she can sass me right to my face and I'll still love her.) Later that week, inspired by our conversation, she decided to try using a Magic Eraser to get her favorite pair of sneakers looking brand new. The good news is that it worked well, and the even better news is that she provided me with a FULL REPORT on her experiment.

I love it when my friends perform field research for me.

Here's what she had to say: "OKAY SO. Worked miracles on the leather, some parts of the sole, BUT not on the rougher, more sole-y part or some of the stitching. Overall V HAPPY THOUGH."

I share that with you today because I think the solution to the yellowed rubber upper of our letter-writer's sneaks is as easy as hitting it with a Magic Eraser. To use it, wet a section of the Eraser and squeeze out excess water, then rub the it over the soiled area just the way you would use a rubber eraser. That should do it for smooth rubber, but if there are sections that are a bit more textured the Eraser won't be the best choice to get them looking bright white because its design isn't ideal for getting into tiny nooks and crannies. Fortunately, a product most of us have in our homes will get grimy-looking rubber soles looking like new in no time: regular old all-purpose cleaner. Something like Formula 409, paired with a toothbrush for getting into recessed spots, will work quite nicely. Really, any of the commercial all-purpose cleaners will be fine, just be sure to avoid anything that contains bleach, which can have an unfortunate yellowing effect on rubber.

When it comes to caring for your sneakers in a more general sense, a good choice for getting rubber, leather, and canvas detailing on sneakers clean is dish soap (same goes for liquid laundry detergent, hand soap, and shampoo), which also offers the benefit of being something most of us have in the house. The trick with either dish soap or liquid laundry detergent is to use a very small amount, really no more than a drop or two, a teaspoon at most, diluted in a small bowl of water. Dip a light-colored sponge, rag, or toothbrush into the sudsy solution, wring out or tap off excess liquid, and give your sneaks a firm but gentle scrubbing before setting them near a fan, open window, or dehumidifier to speed along the air-drying process. That's really all there is to it! No need for fancy sneaker cleaners or expensive shoe brushes.

There are, however, some finer points to be aware of. If the shoes are extremely dirty because you've tracked through mud, grass, or wet sand while wearing them, brush off as much of the debris as you can once it's dry. If you're planning to clean the entire shoe, remove the laces before cleaning (those can go right into the washing machine when you do your next load of laundry), which will allow you to get the tongue clean. But if you're just spot-treating a small section of the shoe, you can leave the laces on. Oh, and if spot-treating is all you need to do, Tide pens are excellent for that purpose, especially for brightening up stitching that's gone a bit dingy.

With all that said, there are some fancy sneaker cleaners and expensive shoe brushes out there that are worth mentioning because they make nice gifts for the sneaker-obsessed person in your life. Jason Markk has a whole line of sneaker care products, from a cleaner to hog's hair brushes. Reshoevn8r offers something called the Sneaker Laundry System that comes with shoe trees to help to preserve the shape of the sneaker, prevent creasing, and speed up drying time. Both brands offer sneaker wipes, which are nice to toss in a gym or overnight bag for cleaning on the go.

Before we wrap this up and get busy with the important work of cleaning our tennis shoes, there's one last product that you should know about, and that is white leather polish. Even after cleaning, you may notice that nicks or dings still mar the appearance of your white sneakers—that's where the polish comes in. Just about every maker of shoe polish will offer an option for white leather; Kiwi offers one specifically for white athletic shoes that will do you well. If you're looking for something more multi-purpose to use on sneakers that have both white and colored leather, opt for neutral paste polish, which is colorless and can be used to buff stains and scuffs off of any color leather. So when you're done cleaning your casual kicks you can also give your dress shoes a polishing; I'm gonna guess they could probably use it!