How to Clean adidas Handball Spezials Without Wrecking the Suede

The Handball Spezial is a suede shoe with leather trim. Look at a pair up close and almost the whole upper is cow suede, with smooth leather showing up only on the serrated 3-Stripes and the heel tab, sitting on a flat gum rubber outsole.

That matters for cleaning. On a Samba, the leather base takes a damp cloth and does a lot of the work for you. On a Spezial there is barely any leather to wipe, so this is a suede job from start to finish, and suede is the material that punishes the wrong method.

For the Samba version of this, see how to clean adidas Sambas. For other materials, our general guide to cleaning sneakers covers white leather, canvas and suede.

Never put them in the washing machine

This is the mistake that cannot be undone. A wash cycle soaks the suede, which dries stiff and mats the nap flat and permanently. The tumbling loosens the adhesive holding the gum sole to the upper.

Heat does the same damage more slowly. Keep the pair away from the dryer, the radiator, the hair dryer, and a hot windowsill.

Step one: let it dry completely

If they are muddy, do nothing at all. Wet dirt on suede spreads out and drives down into the nap. Dry dirt sits on the surface and brushes off.

Leave them somewhere with airflow until the mud is crumbling. This is the step people skip and it does more work than everything that follows it.

Step two: brush the suede

Use a proper suede brush with brass or nylon bristles. Brush in one direction rather than scrubbing back and forth, which relocates dirt instead of lifting it.

A suede eraser takes off scuffs that brushing leaves behind. Where the nap has been crushed flat and gone shiny, brisk brushing raises the fibers again. For a stain that will not lift, a small amount of white vinegar dabbed onto a cloth and worked gently can help, then brush the area again once it is fully dry.

Because the Spezial is suede nearly everywhere, this step is most of the job. Take your time with it.

Step three: the leather 3-Stripes and heel tab

The stripes and heel tab are smooth leather, so they take a damp microfiber cloth with a drop of mild soap. Wipe, then dry immediately.

Work along the stripe rather than across it, and keep the cloth off the suede sitting either side. Water carried onto suede leaves a tide mark that shows up once the shoe dries.

Step four: the gum sole

Gum rubber picks up grey scuffing from pavement, and a melamine eraser takes it off quickly. Work slowly along the sole line.

Melamine is a fine abrasive. If it wanders above the sole and onto the suede it strips the nap, and that damage does not brush out. Go carefully around the edge, especially at the toe where the two materials meet.

Do gum soles yellow, and can you fix it?

Gum darkens with age and wear. Some of that is dirt sitting on the surface, which comes off with a melamine sponge or a baking soda paste scrubbed in with a brush. The rest is the rubber itself changing color, and that part stays.

Worth knowing when you buy: a darker gum sole starts closer to where it will end up. The Night Indigo colorway we broke down in the IF7087 write-up uses exactly that, which is part of why it wears cleanly. A pale gum sole shows every stage of the process.

Protecting suede before winter

We ship out of Portland, so wet weather is the standing condition here rather than the exception. A suede and fabric protector applied before the first wear buys you a window where water beads instead of soaking in, and it needs reapplying every few months.

If you get caught out and the pair comes home wet, stuff them with paper towel and let them dry slowly at room temperature. Then brush the nap back up once they are fully dry.

Step five: laces and drying

adidas publishes its own method for laces and it is the one we follow. Pull them out at the start, drop them into a bowl of warm bleach water, and massage the bleach through for a minute. Leave them to soak while you clean the rest of the shoe, then wring them out, press them between a folded microfiber towel, and lay them flat to air dry.

That method is written for white laces. Colored laces go into warm soapy water instead, because bleach pulls the color straight out of them.

Two more things adidas gets right in its own guide. Stuff a shoe form or a balled sock into the shoe while you are cleaning it so the upper holds its shape under the brush, and scrub rather than rub so you are lifting dirt instead of wearing the material down. Then dry the pair away from direct heat and sunlight. Sun fades suede, and a faded panel is permanent.

Worth a mention given where we sit: adidas filmed that guide at Deadstock Coffee here in Portland.

What cleaning will not fix

Dye transfer from wet denim onto light suede is usually there for good. So is a crushed toe box crease. Cleaning solves dirt, and it does nothing for structural wear.

More Handball Spezial reading

See our Handball Spezial review, the Spezial sizing guide, and how to spot fake Handball Spezials. Deciding between silhouettes? Samba vs Gazelle vs Spezial lays it out.

Browse the Handball Spezial collection when it is time to replace them. Every pair is authenticated in house before it ships from our Portland, Oregon warehouse.

— Anthony from West Coast Deals