Whatever you call them – sneakers, trainers, running shoes – the fact is we can’t keep throwing them in landfills once they no longer look brand new.

Combine that with consumers’ renewed love of sneakers and you have the perfect opportunity to offer a hack to keep all those new shoes you buy for yourself or your family looking good.

Remember the day when it was cool to break in your shoes and rough them up a little bit? Or when bright, white shoes were a sign your mom bought them for you? Not anymore! The no dirt, no creases – the fresh-out-of-the-box look is what’s in.

That’s why nearly half a million people have seen sneaker enthusiast Shantel Dé Bonsu’s video on how to renew your shoes.

The 20-year-old Bexleyheath, UK women talked about her sneaker obsession and her viral fame with Bored Panda. It all started when – like many of us – she couldn’t get all the fancy new kicks her friends had in high school. She vowed to make a living someday that would allow her to expand her collection:

“When I was younger my school used to have quite a few non-uniform days and I’d always come to them with the same shoes…” she explained. “So I told myself that when I’m older with some money, I’ll get myself more shoes and help those who’d like to get more shoes by sharing discount codes or simply reminding people that there’s a sale.”

That’s why she started her YouTube channel. Her video for the hack – as well as her Tweet with the step-by-step instructions – turned her into an overnight sensation. But because she learned the hack from a friend, she got lots of criticism too.

“There’s always that group of people in the world who have something negative to say even when what is being shown is to help you,” she said. “I’m happy with the reactions because now my name is out there a bit more and I’ve managed to help a lot of people who didn’t know about the hack and that makes me happy.”

Shantel’s tutorial has been retweeted over 132,000 times and liked over 347,000 times because it works so well on the tell-tale creases that make sneakers show their age.

Just take a look at the before and after photos:

So, how exactly do you accomplish this transformation?

The steps are quite simple. You just need to start with the following:

First, you need to stuff your shoes, then create some dampness, then iron them right out!

According to Shantel:

Step 1: Stuff your shoe with the socks/old clothes or tissue paper to the point where you can’t see the crease anymore and when you press on the top of the shoe it doesn’t move.

Step 2: Wet your small towel or cloth with hot water, then squeeze the water out so it’s damp.

Step 3: Place your towel or cloth on top of the crease.

Step 4: Iron the towel or cloth with VIM but be sure to keep lifting the iron up or you’ll burn your shoe! Depending how bad the crease is determines the time in which it will take to get rid of the crease!

It sounds too good to be true, but look at this old pair of Nikes before and after some ironing:

While they’re not so bad before, ironing the creases out makes them look like they were just on the store shelf!

And it works on suede too – check out these before and after photos of some Adidas sneakers:

You’ll want to go easy on the heat at first because you can always add more incrementally if it’s not doing the job.

Shantel asked her followers to share their own before and after photos to show just how many people can benefit from it.

Here are some of the results:

Followers marveled over how well the trick worked on their worn sneakers.

Add a little soap and water, some new laces, and the transformation continues!

Be sure to scroll down below to watch Shantel’s full tutorial.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: Shantel Dé Bonsu via YouTube
h/t Bored Panda