How to wash shoes by hand and save yourself some serious moolah

A pair of beige leather mules on a white background with a glass of water and sliced oranges

I'm not even being dramatic when I say this: these shoes had been hit by a car before I cleaned them. 

Thanks to a little bit of forgetfulness after a family dog walk, my husband's month-old pair of Adidas sneakers found themselves in the middle of the road after flying off his parents' car rooftop last weekend. We realized the shoes were missing about eight hours later, and luckily they were still lying on the countryside road when we drove by late at night.