When you invest in designer shoes and handbags, it’s hard to let go of pieces that are still functional but show the scuff of daily wear. But trying to clean luxury goods at home can do more harm than good.

Enter Jamie Yi and Eun Kyung “Yuri” Cha, sisters who have introduced Shoes Spa, Honolulu’s first Korean-style “shoe spa” for cleansing and polishing up shoes and bags to like-new condition.

The bulk of their business comprises athletic shoes that people often try to launder themselves, only to have white soles turn yellow due to seeping glue. Shoes Spa’s special washing machines and an ultraviolet-light dryer help protect the shoes while killing bacteria and mold that can cause foot fungus and infections.

“If they paid $400 or $500 for Air Jordans, some of these are collector’s items that they can’t find again. So they want to keep them in good condition,” Yi said. “If they try to dry it in the sun, it leaves a smell, but the UV light kills all the bacteria so there’s no smell. It keeps feet healthier.

“We see a lot of moldy shoes. Someone had a brand-new pair of Converses and wore it once, then put it in the closet for a year and it got moldy,” she said. “Sometimes it stinks bad but we have to do it.”

Yi, who owns Kay Laundry & Dry Cleaning in Makiki, had seen the shoe spas that began popping up in South Korea in 2000 and thought the service was needed in Hawaii. Just as at a dry cleaner, customers drop off their items and can usually pick them up in two days. Prices start at $8 to $10 for athletic and sports shoes, $12 for golf shoes and $15 for hiking boots. Designer shoes start at $25, and there are additional fees for “excessively dirty” items.

In addition to cleaning athletic shoes, they can also care for suede and leather. In their tool kit are fine dyes made for generations by a family in Fukuoka, Japan. The dyes are able to seep into the pores of leather for lasting, durable color that can be buffed to a fresh-off-the-rack shine. The dyes also can be blended for custom colors to match the shoes or purses.

Although the sisters’ intention was to focus on footwear, when Shoes Spa opened last fall, clients who found initial success with their shoes started bringing in their luxury handbags.

“When they’re paying $3,000 for a Louis Vuitton, Chanel or Prada handbag, they’re not going to throw it away,” Yi said.

And when a designer bag is no longer trendy, they might bring it in for cleaning so they can sell it and buy the latest style, she said.

Unlike athletic shoes that can go into a machine, leathers and handbags are cleaned by hand, and some stains are more difficult to remove than others. Customers can help by bringing in stained items as soon as they can and identifying the stains.

“Most of the time, people don’t know where the stains came from, but if they know it’s food or wine or something else, it’s helpful,” Yi said.

There are cases in which clothing dyes rub off on cross-body bags, and over time the stain becomes permanent. In that case, washing might lighten the stain, but to look like new, the bags have to be dyed to match the stain.

In another case a toddler used a ballpoint pen to add graffiti to his mother’s Gucci bag. Pen stains are difficult to remove, but Yi said there are special cleansers for many predicaments, and when in doubt, Shoes Spa can call on experts in Korea for help.

As customers find more things they want cleaned, strollers, car seats, dolls and comforters have been added to the sisters’ workload.

What they’re not seeing are counterfeit designer shoes and bags that are not worth spending extra money to save. “When it’s fake they know,” Yi said.

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Shoes Spa is at 1481 S. King St. and open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. Call 955-5592.