LOS ANGELES — Back in the day, sneakerheads had all kinds of homemade methods for cleaning their shoes: a Tide-to-Go pen, a little bleach with toothpaste or some dish detergent with water and a toothbrush to scrub away grime.

Commercial shoe cleaners existed, of course. But treat your prized Air Jordans with chemicals not designed for sneakers? No way.

If you want to see how far sneakers — and the cleaning of them — have come, pay a visit here to a store in the Little Tokyo neighborhood called Jason Markk.

Inside, a wooden shoeshine chair is reserved not for wearers of Italian loafers but men and women in Nike and Adidas shoes. And behind the counter, well-groomed young men in white dress shirts, denim aprons and fresh sneakers have a title known in-house as S.C.T., or Sneaker Care Technician.