My kids fly through shoes. It seems like every week one of them needs the next size up! Every few weeks I sort through the shoe closet, toss the ones that are in horrible shape or we can not find a match for and donate the ones that do not fit anymore! Today when I went through the box I noticed a lot of shoes that would still fit them for most of the summer- but were looking pretty dingy.
So I set out to find a way to make them look less dingy, and give them a bit more life so they can wear them till they need the next size up. I was amazed at how they turned out!
These ones were rather simple. The velcro was not sticking very well on them anymore and they were super dirty! I used whitening toothpaste and a toothbrush on the white parts to clean them off. I used a pair of needle nose tweezers to pull all the fuzz and hair out of the velcro straps. Finally I wiped the fabric down with a bit of water and scrubbed them dry with a clean rag! Before shoe is on the right, after shoe is on the left)
These ones were a bit tougher. To be honest I hate these shoes! They are big and clunky and they have a huge Lighting McQueen on the side, but they are one of my boys very favorite pair of shoes (and when I say favorite- I mean it). These were in the toss pile- the tips of these shoes were horribly scuffed- I use a permanent marker to cover the scuffs and made my sons day! I probably won’t let him wear these to school or anything, but they are great for a rainy day!
Do you have any tips or tricks for giving shoes a bit more life?
Wow! Those look awesome. Can I send you some of our shoes? lol
I have used shaving cream on the whites of my shoes. That usually brings back the shine 😀
Those are great tips! We always have old toothbrushes that can be used and the tweezers are a good idea. I usually will sit there and pick at them with my fingers 🙁
If you happen to use cloth diapers, a Snappi or Boingo works great for cleaning the fuzz out of the velcro =)
Great tip about using a Snappi! Thanks! Yet another pro of cloth diapers! 😛
I swear by toothpaste!
We always just threw them in the washer and hoped for the best. Your method is a lot smarter 🙂
You are AWESOME for thinking of these tips and doing them. Totally going to clean off my son’s old pair to use in rainy type days or during outside play. Thank you!
We’ve used markers on our shoes too and as for velcro I’ve used a push pin and a Snappi (from our cloth diaper collection) to clean it up. Our problem is that the soles and toes fall apart far to easily. This was never a problem until the past couple of years and occurs from my Kindergartener up to my 6th grader.