How do you increase the longevity of your kids’ school shoes? I have never lied about the fact that I have a child that kills school shoes. In fact, I think that school shoes take some stick from most children. For my boys, it is not just wearing them at school, but also the football in the playground. Mini seems to be especially hard on his shoes. So over the years, I have developed ways to make them last and the key to making school shoes last a year is looking after them – there are no short cuts unfortunately.
I used to think that it was just younger children that wreaked their shoes, what with the scootering to and from school, cycling and playground jinks, but it isn’t and younger children are often happy to wear shoes with the rubber bumpers, which my teens are not. I will always replace a pair of school shoes when they are outgrown, but I begrudge a new pair of shoes when they haven’t been looked after.
As much as we can tell our kids to be careful with their shoes and look after them, it is the every day that ensures they last. As a child we always polished and cleaned our shoes as a family on Sunday morning, so this is something I have continued with my boys. We get the polish and brushes out and all do our one a and then the husbeast takes over and gives them a good buffing!
Tips to Make School Shoes Last
- Buy the best quality shoes you can afford, leather if possible. This allows feet to breathe and trust me, they are running, playing football and cycling which causes sweating that can impact the freshness of their school shoes.
- Protect the shoes before your child wears them. Use Shoe protector.
- If the shoes get wet then don’t be tempted to put them in direct heat on a radiator or in the airing cupboard, instead screw up some newspaper or kitchen towel and place it inside.
- If they smell, then once dry sprinkle in some bicarbonate of soda as it is deodorising. Just make sure to bang it out before they put them on again!
- Get into a routine – make sure you wipe off any mud, dust or dirt with a damp cloth.
- Clean and polish shoes once a week. I believe that cleaning them the old-fashioned way works. So get some wax polish in the same colour as the shoes (this covers any scuff marks), once you have wiped off any diirt and the shoe is dry, apply the wax in circular motions. If the front of the shoes is extra scuffed then use an old toothbrush to apply a little extra wax. Then buff off the wax with a shoe brush.
- Use wooden shoe trees as these can help leather shoes keep their shape, reduce creases, and prevent cracks.
Don’t buy suede or patient leather, no matter how much you are pestered! Stand your ground. Suede isn’t waterproof and you need to use a waterproof spray regularly, but also it stains easily and is hard to clean. patient is much easier to clean. Warm water and a mild soap does it, but once scuffed you can never et that shine back.
Put Together a Shoe Care Kit
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One pair of the shoes above is brand new and the other is six months old. I could have cleaned them before photographing them, but I wanted you to see them in a realistic situation, so this is after a day at school! Can you tell which pair is brand new?
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