If you have been reading my blog for a while, you might remember my very first Shoe Sunday post – I showed you where my shoes live.
I do own a lot of shoes, and every single pair gets a regular clean. What I usually do is wait until a rainy afternoon, when I can’t be doing anything useful outside, and all my other chores are done for a bit, so I do not feel even a tiny bit guilty about spending a good couple of hours with my much loved shoes..
First up, I cover the work space with a floor mat – the kind you might use in a bathroom. It is good to use something with a bit of thickness to protect the work space, as there will be times when I am removing stones from the shoes with a metal nail file. I always make sure to have a pair of nail scissors and a metal nail file handy at my shoe cleaning station, because your shoes may have some surprises for you.. like this –
I recently sat down with a couple of freshly arrived TV episodes – Homeland and Downton Abbey, my anti-bacterial wipes because there is a lot of flotsam and poopsam on the soles of shoes. The outside of the shoe get a decent wipe down, the place where my foot sits also gets a decent clean, plus the soles get a really thorough scrub. Here is a pair mid scrub, you can see the suds. I’m using the Kirkland Antibacterial Wipes from Costco.
Below you can see one clean sole, and one ready to be cleaned sole.
I cleaned 13 pairs in the space of a pleasant couple of hours, while watching teevee. Once the shoes are clean, they are placed on a clean towel so they can dry off. These shoes all went off for a photo shoot right after being cleaned, for future Shoe Sundays here on the blog.
Tell a story about your shoes on your blog, and link up below!
That’s a lot of shoes. I wish I was that disciplined.
I-M-P-R-E-S-S-E-D. I will mull over whether I could duplicate this.
I am very impressed with your dedication to your shoes, and the organising of them. I have two pair, work boots and a pair of thongs.
Sigh… I used to have a shoe closet like that. I had well over 50 pairs of shoes! Now that I live in a shoebox sized studio in Korea, I only have room for a few pairs of shoes piled in my entry way. But because I wear them so much more often (and in a dirty city, no less) this cleaning idea sounds great! Will have to give them a scrub! :)
I love that you care for your shoes like that. :) And thanks for checking out my blog!
Thanks for taking the time to stop by my website (www.angelaandrieux.com) and for taking the time to comment on my blog!
I’m very impressed with the care you give your shoes. Sadly mine are a bit more neglected.
Good luck with NaBloPoMo! I’m sure I’ll see you around the web!
Shoes! They’re my favorite things. I find mine scattered around my house, because my almost-seven-year-old likes to commandeer them for dressing up!
Wow, that is dedication to clean shoes! I have to confess I clean my dress shoes now and then, and that’s about it. I like the look of clean shoes, though! You may have inspired me!
Thanks for popping by my blog the other day. All the best on your NaBloPoMo!
Thanks for you comment on my blog. I enjoyed reading your posts for the past few days. I love your shoe organization! I am constantly rotating shoes by season. I need to spend some quality time with my footwear and clean them up.
Good luck with NaNoWriMo! I did it a couple times — takes discipline, but totally doable.
Wow – that is impressive! I have a bit of a shoe obsession myself, but I’ve never thought about cleaning them all at once; I’m more of a clean as needed girl! :-)
Thanks for dropping by my blog, Crazy Eddie’s Motie News. I’m Pinku-Sensei there and elsewhere on Blogspot, but I’m Neon Vincent on WordPress.
I have one reaction to this post. OMG, Shoes!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HjIljJd-o0
I am so lazy about cleaning my shoes. They pretty much have to be caked in mud to get any attention. I know that’s terrible! I actually just moved most of my shoes into a shoe organizer I bought a few months ago. I think this will help keep me a little more organized, instead of having shoes thrown all over the house. I’m envious of the number of shoes you have, as well as the space! I had room for the one organizer, which holds 24 pairs. I do have my boots elsewhere because I store them in their boxes, but things are still cramped.