Every parent to young children can relate to the Sunday night pressures of checking school supplies, getting back into the weekly routine and, most importantly, getting the uniform organised. What’s more, this rush can feel even more hectic in the back to school season when all your carefully crafted routines and habits have fallen by the wayside in the wake of six long weeks of summer.
Many of us will have experienced that night-before-school panic of searching high and low for school uniforms only to find them crumpled in a heap at the bottom of your child’s wardrobe. Or perhaps you’ve found your little one’s school shoes where they left them six weeks previously, in desperate need of some care and polish before they’re fit to be worn again.
Taking the time to correctly store and take care of your child’s uniform and school shoes, including storing them well both between wears and over holiday periods, can help to avoid stressful moments like this. On top of that, it will help to prolong the life of uniforms and shoes, saving you money in the long run.
Investing in a great quality pair of school shoes that can stand up to the challenges of a busy year is very important. This can help the shoes to last as long as they possibly can - which, for younger children, can often mean they grow out of their shoes before they wear out!
Once you have made the investment, it’s just as important to make sure you care for your child’s school shoes and store them correctly, because a little care in the short term will pay dividends in the long term. This will protect the integrity of the shoes and extend their life, so that your child can get the best wear out of them before they need the next size up.
If you’re reading this as a busy parent thinking you really don’t have the time to add more work to your busy routine, don’t worry. For the majority of the tips listed below, taking good care of your child’s shoes is less about trying out complicated shoe care regimens, and more about slightly altering the way you do what you’re already doing. Keep reading to learn more.
First, let’s take a look at how you can change the way you store your child’s shoes in the short term to keep them in condition. To be clear, when we talk about the short term here, we mean storing shoes between wears, as opposed to long term storage where the shoes aren’t used for months at a time.
The first thing to think about is where you store your child’s shoes. If you don’t already have a designated space such as a storage cupboard or shoe rack for holding your family’s commonly-worn shoes, consider getting one. Keeping shoes in a purpose-built space rather than leaving them lying around in a corner means that the shoes are less likely to be tripped over or damaged when not being worn.
Where possible, aim to position your shoe rack or other short term storage solution out of direct sunlight. As well as potentially discolouring the fabric of your child’s shoes, sunlight can actually age the shoes, breaking down glues and stiffening leather until the structural integrity of the shoe is threatened. This could lead to the shoe no longer fitting properly, resulting in discomfort for your child. For the same reason, it’s a good idea to store your child’s shoes away from heat sources such as fireplaces, radiators and portable heaters.
On top of that, protecting your child’s shoes from dust can not only help to defend the materials from light and heat, but also from losing their shape. Storing your child’s shoes in a shoe box might seem strange for short term storage, but it helps to shield the shoes from impacts such as things being dropped on them or the shoes falling off the shelf. It also helps to avoid squashing the shoes by having other shoes piled on top of them. Additionally, when you take the shoes out of the box, they should be dust-free and ready to put on, saving you time when you’re in a rush.
Another way to protect your child’s shoes between wears is to ensure that they are cleaned and dried as soon as possible to avoid stains setting into the material. If your child’s shoes are wet when they get home, one of the best ways to quickly dry them out is to roll up some newspaper or other acid-free paper and place it inside the shoes. This will absorb moisture from inside the shoe. Then, wrap paper around the whole of the shoe and stand it on a flat piece of paper near to a heat source – close enough to speed up the drying process, but not so close as to overheat and damage the materials of the shoe.
The paper will quickly draw up all the moisture, so after approximately one hour, replace it with new newspaper and repeat until the shoes are fully dry. Doing this helps to promote a healthy environment for your little one’s feet within the shoe, preventing the build up of odours and germs inside.
When it comes to long term storage, the most obvious candidates are school shoes being stored over the summer holidays and weather-dependent shoes such as sandals being stored over the winter months. Although you might think shoes aren’t likely to be damaged when they’re not being worn, long term storage can result in issues if not done properly. Fortunately, there are a few simple tips and tricks you can use to make sure the shoes come out of storage looking just as good as they did going in.
First, ensure your long term storage preparation involves everything we’ve just discussed for short term storage. All the same principles apply, but there are a few extra things you can do for long term storage that can really make a difference.
It’s even more important to make sure that your child’s shoes are thoroughly cleaned before putting them into long term storage. This is because lingering dirt and mud left on fabrics like leather and canvas can cause the material to deteriorate over time, and may leave a stain you’ll struggle to remove.
Important! This applies even to shoes that are made for getting muddy, like wellies or hiking shoes. Taking the time to ensure they’re clean and sparkling before putting them away also helps to keep your storage areas neat and tidy.
As well as putting your child’s shoes in boxes to help them keep their shape during storage, you can also try using shoe shapers or shoe trees. These are roughly shoe-shaped inserts you can place inside the shoes, where the feet would normally go, to help the shoes maintain their proper silhouette. Always make sure you use the correct size and don’t try to stretch the shoe to fit the shaper, as this can impact the structural integrity and therefore fit of the shoe.
Lastly, a key tip for storing children’s shoes in particular is to get them out of storage a week or two in advance of when you expect to need them. Using school shoes as an example, get them out of storage in the last couple of weeks of the school holidays and have your child try them on. If they’re at all tight or pinching, you’ll then have time to shop for a new pair before term starts.
Typically, the older your child is, the slower their feet will grow. This means that toddlers and primary school children are likely to outgrow their shoes quicker and need to have their feet measured often. However, don’t fall into the trap of assuming that your older children won’t need new shoes after a season or two has gone by. The safest bet is always to check the fit and give yourself plenty of time to shop in case new shoes are needed.
Storing your children’s shoes well shouldn’t add lots of hassle to your routine, but it can save you time and money in the long run by keeping shoes in good condition for as long as possible. And if that’s not enough, keeping your child’s shoes in good condition helps to keep their feet healthy and well-developed, too.
Author: Vista, published 21-08-2024.
