Sometimes after too much wear and tear, our favorite pair of shoes can no longer be our favorite. They’re too worn and the color we once loved has faded dramatically, so it seems almost pointless to wear a pair of shoes that aren’t as cool-looking as when they were first purchased. But there is a way to revitalize and reinvent your favorite pair of shoes that you once you loved, creating a pair of shoes that could very well be better than the originals.
For any kind of canvas shoes like Toms or Vans, I highly recommend buying a box of Rit dye of whatever color you wish and covering your shoes in the colored dye. This dye is about $3 and works great. But for this process, remember that if you have a dark pair shoes it’s going to be hard to dye them any other color, so I recommend using the process on lighter colored shoes. You can check out the Rit website and view various dying techniques as well as projects already created.
Another dying technique you could try is buying a tie-dye kit, and tie-dying your shoes. Many kits have squirt bottles that you put the liquid dye in, making it easy to dye the entire shoe one specific color or multiple colors, or create different patterns using tie dye.
If you have a darker pair of shoes like navy blue or black, a cool technique to try is bleaching your shoes. Using a paintbrush, you can paint your entire shoe in bleach and watch a new color erupt right before your eyes. You can also try to make patterns like stripes with your bleach to create a cool look for your shoes.
Besides using dyes, you can try doing other things to reinvent your shoes such as drawing (using sharpies), spray paint, or bedazzling, just to name a few. Get to work and have fun!
