Shoeaveor / How To Clean Thrifted Shoes?

Just call me Steff the shoeaveor. 

 I did it again. I bought more shoes than expected this month. Not on the same day though. 2weeks ago I had some time to clean out my closet and took everything over to Plato's Closet ( A really well known consignment store in PHX) to see if they wanted any of my stuff. It's kinda like a clothes trade for cash deal. A little bit more money never hurts, ha ha! :P Before going back home I noticed there was another consignment store similar to Plato's. It's called Runway Fashion Exchange. I stopped by to check it out and found these awesome blue boots! I love the Doc Marten patent boots and these resemble them a lot! Luckily they were exactly my size and only $9.00. That's a great deal, but it was an even better deal to buy them for $4.00! I gave some of my clothes to them as well and the sales associate gave me a $5 Off coupon with any purchase in the store. Of course I used it then and there for the boots. Now a week later I unexpectedly stopped at a Goodwill in God knows where in Phoenix, ha ha! I've been looking for some well fitted jeans and no luck. So I went to the shoe section and eyed these cute grandma-boho looking flats. It was 50% off of any yellow tagged items and yes, they were a yellow tag! I noticed so many awesome shoes in wonderful condition! I don't ever stay in the shoe section for more than like 2min. and there I was with 4 pairs of shoes in hand talking to myself. I decided to take the brown boots because there have been numerous of times where I find some like those and I end up leaving them because they're $9.99 and I am positive that I will always come across similar ones in the future, probably for a better deal. My shoe judgements were right. These boots were only $5.99 and practically new! 

How to: Clean Thrifted Shoes

 One rule I have for shoe shopping at thrift stores is to ALWAYS clean and disinfect them if you buy them. That's so so very important! I go by the "treat them like bowling shoes" saying, ha ha! There are a bunch of different ways to clean them. These are simply my tips:

First, some advice on shoe shopping at thrift stores: When I'm at the shoe section I usually go for the shoes/sandals that are in great condition and non-smelly. 

These can be purchased at your local Dollar Store or Drug Store.

I dont have an image for this but you can also use your vacuum to vacuum the inside of your shoes before you start disinfecting them. I have a miniature vacuum and I always use that before any of these steps.


I'll be using my blue boots as the example.

Disinfecting Wipes: Once the shoe laces are off I use these guys to wipe off any dirt on the outside of the shoe. I even give them a wipe from the inside. Make sure they don't have a warning on using them for shoes, I just took the risk to use these and they didn't harm my boots at all.

Spray Bottle: Pour about 10% of water with alcohol in the bottle. I didn't fill up the whole bottle, just went halfers. 

Hand Gloves: This was my preference, but I do suggest that you use them as well. Take note that you'll be wiping dirt and junk from the shoe. Inside and out! 

Alcohol: Kills any bacteria the shoe could have. Like I said before, I only filled up half of the bottle with alcohol after I've added water. I've also used Lysol before to spray the inside of my shoes after I've given them a wipe (as a last step) instead of the alcohol. I just ran out and used what I had in this case.

The Sun: I remove the old insole of the shoes (once dried I replace it with a new one), give the inside of the shoe a good spray, and let them air out in the direct sunlight for the whole day with the tongues of the shoes sticking out. The sun will dry the alcohol and help kill any germs in the shoes.

And there ya go! These are the tips that I go by. The shoes always smell pleasantly well after they're dried and my feet are happy without a worry of who's yucky feet could've been in there! ha ha ha! Hope I've helped some of you. :)

-Steff