How To Get Longer Lasting Pointe Shoes Article

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How to Get Longer Lasting Pointe Shoes

Here are 3 simple steps that can help to prolong the life of your Pointe Shoes. The care of your Pointe Shoes is very important, if you just pop them in your dance bag and leave them there until your next class you are reducing the life of the shoes and throwing away money.

Author: Alan Turner

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After 20 years of fitting Pointe Shoes I know there are many ways you can prolong the life of your shoes but the real key comes from prevention rather than cure, so if you start in the right way, ie getting your shoes fitted by a qualified and experienced fitter. This along with the knowledge of how to care for your shoes will give you the time to concentrate on your dancing and not be worrying about the tools of your trade. Your Pointe Shoes!

So those 3 tips?

The first thing, to remember is Do Not keep your Shoes in the plastic bag they came when you bought them. Why? Because this traps heat and condensation inside the shoe and will soften the block, and can really weaken the structure of the shoe.

The second point (no pun intended) is, if you use toe pads or animal wool, again Do Not leave them inside the shoes after class. Take them out of the shoes which will allow the air to move freely around the shoes.

The third, try to let your Pointe Shoes get air circulating around them, so hang them up, preferably somewhere cool. This will allow the block to harden after your class. You may have seen this in pictures of hanging Pointes. They are individually hung by their ribbons; it's as simple as that.

A good tip in the block has already gone soft is to use shellac, which can be purchased from any hardware store.

Take the Pointe Shoe and hold upright, tip a small amount of shellac in to the inside of the block and roll around so that it coats the inside of the shoe thinly. Try to do this quickly so the the shellac does not soak through the shoe and mark the satin

Then hang the shoes and leave to dry for at least 24 hours before using.

This process can be repeated and will give more life to Pointe Shoes that have gone soft.

We have just covered 3 basic ways in which you can prolong the life of your Pointe shoes, but as you can imagine there is a lot more you can do.

About Author

I have spent several years as a professional dancers, enjoying rolls in such shows as Fiddler on the Roof and The King and I. Finishing my dance career in 1990 with a brief stint as a choreographer. In 1989 I opened a retail shop in Liverpool UK with my wife Gill, who I met a dance college. During those years the shop has grown substantially to be one of the UKs leading dancewear suppliers. In 1995 I was approached by Freed of London Ltd to work for them in the north west of England, Wales and Scotland. This really was a great opportunity to work for a world renowned Pointe Shoe manufacturer, giving me a chance to see the traditional way of making Pointe Shoes, the turnshoe method. Also through the Liverpool shop I went on Pointe Shoe fitting courses with Gamba and more recently Grishko. So all in all giving me 20 years experience of fitting Pointe shoes, not only for girls but also in recent years male dancers are getting Pointe Shoes to really work their feet. We now employ five members of staff, which my wife Gill and I have been able to train in Pointe Shoe fitting and help build the shops reputation of a place of excellence, especially for Pointe Shoes.

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How to Get Longer Lasting Pointe Shoes