Sneakers and sneakers made of fabric are very soft, so they are often worn in the summer, but they are completely unsuitable for rainy weather. If you find yourself in them under a downpour, your feet are guaranteed to be wet. I offer a cheap 100% way to make fabric shoes waterproof.
Materials and tools
This is the simplest method, and also very cheap.
To work you will need:
- wax candle;
- hair dryer.
Be sure to use a light candle without dye. It's best if it's made from beeswax. The technical paraffin of cheap candles is greasy, so when it is used, the fabric becomes covered with indelible dust.
We give water-repellent properties to fabric shoes
We take one pair, but we will conduct the entire experiment with one shoe to compare with another, untreated.
If the shoes are not new and have already been worn, then they must first be thoroughly washed. Ideally, use a washing machine on the delicate cycle. If you apply wax to dirty sneakers, you will no longer be able to wash them, and they will always be dirty.
When the shoes are completely dry, take a candle and rub it into the fabric. You need to rub thoroughly to leave as much wax as possible. Particular attention should be paid to the seams and the place where the fabric transitions into the sole. There should be no uncovered areas left.
On the right is a polished shoe.
Using a hair dryer, the wax melts and is absorbed into the fibers of the fabric, making them waterproof. It also fills the cavities between them, which completely prevents the penetration of moisture. You need to heat it with a hairdryer until there are no grated grains from the candle left on the fabric.
Now the shoes do not differ in color.
Finally, it is important to inspect all seams and surfaces for protruding molten wax layers. Such places need to be heated again so that the impregnation is completely absorbed into the fabric. If this is not done, then in the future the wax will crumble from bending, which will ruin the appearance of the shoes and they will have to be reheated to remove the defects. When everything is done correctly, the appearance of the sneakers will remain the same.
Once protected from getting wet, impregnated fabric shoes will become impenetrable not only to moisture, but also to air. She won't breathe as well as before. This is the only drawback of this method. It must be taken into account that as the temperature drops, the wax loses its elasticity and becomes hard. In this regard, you should not wear such sneakers or sneakers in early spring or late autumn. Otherwise, the wax from them will crumble, so you will have to rub it in again. When it crumbles, the shoes don't look their best.
We try to pour water on an untreated shoe.
It immediately gets wet and absorbs moisture. Next, water the treated one.
From all sides.
You can compare the results for yourself:
