How To: Waterproof Canvas Shoes
If you can’t find it locally, Amazon has beeswax.
Claire and I were walking across the University of Indianapolis campus to volunteer at the Fletcher Place Culinary Collage fundraiser and it was pouring down rain. Claire was wearing her Toms and I said something along the lines of “your feet must be soaked.” To which she replied: Nope, waterproofed them with Beeswax.
Since I love canvas shoes, I had to try this out when I got my new Keens in the mail. It was easy and it works. Here’s how to do it to your canvas anything.
What you need:
Beeswax (Claire got it from the honey guy at her local farmer’s market)
Hairdryer
Canvas Shoes
30-45 Minutes
How to:
- Take the laces out of your shoes.
- Using a decent amount of pressure, rub the beeswax all over your shoes. The wax should be visible on the shoes.
- Melt the layer of beeswax on your shoes with your hair dryer while rubbing it into the fabric with your fingers until you no longer see the beeswax.
- Repeat.
- Done.
Its seriously that easy, and it actually works to waterproof canvas shoes. Unlike ScotchGard you don’t have to wait 24 hours to wear your shoes, you can wear them immediately. Personally, I’ve never had the best luck with ScotchGard. It protects the look of my shoes but doesn’t keep my feet dry in the rain. This does both.
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Nicole is a Software Quality Engineer, music collector, and chronic project starter. In her free time she enjoys reading trashy romance novels, catching up on her game backlog, and bourbon.
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Tracking down bees wax can be tough sometimes. Snow Seal is what I use to do mine. It works well with canvas, leather, etc. Its one of the first things I do to every pair of shoes I buy…
http://www.amazon.com/Sno-Seal-7-oz/dp/B005L9EEHU
Thanks for the tip! We can get it fairly easily here, just a simple trip to the farmer’s market (although you may have to ask because they might not always bring it with them). But that’s a good option for people who can’t get the beeswax that easy.
Hey! I bought a pair of white canvas Tom’s… i couldn’t help myself, they’re super cute. But i am clumsy so i was wondering how to protect them when i stumbled into yet advice. Will the bees wax damage the color of the white shoes?
Thanks!
I’m not sure, we’ve done green and grey shoes but not white. My initial instinct is to say yes, since beeswax does have a hint of yellow to it. If they were my shoes, I wouldn’t risk it. I’d probably just go with Scotchguard for Fabric to be safe. Or possibly Sno-Seal the other commenter mentioned.
Does beewax make the shoes a lot less breathable? I only wear canvas shoes instead of sneakers in the summer because they cool down my feet. However, i might go looking for other options if beewax traps heat and sweat inside the shoes.
I didn’t notice a difference, but my feet are also always cold so I’m not the best judge.
How water resistant was it? How often did you have to re-apply the wax?
What happens if water did get in from any space between shoe and feet?
Sorry, but can’t seem to find any comments on these
The shoes I put the wax on didn’t hold up well (not because of the wax, but because of the shoes themselves). But I remember wearing them on one particularly rainy day and my feet staying dry. I had them for about a year and didn’t have to reapply wax.