Painting my leather shoes

 

Painting is definitely a good way to revamp an old or second hand pair or shoes. Especially for those of us who have limited funds, but love new shoes - paintings a fun solution!

The first pair I painted was for my sister who bought a second hand pair of white adidas shoes for $4 at an op shop - they were in ok condition but were quite scuffed in the front and back.

To set myself up I bought some stripper and white paint and found an old rag and paper. And here's what I did .......

Firstly using my rag, I rubbed the shoe all over with stripper. It didn’t take all the marks off the shoes, but I noticed it provided me with a better surface to paint on. This was really quick - took 2 minutes.

Then I got started with the painting. Initially it took me a little while to get the knack of applying the paint. In my first go I had too much paint on my brush and the first layer was too thick.

So try and make the first coat of paint really thin (don’t worry if the paint seems patchy - you can build up the paint on the 2nd or 3rd layer if needed) – if its too thick there’s a danger of drip marks or uneven surface.

My next try, I used some scrap paper to paint on before appying to the shoe. This helped take excess paint of the brush and get the feel of how much paint was on the brush.

For these shoes I didn’t tape down any areas. When I found that I painted over edges, I just used my rag with a bit of stripper to wipe it off. I also didn’t need to stuff them with paper or a shoe tree as the leather surface was pretty firm.

Once I did my first coat I left the shoe to dry for an hour. My second coat I found much easier and quicker to do. The second coat you can afford to use a bit more paint. I was a bit worried about the brush strokes being visible on the surface of the shoe. However they seemed to be absorbed once the paint dried.

I did notice that if I labored over painting a section (painting over the same area a couple of times) – the paint tends to dry and brush strokes are more prominent. So try and keep your strokes long and consistent.

Make sure you are in a ventilated room as the stripper is really strong – like nail polish remover (but stronger). The Coxy Paint has a paint brush in the lid – this is great as it meant no messing around with washing the paint brush etc.

I recommend have a go at this – but for your first go try on a older pair of shoes to practice. Overall, it was a fun job and I was really pleased with the results. I also placed new laces and insoles in the shoes - which really made them look brand new!

Cheers,

Maryann