Dyeing Canvas Shoes

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A little while ago, I had seen this pin on Pinterest and just loved the idea of dyeing your own canvas shoes! I really wanted to dye a pair for little man, but I have had no luck whatsoever finding plain white sneakers in his size. But, I did find some in my size! I found these slip-on sneakers at Walmart in the mens section (they were even on clearance)! I also picked up some Rit dye in Royal Blue.

Little man loves putting on mommy and daddy's shoes! So, while I got my supplies together, he scooted around the kitchen in my white canvas shoes. {So cute!}

Supplies:

Large bucket
Liquid fabric dye

Hot Water
Salt (if needed; check dye directions) 

Blue Painters Tape
White canvas shoes

 

Now, I had read a tip online that said to cover the white rubber part on the shoe with blue painters tape to keep the dye from staining the white rubber. Little man also helped me with this step. He loved unrolling the tape and helping me tear off pieces to stick on the shoes!

*Personally, I think it may have helped a little, but it was pretty time consuming and I'm not sure if it was actually worth it. I'm sure you could just scrub the white rubber with an old toothbrush and some soap or a magic eraser, if it does get stained.*

First, I soaked the shoes in plain, hot water to get them wet. Next, I filled up an old bucket with hot water, I didn't really measure, I just filled it up enough to cover the shoes. Then I added about 1/3 cup of dye and about a 1/4 cup of salt. (It definitely wasn't an exact science)

I stirred the dye mixture and then dipped the shoes in the dye!

I also added a long sleeve onesie for little man and two if hubby's white t-shirts to the mix. I found that it was pretty difficult to keep the shoes completely submerged. They kept wanting to pop upright, so I just held them in place for the duration of the soak. I let everything soak for about 30 minutes and then rung the shirts and onesie out and set the shoes to dry.

The painters tape started coming off during the dyeing process...

One tip that I learned the hard way: Don't use old gloves that have a teeny, tiny tear in them! The dye will get in, and in my case, dye your finger smurfy blue! Haha! (It does come off...in a day or two)

 I thought that everything came out a lovely, happy shade of blue, but it was a bit lighter than I was expecting Royal Blue to be. Hubby loved the shade and on his t-shirts and I think little man looks quite dashing in Royal Blue!

My shoes are fun and colorful! Yay! So much better than plain white canvas shoes!

 I definitely want to do this again with some more colors! Hopefully I can find some shoes for little man too!  

Have you ever dyed canvas shoes before? Do you have any tips or tricks to pass along?