If you enjoy practicing and dancing in your pole shoes, you will probably have come across some issues in the maintenance of your Pleasers. There are a number of recurrent problems that polers face in terms of the upkeep of their favourite pole shoes, with problems arising due to the general, daily wear and tear from training, floor work and dancing.
Here are some solutions for the most common issues:
PROBLEM: RUBBER SOLE PEELING AWAY
If you love to trace, skate and slide in your floor work and low flow then you may have experienced the sole of your Pleasers peeling away at the front platform.
Saving Your Shoes
I have heard that using heavy duty glue such as E6000 or superglue is a great way to reattach rubber soles that have peeled away as a result of toe dragging.
PROBLEM: FINISH RUBBING OFF
Again, this is a problem that tends to arise if you enjoy practicing floor work, sliding, skating and so on in your heels. The coloured or chrome finish of Pleaser heels isn’t designed to be very robust against such practice and the colour will inevitably get worn off.
Preventative Measures
Using socks to cover the platform part of your shoe allows you to skate, slide and trace to your heart’s content, without worrying about the finish of your heels getting worn off by daily practice.
Saving Your Shoes
Although I haven’t come up with a 100% effective and long-lasting way, the easiest short-term fix is to cover up any scuffs and wear using a Sharpie pen in a matching colour to the shoe. This works pretty well because unless you are looking at the shoes very closely you won’t notice the scuff marks. Of course, as soon as you begin tracing and dragging again, the Sharpie will wear off leaving you back where you started.
Alternatively, you could start all over again by glittering your Pleasers. There are a few tutorials out there but I will be making my own at some point. All you need to do is sandpaper down your Pleasers, and apply layers of glitter using Modge Podge until you have covered them completely. Once you have done this you can ensure they last by adopting the sock method above when you practice.
PROBLEM: DIRTY FOOT BEDS
If you have bought a style of Pleasers with a light coloured foot bed then the likelihood is that they have gotten a bit grubby with wear. I’m not really sure of any way to prevent this from happening, other than adopting the sock method above.
Saving Your Shoes
Once dirty, a simple way to spruce up and clean your foot beds is simply wiping them down with a wet wipe and allowing them to dry.
PROBLEM: TORN PVC FINISH
Combining spikey high heels with pole dancing and PVC finish boots is bound to lead to some accidents. Tearing the PVC finish of your Pleaser boots is easy to do, so having some solutions in place is important.
Saving Your Shoes
If you have torn the finish of your shoe and the PVC is still attached like a ‘flap’ use some strong adhesive such as Super Glue to reattach the flap. If you have torn it away completely, glossy black nail polish is a good way to cover up the blemish, and shouldn’t be too noticeable unless on close inspection.
PROBLEM: BROKEN HEEL STRAPS
The straps on your Pleasers may break or become detached with use, especially if you experience a trip or fall where you roll over your ankle.
Saving Your Shoes
The easiest remedy for this is to replace the straps with the detachable clear straps that have now been released for sale. These allow you to use strapless heel styles without the risk of them coming off your feet whilst you are dancing.
This post is your resource for all things related to caring for your Pleasers. If you have an amazing tip for caring for your pole shoes, or a resolution for a common problem you have encountered, let me know so that I can add it to this list to help other polers out.