So, you just bought your first pair of ballroom dance shoes, that’s Awesome! Dance shoes make a huge difference in the way you’re able to move on the dance floor. Below are a few tips that may not be obvious about maintaining your shoes:
- The bottom of the shoe is Suede, so it is highly vulnerable to getting wet and affecting the coefficient of friction of the shoe
- For the above reason, don’t wear these shoes outside, and be careful when visiting the bathroom to avoid stepping in any water
- After dancing on the shoes for a time, the Suede will become packed down, and slick to dance on. There are metal bristled brushes, available online and sometimes in dance studios that can be used to restore some of the Suede’s friction. I brush toward the toe of the shoe. Don’t brush too vigorously, just enough to remove the top layer of dust and dirt to give you a little more grip on the dance floor.
- Depending on where you store your shoes while not wearing them, they may become squashed by other things. I recommend a shoe tree when this happens. It’ll the shoe keep some of its shape when you’re not wearing it.