If you don’t know how to put shoes in a shoe box, you definitely need to get familiar with some of the necessary tips and tricks.
It sounds simple enough to store your shoes in a shoe box and then put them away for the season. But it won’t be very pleasant if you were to take them out again and find them all dusty and bent out of shape. That can happen when the packing is done carelessly and haphazardly.
In this post, we are going to be looking at 6 different tips and techniques that you should keep in mind when storing your shoes away in their boxes.
Let’s get into it.
How to Put Shoes in a Shoe Box: 6 Tips and Techniques
1. Pick the Right Box Size
This one is really important to keep in mind.
When you buy a pair of shoes, always remember to hold on to the box in which they came packed in. Don’t throw the box away, and don’t use it for any other purpose.
It can be a bit tempting to just shuffle the boxes and use smaller ones for larger shoes and vice versa. However, using a box that cannot properly fit the shoes will wreak havoc on the latter.
The shoes will get warped out of shape, and get all wrinkly. And since you’ll probably have to store them away for several months, you could only find out about the damage once it’s too late to fix it.
The ideal way to avoid this is to simply use the original box for storing the shoes. But if for some reason you don’t have that specific box anymore, be sure to look for a substitute that’s bigger… rather than smaller.
2. Properly Position the Shoes in the Box
The next thing that you need to know when it comes to learning about how to put shoes in a shoe box is to position them correctly.
Just as having a small box will inevitably ruin the shape of your shoes, so too will an improper placement/positioning.
The ideal position in which you can place the shoes is the standard heel-to-front placement. In this position, the toe area of one shoe is placed against the opening at the heel side of the other shoe…like this:
In this position, your shoes will not get squished or crumpled together, and they won’t develop any ugly creases and wrinkles.
This is usually how shoes normally come packed when you buy them from the store.
3. Stuff The Shoes Before Storing
This is yet another important step that you should take when placing your shoes in a shoe box.
You may have seen that when you buy a pair of brand-new shoes, there are conical pieces of cardboard inserted in the foot space. They essentially help the shoes to retain their shape, which in turn saves them from getting squished and bent out of shape.
It is always a good idea to hold on to the pieces of cardboard that come inserted in the shoes. That way, you can use them later whenever the need arises.
However, if you don’t have those anymore, you can always use bundled-up paper or old socks instead.
You can technically use anything as long as it is firm enough to retain the shape of the shoes.
4. Layer the Box with Paper
Before placing the shoes in the box, you should put a layer of packing paper in the latter. That way, your shoes will not have to rest directly against the cardboard, and there will be a lesser chance of any abrasions or scratches coming on them.
This is more important if you are storing the shoes away for a couple of months or so. You don’t have to take the trouble of layering the box with packing paper if you are only going to be storing the shoes away for a couple of days.
Apart from creating a soft surface for your shoes to rest on, the packing paper will also help in blocking any type of small holes or crevices in the sides of the box. This will help in stopping dust from coming inside and settling on the shoes.
5. Wrap the Shoes in Paper
Moving on with our list of tips on how to put shoes in a shoe box, we have to mention this point i.e., wrapping the shoes in paper.
This is apart from the layering that you have to do as mentioned in the previous step. You can use the same packing paper to wrap the shoes.
Wrapping the shoes is a good way to ensure that they don’t get any sort of dust or scratches on them.
6. Use a Desiccant
Remember those small pouches that usually come in shoe boxes with the ominous declaration of ‘Do Not Eat’ written on them? That’s silica gel, and it is used as a desiccant.
A desiccant can be defined as a substance that absorbs moisture from its surroundings.
When placed inside a shoe box, desiccants will prevent any type of dampness and moisture from getting to the shoes.
Some materials, like leather, can get adversely affected by water. Using a desiccant for these types of materials is necessary.
And that ‘wraps’ up our list of tips and techniques on how to put shoes in a shoe box.
Conclusion
It sounds easy enough to just stuff your shoes in some random shoe box and then store them away in the cupboard.
But, doing that will have its consequences. You could open the boxes later to see your shoes covered in dust and bent out of shape with wrinkles all over them.
It’s very important to learn about the finer steps and details about how to put shoes in a shoe box. And that’s pretty much what we did in this post.
One thing that you should keep in mind is that the tips mentioned above should be followed rigidly if you are planning on storing the shoes away for some months or so. For short-term storage, you can leave out some of the steps such as layering the box and wrapping the shoes, etc.
This was all about storing your shoes for a long time but what about the shoes you're wearing every day? If you're wearing shoes for a long time (more or less than 10 hours a day), there’s a chance that your shoe rack smells bad. Try these effective tips to keep your shoe rack from smelling.