Looking after your pumps
Irish Dance Article By Craig Coussins
Added Saturday 21st July 2007Aftercare for Hullachan soft reel Shoes.
The foot has 125 thousand sweat glands and that can produce half a litre of perspiration when wearing your shoes at a competition. Its natural but the shoe will still be wet so the constant wetting and subsequent drying of the shoe will take its toll on the shoe itself. Your Hullachan will therefore need some form of after care treatment. Never put your shoes away after a competition and only see them again when you next dance. You will need to air and dry the shoes between uses.
Drying shoes after use:
Make sure the shoes are dry before you treat shoes. Hang the shoes in a warm area but not on a direct heat such as a radiator.
Cleaning the leather:
Use a shoe cream to feed the leather once a week.
Stitching:
Treat stitching with beeswax once a week. Run the corner of a beeswax stick over the stitching that is in contact with the ground. The shoes components are both stitched and glued so if stitching should wear away the glue will still hold the component onto the upper.
Heel Pads and Insole Pads
The pads are durable but after along and possibly excessive wear, the front sole pads may split. If that does happen within six months, send me a copy of your receipt and I will send you a replacement pad or pads. A shoemaker or competent crafts worker will need to remove the old pads and re glue in the new pads. Only use contact adhesive for rubber. Do not use superglue products as these will melt the pads.
HEEL PADS: You do not need a heel pad to dance. These are for comfort only. Some dances even take them out as a preference. That is why we do not heavily glue these pads into the shoe. They are lightly glued and may, after a period of time, come loose. Simply glue these back in using a contact adhesive for rubber. We use Bostix cement glue in the UK but you will have different glues in other countries. Read the label, Whatever glue you use DO NOT USE SUPERGLUE TYPE GLUES. These could melt the padding. If you need a replacement pad please email me. craig@hullachan.com
Optimum wear advice:
Wearing two pairs of shoes are always the best idea as you can alternate between the shoes. This will make the shoes last much longer.
How long will shoes last?
Let me give you some comparisons. A runner will expect a pair of running shoes to last 200 to 300 miles. That can equate to two or three weeks. The shoes look fine but the support will have gone. A ballerina can go through a pair of Pointe Shoes in one performance. Hullachan Dance shoes are no different depending on the level at which you dance. A novice can expect around six months from shoes depending on growth of the dancer. A dancer at championship level will probably go through shoes three times a year. After a year your shoes may still look alright but the support may well have gone though and the leather stretched too much. While we do not make shoes in leather that over-stretches the material is never the less organic and as such may eventually breakdown with bacteria from the foots perspiration.
Repairs:
A dancer will possibly have to repair elements of a worn shoe. If using glue do not use the superglue types of adhesive. Only use a contact adhesive, applying glue, waiting until the glue is almost dry and then bonding the leather together.
There is a new lacing video; http://www.hullachanpro.com/lacing.htm
Please refer to the extensive articles I have written on avoidance of injury and explanation of common injuries.
Dance Injury articles, hullachan pro, Hullachan http://www.hullachanpro.com/articles.htm
