Removing Wax from Shoes

[pirouettes2001]

I have been having a problem with the soles of my ballet slippers becoming very sticky. (I wear soft shoes more often than pointe shoes so the stickiness is more easily noticeable.) I talked to my teacher and she said it was due to wax from the studio floors getting stuck on the shoes. She suggested scraping off the wax with a metal knife. Is there any other way I can remove the floor wax?

Thanks for reading.

[Mel Johnson]

You can also try washing off the bottoms of the shoes with ammonia. Of course, some silicone waxes don't respond at all to this and have to be scraped or sanded off.

[Henrik]

My teacher told me to put the shoes in the refrigirator (!) ( the cold thing where you store food more than 3 days... my english is really bad) and then try to scrape it off with a knife without any riffles (again.. you know, not a knife you use for cutting bread, rather one for butter and such..)

 

I didnt try it yet, so I cant garantee that it works, but... you can try

[Mel Johnson]

Henrik, "refrigerator" is perfectly good English and is in current good usage. Not everybody might understand "riffles", though, although a cutler (a maker of things like knives and swords) or a whitesmith (a metal-polisher) might. The term most people use for what you're describing is a "serrated" edge, like the edge of a shark's tooth. And yes, using a plain-edged knife is better. The cold is a nice touch I hadn't considered, but it should work!

[pirouettes2001]

Major, I didn't think of sandpaper! I think it will be easier to handle than a butter knife. But I'll also ask what kind of wax is on the floor to see if I can use ammonia. I'm just worried about the leather getting worn out (scraped or sanded through) too quickly, before the canvas starts unravelling.

Is getting wax on shoes a common problem?

[Mel Johnson]

Yes, unfortunately, it's a fairly common occurrence. You can fold the sandpaper in order to avoid abrading the canvas, and only sand on the leather.