Shoes and Sneakers

Blisters

• Vaseline Petroleum Jelly. To avoid getting blisters from new shoes, rub a dab of Vaseline Petroleum Jelly into the leather of the new shoes wherever you feel friction against your feet.

Deodorizing

• Arm & Hammer Baking Soda. In the evening, sprinkle Arm & Hammer Baking Soda inside shoes to absorb moisture and neutralize offending odors. In the morning, shake out the baking soda.

• Bounce. To eliminate odors from sneaker or shoes, place a sheet of Bounce in the footwear overnight so it will smell great in the morning.

• Dial Soap. To deodorize shoes or sneakers, place a wrapped bar of Dial Soap in the footwear overnight.

• Febreze. Spray Febreze inside stinky shoes and sneakers to eradicate offending odors.

• L'eggs Sheer Energy Panty Hose and Tidy Cats. Take a clean, used pair of L'eggs Sheer Energy Panty Hose, cut off the legs at the knee, fill the feet with unused Tidy Cats, tie the ends with a knot, and place inside shoes or sneakers overnight. The cat box filler absorbs moisture and musty, lingering odors.

• 20 Mule Team Borax. To deodorize shoes or sneakers, sprinkle 20 Mule Team Borax into the footwear to absorb moisture and neutralize offending odors. In the morning, shake out the borax.

• USA Today. To deodorize shoes or boots, crumple up a few pages of USA Today, shove them inside the footwear, and let sit overnight. By morning the news-print will absorb the odors.

Drying

• Conair Blow Dryer. To dry wet boots or sneakers, insert the nozzle of a Conair Pro Styler 1600 hair dryer into the boot and blow warm air into the foot-wear for five minutes.

• USA Today. To dry wet shoes or boots, stuff the footwear with crumpled pages from USA Today, and let sit overnight (away from a heat source.). The newsprint will absorb moisture from the shoes or boots.

Galoshes

• Crisco All-Vegetable Shortening. To polish rubber galoshes, rub a few dabs of Crisco All-Vegetable Shortening into the rubber and buff with a soft, clean cloth.

Gum

• Cutex Nail Polish Remover. To clean chewing gum from the bottom of a shoe or sneaker, saturate a cotton ball with Cutex Nail Polish Remover and use it to rub off the wad of gum.

• Jif Peanut Butter. Step in gum? A dab of Jif Peanut Butter (creamy, not chunky) removes gum from the bottom of a shoe, boot, or sneaker.

• WD-40. To remove chewing gum from the bottom of a shoe or sneaker, spray on WD-40, wait, and pull the gum free.

Heels

• Krazy Glue. To reattach a broken heel, use a few drops of Krazy Glue and hold the heel in place until the glue dries.

Patent Leather

• Vaseline Petroleum Jelly. To shine patent leather shoes, coat the shoes with Vaseline Petroleum Jelly and buff with a soft cloth.

• Wonder Bread. To clean and shine patent leather shoes, take a slice of Wonder Bread and rub it over the shoes. The dough works like an kneaded eraser, simultaneously cleaning scuff marks and giving the patent leather an exquisite shine.

Polish

• A.1. Steak Sauce. If you run out of shoe polish, use A.1. Steak Sauce on a soft cloth.

• Maxwell House Coffee. To polish suede shoes, make a cup of Maxwell House Coffee and brush the black coffee onto black suede shoes to revive them.

• Reynolds Cut-Rite Wax Paper. To prevent shoe polish from smearing on your shoes, let the shoe polish dry, then rub the shoes with a sheet of Reynolds Cut-Rite Wax Paper to remove the excess polish. Use a second sheet of Cut-Rite Wax Paper as a work surface to prevent shoe polish from spattering the floor.

Scuff Marks

• Alberto VO5 Hair Spray. To clean scuff marks from shoes, spray a little Al-berto VO5 Hair Spray on the mark and rub forcefully with a towel or washcloth.

• Colgate Regular Flavor Toothpaste. Squeeze a dab of Colgate Regular Flavor Toothpaste on a soft cloth, rub it over the scuff marks, and—presto!—the marks vanish like magic.

• Cutex Nail Polish Remover. A cotton ball dampened with Cutex Nail Polish Remover cleans scuff marks off white shoes.

• Fantastik. Spray scuff marks on shoes with Fantastik and wipe clean with a soft cloth.

• Liquid Paper. To cover up scuff marks on white shoes in a pinch, touch up the spots with Liquid Paper.

• Lubriderm. To clean scuff marks from patent leather shoes, apply Lubriderm to a soft cloth and rub it into the patent leather.

• Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. To clean dirt, grime, and scuff marks from sneak-ers, wipe footwear clean with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

• Smirnoff Vodka. Rub scuff marks off shoes with a cotton ball saturated with Smirnoff Vodka.

Shining

• Alberto VO5 Conditioning Hairdressing. Rub in a little Alberto VO5 Conditioning Hairdressing, then buff. Aside from shining shoes, the hairdressing protects leather shoes and boots from winter salt and ice.

• ChapStick. To shine shoes in a pinch, rub ChapStick over the leather and buff with a dry, clean cloth.

• Heinz White Vinegar. To clean white stains left by rock salt (used for melting ice on roads in winter) from leather shoes, rub Heinz White Vinegar on the stain and wipe with a with clean, wet cloth.

• Huggies Baby Wipes. To shine shoes in a pinch, wipe the shoes with a Huggies Baby Wipe.

• Johnson's Baby Oil. To shine shoes, put a few drops of Johnson's Baby Oil on a paper towel, rub it into the shoes, and buff with a clean cloth.

• L'eggs Sheer Energy Panty Hose. Ball up a clean, used pair of L'eggs Sheer Energy Panty Hose and use it to shine shoes. The nylon is a mild abrasive.

• Lubriderm. To shine shoes, rub a dab of Lubriderm on each shoe and buff with a soft cloth.

• Mr. Coffee Filter. If you don't have a soft cloth to buff shoes, use a balled-up, lint-free Mr. Coffee Filter.

• Pledge. For a long-lasting and beautiful shine, spray your shoes with Pledge furniture polish and buff dry with a soft cloth. The waxes in Pledge also help the shoes repel water.

• Star Olive Oil. Polishing shoes with a few drops of Star Olive Oil revitalizes the leather.

• Stayfree Maxi Pads. After applying polish to shoes, buff the leather with Stay-free Maxi Pads.

• Tampax Tampons. To shine shoes, use the cotton tip of a Tampax Tampon to buff.

• Turtle Wax. In a pinch, dab Turtle Wax on leather shoes and buff with a clean, soft cloth to achieve a glimmering shine.

• Vaseline Petroleum Jelly. Apply a few dabs of Vaseline Petroleum Jelly on your shoes or boots, and buff with a cloth.

• Windex. To shine shoes in a pinch, spray Windex on the leather and buff with a soft, clean cloth.

Shoelaces

• Elmer's Glue-All. To prevent broken shoelaces from fraying, dip the ends into Elmer's Glue-All and let dry.

• Maybelline Clear Nail Polish. To repair frayed shoe-laces, dip the tattered ends of the shoelaces in Maybelline Clear Nail Polish and let dry so the unraveled threads hold together and fit through the holes.

• Scotch Transparent Tape. To fix frayed shoelaces in a pinch, wrap the frayed end with a small strip of Scotch Tape.

Sneakers

• Colgate Regular Flavor Toothpaste and Oral-B Toothbrush. To clean the white rubber part of sneakers, squeeze some Colgate Regular Flavor Tooth-paste on a clean, used Oral-B Toothbrush, dampen with water, and scrub the rubber until it comes clean.

• Scrubbing Bubbles. To clean sneakers, spray Scrubbing Bubbles on the foot-wear, let sit for two minutes, and then rinse clean.

• S.O.S Steel Wool Soap Pads. Use an S.O.S Steel Wool Soap Pad dampened with water to gently clean dirty sneakers.

Squeaks

• Alberto VO5 Conditioning Hairdressing. To remove the squeak from a new pair of shoes, coat the shoes with a thin layer of Alberto VO5 Conditioning Hairdressing.

• WD-40. To stop shoes from squeaking, spray WD-40 on the spot where the sole joins the heel and wipe off the excess. (Be careful to avoid lubricating the shoe too much and slipping when you walk.)