Hard Wearing School Shoes
From our many years of collective experience in the shoe trade, we have learned a few tricks that will help you select the right hard wearing school shoe, for tough wear as well as happy, healthy feet…
When picking out a hard wearing children’s shoe, there is a really important compromise to consider between hard wearing shoes and shoew that are just hard on your feet. We all know that welly boots can take a beating – unfortunately they can be really bad for your feet over extended periods. The right shoe for the right job is key, after all your welly boots will do no harm, worn in small doses!
Thankfully there are some great hard wearing shoes on offer. The best of them make use of very clever design, carefully chosen materials and top manufacturing techniques to minimise the potential drawbacks of hard wearing materials. We think about the placement of stitching, the use of soft leathers in the right places, soft but strong inner linings when picking our ranges. Some of these make shoes more expensive, but will genuinely provide a great fitting, comfortable shoe that breathes really well and can stand up to some serious wear and tear!
5 tips on what to look for!
Rubber Bumper
Easy Clean & Care
Leather Uppers
The Injection Moulded Sole
Build Quality & Price
Need Hard Wearing Shoes? Here is our top 5 tips on what to look for!
SOLUTION #1
Rubber BumperRUBBER BUMPER
Some of the best examples are inspired by street and skate iconic shapes – if it ain’t broke…a rubber bumper on front and back helps fend off the bumps and scrapes. Fitting these well is the key to doing it right – the hard rubber toe cap needs a careful fit check to ensure toes have the right amount of room to move. We recommend getting a qualified fitter to check these over every time to be sure (as with any children’s shoe).
SOLUTION #2
Easy Clean & CareEASY CLEAN & CARE
Keeping muck off can be hard work and contribute to the early end of a pair of shoes. Ask any colleague in our stores whether you can throw a shoe in the washing machine…more often than not they will say no! It can be really damaging to a shoe – unless it has been specially designed to withstand the machine. There are however a couple of handy options for this, including Clarks. For a gentle hand wash, skate brands like Converse and Vans can come up really well too, without too much graft.
SOLUTION #3
Leather UppersLEATHER UPPERS
When shoes are going to get scuffed, beware the false economy of a cheaper synthetic (leather) upper. A leather upper is flexible and breathable material (great for healthy feet) but more importantly for hard wear, you can polish it back to near-perfection when it gets a scrape. Great product like Pedag Scuff Cover can really cover up the bad ones too.
SOLUTION #4
The Injection Moulded SoleTHE INJECTION MOULDED SOLE
Sounds clever and it is. No wimpy glue involved, this means the soles are injected in by a machine and the bond is way tougher than glue. The Polyurethane material used is also much harder wearing than rubber or resin soles and even better, its lighter and more flexible. Whats the catch? Unfortunately its usually the price. Check our Primigi and IMAC ranges for PU choices, two great Italian made brands we stock that do a full range made this way – often not much more expensive than a Clarks or Lelli Kelly.
SOLUTION #5
Build Quality & PriceBUILD QUALITY & PRICE
We work hard to source quality and value for money shoes in our Kids ranges. We find that generally you pay for what you get in terms of quality materials and manufacture! Little details like a premium Velcro will last a little longer, a stronger cotton lace will last a little longer, a cleverly designed sole unit will wear a little harder and every stitch and spot of glue will be done with more care and attention when the quality control bar is set higher. Don’t be afraid to pay more for shoes to last longer!
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