Well hey my friends! I hope you all had a fantabulous extended weekend.
My daughter is obsessed with shoes (who isn’t, am I right?!). She has been rockin’ a pair of blue glitter TOMS for half a year now, and they have definitely seen better days. The shoes themselves are still in wearable condition, but the leather insoles? Um, no. Not only are they crunchy and disgusting, they S-T-I-N-K to high heaven. Leather and sweaty feet make for some disgusting aroma.
Here she is wearing her TOMS last summer.
TOMS are definitely not on the Wal-mart-cheap end, so I want her to be able to wear these things until they are either too small or her toes are literally hanging out of holes worn into the tops of the shoes. Something had to be done about the too-disgusting-for-words insoles though or else I just don’t think I’d be able to ride in a car with her anymore (or spend any time with her and those TOMS unless it was a well-ventilated area).
I’m going to show you how easy it is to replace the insoles in your TOMS (or pretty much any pair of shoes for that matter) in six easy steps.
Step 1: Start out with some cute shoes with barftastic insoles.
Step 2: Remove the Insole. For the TOMS, they were glued in but peeled out very easily.
Here is a perfect example of what disgusting insoles will look like. Crusty? Check. Stinky? Check. Curling up around the toes? Check.
Too bad your monitor isn’t scratch-and-sniff. You’d be in for a big treat.
Step 3: Purchase some new insoles. I found these at Target for about ten dollars.
Make sure to get ones that you can trim.
Step 4: Place your original insoles on top of your new insoles.
Using a pen, trace the original insole onto your new insole.
Once they are both traced onto the new insole, you are ready to cut, cut, cut!
Step 5: Cut along your trace outline.
Now you have insoles that are the same exact size as the original ones.
Step 6: Stuff your new insoles into your shoes and disgard your old ones. You might want to consider throwing the old ones into a bonfire. Just make sure you don’t stand downwind from them.
Don’t the shoes look so inviting now? The insoles I bought have a little bit more padding so they are ultra comfy now.
And that is how you easily replace your tired, worn out, and stinky insoles for a new pair. Just one little bit of advice before you begin — don’t buy insoles that are much thicker than the original pair or else your shoes will be too tight across the top.
Do you have kids with absolutely horrible foot odor, or is it just me? (It’s probably just me.)
If you like this post, share it with all your friends and followers by pinning it. They will thank you!
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My daughter has stinky TOMS too. Rub a small amount of deodorant on her feet bottoms before wearing. I promise it works great! I do it with mine too an no smellies. You can reverse the stink or for sure start with a new pair! I use Secret – LOL!!!
Did you glue the new insoles in or anything? Do they stay just fine without glue? I got a pair of Toms for Christmas, so this may come in handy sometime… Thanks for sharing!
yeah that is the same for anyone who wears shoes without socks, I cannot do it! I actually buy the throw away insoles that are for bare feet at the dollar store, I think its 6 pairs for $2 and I change them after every 4-5 wears, only thing that I can do with bare feet.
My black work flats smell ungodly too, but unfortch don’t have removeable insoles! That’s what I get for target cheapies and HATING stocking feet. I feel bad for the monsters under my work desk.
Throw your shoes in the freezer overnight (in a zip lock bag so freezer contenets are protected). In the morning, all odor causing bacteria should be dead!
Bring your odor eater insoles with you to try on your cheapies, I have had to do this for years since I’m the one in my family with nasty feet! My horrible husband (not really) has baby soft , never bad-smelling feet- even when wearing sandals! So not fair.
My kids feet stink too!!!! They smell like Nacho Cheese which are great for a snack but a horrible smell for feet! Blech. And the weird thing is…. they wear socks and tennis shoes 100% of the time. And their feet still smell!!
“Barftastic”? Seriously, Allison? Have I told you lately that I love you? You’re a hoot!
My nephew had the most satanic vile smelling feet in the universe no matter what he wore. My brother put him on zinc and it helped. Apparently it’s a pre-adole”scent” young teenager problem.
Oh. My. Word.
You are my new best friend. My girls and I *just* had a conversation about their stinky TOM’S feet this afternoon.
I will be headed to Target for some insoles tomorrow!
Thanks!
Elena
acasarella.net
Really?? You really had a in depth, step by step, photo tutorial on how to replace insoles in a pair of shoes- *excuse me* “TOMS”??? Gee can you tell us how to replace insoles on a pair of Chucks because apparently there MUST be a different methods per different shoes. – rolls eyes-
Silly me because here I thought it was pretty much a mindless task to replace a pair of insoles. Especially since there are simple instructions on the PACKAGE…without the ridiculously unnecessary before, during and after photos.
Either you just wanted to show off that yes, your daughter too has a pair of TOMS too! or you just have WAY too much time on your hands!
Sabrina, this tutorial has nothing to do with the shoes being TOMS-specific, but if you own a pair of TOMS you will probably quickly realize they are the worst crappiest shoes ever made and the soles wear out very quickly. I have never had to replace soles in any pair of shoes I have ever worn – until we purchased TOMS. Before replacing the soles in these crappy shoes, I had no idea how to do it and I didn’t even know you could replace soles. I had honestly never even thought about it – again, I’ve never owned shoes that needed new soles. I assumed that there were plenty of people out there who also didn’t realize you can replace soles, and that you can create custom soles by trimming them, and that they would benefit from this tutorial. If I’m going to talk about it and write a post about it, I may as well go ahead and be totally thorough to try to answer any questions that may arrise. If I’m going to take the time to write a post telling people you can replace your soles, why not just go ahead and spend 10 more minutes and make it a little more detailed? Considering this has been pinned over 800 times, I feel you are in the minority of people that thought it was a complete waste of time. I’m glad you already know about replacing soles in shoes. Unfortunately, lots of people (including myself) aren’t as smart as you and benefited from the information.
As for being accused of trying to show off that my daughter has TOMS? Oh please. Seriously? If you read my blog at all, you can probably surmise that I don’t give a crap about keeping up with the Jones’s or showing off what I have. I’m not materialistic, and I don’t care. I bought her the shoes because she needed a new pair of shoes for school and those are what she wanted (because her older cousins have them and so she wanted them too). If you know me at all, you would know that my daughter has only a small handful of shoes – one pair of tennis shoes, a pair of flip flops, a pair of TOMS, and two pair of shoes that she saved her Christmas money and birthday money to buy (boots and Vans). I have openly admitted that I buy most of my wardrobe from Costco and that I shop at Goodwill and Ross. I could give a rats behind about being popular and wearing only name brands.
Hopefully this has cleared up your hostility towards this post and towards me as a human.
I don’t know why I never thought of changing the insoles in my TOMS. It really never occurred to me. I throw them in the washing machine from time to time, which definitely cuts down on the odor, but the leather insoles really do wear out. Thanks for the tutorial. It is such a simple idea, but I would have never thought of it, if I hadn’t seen it on Pinterest.
Allison,
Not only did I enjoy this tutorial, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading your response to Sabrina.
HA!
Essa
Psst…you can put TOMS in the washing machine – even the non vegan ones. I do it every week with my regular similar colored laundry on the regular cycle in a cold water cycle. Just don’t put them in the dryer. They dry on their own in a few hours and look BRAND NEW afterwards. I’ve been wearing mine for years and the outside and insides don’t look more than a few weeks old.
Wow. Sabrina has issues. Why did she read it if she already knew how to do it? I for one am really grateful that you put such a detailed tutorial about Toms. I wouldn’t have tried it if I hadn’t found your tutorial since I hate the waste the ten bucks if it won’t work. As an aside, I am SO glad I’m not related to Sabrina! Could you imagine holiday dinners with her?!
Hi Thanks on your post on the insole! But does anyone have an issue with the soles wearing off? Not the insole. I really love my pair of toms, and been searching for hours on anyone revamping their soles. So if anyone has a solution please do let me know. Here in my country it always rains without warning, and the worn out soles aren’t helping… thanks!
Maybe take them to a shoe repair place?