Like most dancers, you want your shoes to last, but maybe haven’t considered gluing them. you may be very hard on your dance shoes – professional dancers can wear out a pair of pointe shoes during a single performance. Considering most pointe shoes cost around $100, you want your shoes to last as long as possible. Fixing them rather than automatically replacing them when they are getting worn out is a money saving option!

One easy way to make your pointe shoes last longer is to use a product called Jet Glue. It is professional-grade glue that has been the standard of dancers for decades. Some dancers even use Jet Glue while their shoes are new to keep them in good condition. Once used only for model airplanes, Jet Glue is now used for many different applications because it dries fast and is extremely hard.

Here are some step-by-step instructions on how to best glue your shoes.

1. Peel the fabric of your pointe shoe up just past where you are going to glue it.
You don’t want to put the glue on where the heel break is. Instead, you want to keep that part nice
and flexible so that when you go on pointe you still have a nice shape and can roll through demi pointe.

2. Take a few drops of the glue and carefully spread it evenly along the middle third of the inside
of the sole.

3. Depending on the shoe, the glue might not get soaked up immediately, while with other shoes,
the glue seeps in right away. If it tends not to soak in straight away, you might have to dribble it
down in between the layers of the shank of the shoe to get it to be absorbed properly.

4. Let the glue soak in for a little while and leave the fabric part open as you do this. If the glue is
touched it will adhere very quickly and won’t be as effective. You can do up to three coats at a
time, depending on how stiff you like your shoe.

5. Once the glue has dried, you can stick the fabric back together. This way, you can do one coat,
then wear them for a little while and then add another coat when they start to soften again.
Once the glue hardens, the middle section will feel much stronger, but still allows your foot to
work correctly up and down from full pointe. This makes it much more supportive to dance on
and extend out the life of your shoe.

Make sure not to put it down into the demi pointe or the heel, you want to be able to work
through the shoe. While the glue will last you awhile, it is important not to use too old glue –
you need something which won’t go soft with sweat and pressure when you’re wearing your
shoes.

If, after you glue your dance shoes, you are still wearing down your pointe shoes very quickly, ask your teacher to look at your technique to make sure you are not putting too much load on the shoe.

Hopefully this will help you get a little bit more life out of those pointe shoes!

If you need any help fixing your shoes or buying new ones don’t hesitate to contact us here.