Those dirty Tom's!

I love my Tom's!  I especially like that every time you buy a pair of their shoes, a child in need gets a pair too.  I love that concept so much that I contacted the company a couple of years ago to see if I could get them to support my project in Africa.  My kids really need shoes! Unfortunately, Guinea Bissau is such a poverty stricken country that there was no established point of contact for them to work with, so they were unable to help me.  I was bummed.  But, I still love the company and what they stand for!

I also like the gazillion colors that they offer. I currently have 3 pairs. Green, black and navy.  When we went on our 14 day Caribbean cruise last year, I took the navy pair with me.  I also took some walking shoes and a few other pairs of flats.  (We all know that shoes are not only heavy but they can take up a lot of room in your luggage!!)

Here's what I found amazing.  At our 1st port of call I wore my Tom's for an all day excursion.  I knew I was taking a BIG chance and frankly I thought that I would regret it because, after all, Tom's shoes are not "made for walkin".   But 'oh contraire' by the end of the day, my feet felt fine.  For the remainder of the cruise, unless it was dinner time or formal night -- I only wore my Tom's. Next time, I won't bother to take any walking shoes and maybe only one dressy pair of flats. Tom's are so much lighter and easier to pack.

But I digress, the point of this post is to talk about a dirty Tom! I have 3 pairs of filthy Tom's.  I'm not sure what to do with them.  It doesn't seem like you can wash them. Am I supposed to toss them out and buy more?   I decided to make one last ditch effort and see if I could figure out a way to clean them.  I read on the website that you are supposed to hand wash and air dry  them "ain't nobody got time for that!"  So, I put some stain remover on them, let them soak in it for 15 minutes, then tossed them in the washer on regular cycle for 10 minutes (warm wash/cold rinse).  As you can see I'm no Suzy homemaker!

15 minute soak in Oxi Clean

Then.....I tossed them in the dryer on regular high heat.  I did put them in a lingerie bag because they were making so much noise I thought the dryer was going to walk out of the closet.

Here are the results.

Before (pretty beat up)

After (still beat up and a little lighter but wearable)

Before (these were sooo filthy I was embarrassed to wear them)

After (MUCH better)

Before (these were not in that bad a shape)

After (a little lighter but still good)

OK so not perfect but better than before, and my Tom will live to see yet another cruise.....maybe!

Do you have any Tom's that you have cleaned?