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We’ve always loved Start-Rite school shoes. They’re a go-to brand when it’s school shopping season and we just can’t fault them. I’ve previously written a blog on my Start-Rite school shoe picks and unboxed them so you can see what you get when you order. Now I’m here to report back on how they’ve fared after a term in use.
I need to point out that my kids absolutely hammer their shoes. My son plays football on all terrains including the playground tarmac, and my daughter spends a lot of time on her knees, dragging the tops of the school shoe across the scratchy ground.
Brand New Start-Rite School Shoes
Just to give you a recap, here’s what the shoes looked like fresh out of the box.
My daughter picked the Flourish style shoe – pictured above.
My son chose the Rhino Sherman style – while I nudged him towards a little because of that extra protection on the toe.
The School Shoes After One Term
Once the kids got the shoes, they used them like they normally would at school. Since this was the summer term, I was hoping these school shoes would see us over the summer holidays until at least Christmas. You have to expect some wear and tear on school shoes because kids wear them all day for five days a week.
It’s also worth mentioning that my kids are really heavy-going on school shoes. I’ve learnt from past mistakes of buying flimsy supermarket brands and having my children somehow make them fully disintegrate in under a month. I think my children definitely go harder on their shoes than most people, so I was pleasantly surprised the shoes made it to the end of term and still worked as fully functioning shoes.
I was expecting the shoes to look a little beat-up, but nothing a bit of cleaning, buffing and polishing won’t fix. We used the Start-Rite bran of polish since it’s been designed to go with the shoes from the range.
Here’s what we were dealing with for my daughter:
My daughter’s shoes had some superficial scuffs that looked a lot worse than they were. The integrity of the shoes remained completely fine. There was no obvious signs of wear on the soles of the shoes and they’re still in really good condition. I’d say the leather upper is better than expected considering how much time they spent being scraped across the floor. Orlaith has just finished foundation stage, so I’m expecting next school year will see a lot less kneeling in the playground.
I set to work getting cleaning them up and I’m really pleased with the end result:
Next up are Greg’s shoes, and was amazed at how well they fared. You wouldn’t believe he’d been playing football in them every free minute he had.
There were just a few light marks that could be polished, and a little bit of dried mud on the sole. The sole itself was intact and didn’t look worn at all. I polished them up and they looked as good as new. Here’s a picture:
Polishing these shoes has brought them right back to looking like new.
Do Start-Rite Shoes Pass the Wear Test?
I think the pictures speak for themselves and these shoes definitely pass the wear-test. They’ve worn them for the last term before summer and will be starting the new term in September in them. There’s a reason I always go for Start-Rite and I think the quality and durability is unmatched.