Grishko Soft Pointes

[anondancer_15]

Hiya, so I've had my Grishko soft pointes for about 2 months now, they're still pretty hard and very noisy. They get pretty hot when I'm wearing them obviously and when I go to put them back on, all the glue has like stiffened and gone really hard so I have to kind of manipulate them around to get my feet back in.. sometimes they end up with dents in the front of the shoe where I guess the glue has dried strangely? 

 

I'm not really sure if this makes much sense but does anyone else have a similar problem and is there any way to avoid it...? It's like I have to re-break in the shoes every time I put them on.

[taxi4ballet]

DD had a pair of those, and they stayed rock hard - we threw them away in the end, I seem to remember. Maybe you could try keeping them in a plastic bag after wearing them, as if they are a bit softer after use then they won't dry out and harden up again.

[aballetlife]

I don't know if this is much help but if you're allowed you could take the block out, I know some people that do this. it makes them more like a mix of soft shoes / soft pointes though!

[SBallerina]

I never bought soft pointes. I always took the box and inside sole of the pointe shoe out. It worked wonders for me, and saves you some money!

[Circe]

You could try stuffing the toe with newspaper when worn to get better shape as they dry.

[pas de chat]

We tried everything in the book and in the end we threw ours away and bought Bloch.

[Guest]

I put my Bloch ones in the washing machine. It worked wonders!

[taxi4ballet]

I put Freed ones in the washing machine, lovely and soft while they were still wet... until they dried out, as hard as ever!

 

 

People often mention using broken-down pointe shoes instead, but if padding is worn in the pointe shoes, then surely they would be too big if worn without padding as soft blocks, especially if you are taking out the shank as well.

[anondancer_15]

I bought them because I needed them for my exam and didn't have a pair of pointe shoes to break down and I'm determined not to give up on them yet haha! how do I go about taking the box out?!

[Anna C]

I'm not sure you can take the box out - firstly you would have to cut the shoes open, and secondly, they'd end up as ballet slippers, wouldn't they?

 

Dd had a pair of Capezio soft blocks that sounded like tap shoes regardless of what she did with them! She soon went back to Freed, which quieten down in no time if you steam them (carefully) by holding them over a kettle.

[aballetlife]

I had grishko pointe shoes which I took the shank and block out and used for an exam. This might not make sense but I'll give explaining it a go haha;

-soak the shoes (block) in boiling water until they are soft - id say about 5-10 minutes

-the hard part! turn the shoe inside out

- then cut a slit in the fabric and pull out the block, I think it grishkos it does just come out as a solid block!

-turn them the right way around then put them in the washing machine then leave them to dry and

ta daaaaaaaa hahah

[anondancer_15]

not gonna lie id never considered taking the box out... idk if I'm brave enough to try it aha! but thank you I might give it a go

[taxi4ballet]

You can usually get the shank out of pointes - with some leverage, a pair of pliers and possibly some strong help(!) and even in demi-pointe shoes there's usually a hard lump of something underneath the insole at the toe end where the ball of the foot and the toes go. In Bloch it is a bit of very hard cardboard-type material, and I jemmy it out with a large flat screwdriver. Be careful when you are doing this as it can slip and you could stab yourself.