Practically at Home: Hunting for cheap boot trees? Use your noodle!

Thursday

Hunting for cheap boot trees? Use your noodle!

With winter weather on the way, practical- and fashion-minded folks are picking out boots to wear. We’re polishing last year’s styles and classic favorites and stepping up for seasonal sales.

In fact, I just pulled out the Leather CPR Cleaner / Conditioner, which I love using (see link for online product review, below), and shined up three (count ‘em) pairs of dressy boots. Hey, when it comes to leather boots, I almost never toss a pair. I keep them in tiptop shape, caring for them like old friends. (Sometimes I use saddle soap instead.)

Now that my fabulous footwear fashions are spiffy and supple and ready to kick out into cold weather, I want to make sure they’ll stand tall and wrinkle-free between wearings.

After all, who wants to invest a chunk of change in real leather boots, only to see them topple over and develop mid-calf creases in the closet?

That’s where the great deal comes in.

OK, lots of fashionable people purchase boot shapers or boot organizer racks. Some boot trees are cedar-scented. Others are inflatable, making them super for traveling.

Color it cheap, or call it clever. Here’s what I do to keep my boots standing upright and neat.

I refused to toss out those swim noodles we toted to the beach all summer. Instead, I cut them into boot-sized lengths. They fit perfectly inside my tall boots in the closet. One might even say these colorful foam tubes are keeping my foot fashions afloat all winter.

Swim noodles cost about $2 apiece. If you’re throwing them out at the end of the swimming season, then you can keep them and essentially call them free. (You were going to discard them anyway, remember?)

Here's how to make your own cheap boot trees out of last season's swim noodles.

Just clean off your swim noodles, removing all the beach sand and rinsing off the pool chemicals. Take a strong serrated knife, and cut the noodles into the right sizes to fit inside dress boots. Shake off the loose foam crumbs, and stick the cut-up noodles in your favorite boots.

Boom. That’s it. Cheap, but totally effective, boot trees.

Who wouldn’t rather pinch pennies over boot trees, perhaps eventually saving enough for another pair of … well, you get the picture.

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Image/s:

Red Boots by AmeeStauffer

MorgueFile

Swim Noodles by Keyseeker

MorgueFile

Favorite Jockey-Style Boots

Copyrighted by Nickers and Ink / Practically at Home

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