How to Make a Pair of "Vintage" Converse

Last Updated: October 13, 2021

Chuck's, Converse or All-Stars, you may know them by many names but anyone who wears Converse knows that the more dirty and worn-in they look, the cooler and more comfortable they are!

Steps

1
Buy a pair of high top Converse from any Converse retailer or choose a pair from your closet - the dirtier, the better!
2
Soak in some thinned out mud or smear some red clay on the outside only and let stand on top of or underneath the radiator or under a heat lamp to let the shoe look more worn in. Leave the shoes for at least 2 hours but overnight works better.

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3
In either a plastic basin or the sink, place the filthy shoes and add about a tablespoon of detergent into each shoe and fill the basin/sink with enough water to cover completely.
4
Take a nail brush and scrub the Converse until they are a little faded and stained.
5
Empty the sink/basin of the filthy water and refill with clean hot water.
6
Then take each converse out of the water and with either a bleach pen or a small container of bleach and a cotton swab, draw/paint any designs wherever you want.
7
Let sit on either the radiator or under a heat lamp for anywhere up to an hour, any longer and the fabric will become too weak to wear.
8
Place the Converse back into the water with some more detergent and scrub with the nail brush until you think that the bleach is washed off completely.
9
Rinse twice to make sure that all soap particles are gone and either stuff each shoe with a small towel and leave to dry naturally, place under the radiator/heat lamp until dry or blow dry on high.
10
Take a black permanent marker and sign the side of one shoe in addition to colouring in all of the white rubber parts and the trademark Converse star/circle logo.
11
Wear your battered and worn-in Converse everywhere and soon enough the black coloured in part will become black/gray and scuffed and the front third of the shoe will start to look arched in the rocking motion that we walk in (heel to toe).

Community Q&A

Question

Converse age very fast anyway. Is this going to shorten their life even more?

Sylghouls

Top Answerer

It may. However, if you want that "worn-out" look for one reason or another, this tutorial works well to achieve that result quickly.

Warnings

When letting the bleach set with heat, make sure that it's done in a well-ventilated room or right by a window as bleach fumes can be toxic.

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Things You'll Need

One Pair of Converse Hi-Tops in any bright or dark colour (The bleaching won't work on any light colours such as yellow)
Bleach pen/Quarter cup of bleach and some cotton swabs
Mud/Red clay
Detergent
Nail/shoe brush
Heat lamp/Blow dryer/Radiator
Black permanent marker