In September, after I clumsily spilled florescent pink nail polish onto my black Vans, I immediately wished I had waterproofed my shoes. To prevent future stains and prepare for the rainy season, I decided to search for cheap ways to waterproof my canvas shoes.

According to a post on Diply, beeswax is a way to waterproof canvas or cloth shoes.

The directions say to vigorously rub beeswax onto the shoe, then blow dry the shoe until the wax melts into the material. Blow drying should continue until the wax is no longer visible on the surface of the shoe.

After failing in my quest at three stores, I finally found a one pound of beeswax at Michael’s for $18.

When I first started rubbing the bright yellow wax onto the my black Vans, the wax left prominent streaks and chunks all over the shoe. My fruitless efforts at trying to wipe off large pieces of wax made me wonder if this entire experiment was a mistake — would I just end up ruining a perfect pair of Vans?

However, after 2 minutes of blow drying, the chunky wax miraculously disappeared. All that was left was a clean, canvas shoe that no one could tell I tampered with. The color and texture were exactly the same as before, and when I tried them on, they felt like the same old pair of sneakers that I had been wearing since the beginning of summer.

I waited the recommended 5 minutes before pouring water onto the shoes. Almost magically, the water slid right off, giving me great hope of success in the final test — the first rain of the season.

    Not surprisingly, my shoes stayed extremely dry in the rain. I didn’t waterproof the part of the shoe between each lace, which caused water to seep through a bit. Conclusively, waterproofing your shoes with beeswax will change your life.