How to Label School Shoes

Are you looking for the best way to label school shoes? 

1. You may have a child going off to boarding school and you need to label his or her shoes
2. Or perhaps you need to make sure your child’s shoes are marked

When I was about 8 years old, I left home for school with my school uniform and a sports kit. Only to return with neither. I had changed into casual clothing after sports and placed both my uniform and sports kit into my bag. We never recovered them. Years later, I frequented the lost property and recovered several items that I had misplaced. The key difference? It came down to labelling the shoes just right.

Regardless of why you are looking for a way to label your child’s school shoes, you will need to find ingenious inconspicuous ways to do so. It is pretty easy for school shoes to go missing, especially when the classroom is a busy one. There are various types of labels on the market, you will need to know which ones make sense for your child’s shoes. They come in different shapes and colours. They will do well to put a smile on your child’s face when they see their name marked on their shoes. 

Labels are made by different manufacturers to appeal to children of different age groups, all while being functional at the same time. You can get them as stickers, shoestring labels, personalized stick-on dots, iron-on labels, waterproof labels and so much more. They all serve the same purpose, to help the child identify their shoes. However, they are made with different wearers and environments in mind.

In a Hurry?

Are you in a hurry and want to know which labels to look for? Heres a quick guide. Labels are made for different types of shoes. You need to look for labels that match the shoes your child will be wearing. This, of course, depends on the type of label you will get. You want to get a durable label. It should have some protective cover of some sort, that allows the child to wear the shoe without the label wearing off. If you were to look on the inside of any shoe, anything printed on the inside will fade off after a few wears. The point of getting a label is so that your child can identify the shoes easily. But this will be of no use if the label has worn off.  It also helps to get labels that can withstand water and weather elements. If you will be getting a label that sticks on the insole of the shoe then you need to make sure that the sizes are compatible. We have done our research and found some of the top picks on the market.

Recommended Products

Our Favourite

EZ Kids Clothing Labels Self-Stick No-Iron Write-On

One of the main things that we look for in clothing labels is their ease of use. This is what EZ stand for. These labels are foolproof. They are produced in the USA. The material used is a type of polyester that is designed with durability in mind. The manufacturer ensured that the finish would sit subtly on any material that it is placed on. It is this finish that allows you to write directly onto the label. What we found to be impressive about these labels is that even when you use a regular pen with regular ink, they do not fade away easily. Once the ink has dried up, it takes a while for it to come off. That makes your shoes safe in school. They are unlikely to come into contact with water, which leaves fewer things that can erase the label. 

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Avery No-Iron Fabric Labels

Avery is another great pick for labels. They are designed for fabric. We can confirm that this does not diminish their performance when it comes to shoes. They allow you the option of writing directly onto the label. Once that is done, you would simply peel the label and stick it onto the desired surface. You will also be pleased to know that the label is safe to be placed in a washing machine and dryer without falling apart. This is less relevant when it comes to school shoes, seeing as most of us will not be putting them in a washing machine or a dryer. The ink may start to fade after several washes. At which point, you would simply have to rewrite it. This is a label that works on shoes are other surfaces as well.

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Stick ‘n Wash No-Iron Self Adhesive Name Labels

No one likes the idea of having to sew a label onto clothing. Well, when it comes to shoes this is not much of an option anyway. That is one of the things that the Stick ‘n Wash No-Iron self-adhesive name labels highlight. It is a feature that they share with others on our list. Each pack is sold with either 30, 60 or 120 labels. That gives you a reasonable number of labels to choose from depending on how many things you have to label. The label is designed to be stuck existing labels on clothes or on the inside of a shoe. The insole sees a lot more friction, so I would advise placing it on the upper part of the shoe. There is room to write three lines of text on each label. 

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Lil’ Labels Clothing Labels

Our final pick shares the same features as the other options on our list. It does not require an iron to get it to stick on a surface. If you guessed that it can be washed and ironed without affecting the label, you are absolutely right. The nature of the peel and stick labels is that they are versatile. You can use them on most of your possessions. The going wisdom is to permit 24 hours before washing when you have just labelled it. This gives it time for the ink to settle and become somewhat permanent. You are encouraged to use a felt-tip permanent marker. The surprising thing about this label is that the long you leave it stuck on a surface the more difficult it is to remove. 

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MINE Textile Stamp

The stamp is a simple way to label shoes and all sorts of textiles. There is a white thermal ribbon that is ideal for darker fabrics. The process is slow to get going in comparison to the write and stick option that the others offer. There are a total of 216 characters included. You have a tweezer that is to be used to place the letters. This stamp allows you to personalise the name and label for your child’s shoes. It comes with an ink pad that covers up to 1000 stampings.

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How to use it: What others say

So my little boy is starting reception in September
 and I'm feeling very emotional about it. But
 anyway, I've sorted out all of his uniform
 and obviously I've got to label it because
 it costs a freaking fortune. So I'm going
 to show you what I've got. They're all off
 of a website called Easy2Name, I'll put the
 link down below. It's literally the top thing
 in Google, so that's just what I ordered.
 The first thing that I got was like quite
 a basic thing that everyone probably had when
 they were children as well, it is the iron
 on name strips. So they just come in strips
 and I've cut them up and you can obviously
 iron them onto the clothing. With these ones,
 in some of the more expensive items of clothes,
 like the blazer and things like that, I have
 also stitched round just for extra security.
 These are the kind of labels that I've been
 using for ages in his nursery clothes and
 preschool clothes already.
 I've got a few of these credit card things
 that show their name. They're perfect for
 like their gym bag and things like that and
 I also see a lot of children will have that,
 but then also have a big key chain of like
 a minion or you know some sort of stuffed
 animal key chain, so that they can easily
 identify their bag. I really like that. You
 could choose from different little icons.
 I just chose footballs, but for girls there
 was like flowers and princesses and all kinds
 of different things.
 Also got something that I'm very excited about
 and I sound like a real geek now. Got a stamp
 with his name on it and it's basically a fabric
 stamp, so it will stamp his name onto any
 item of clothing that I want it to or onto
 anything. I've used it to stamp his name onto
 his lunch box as well. You can use it on paper,
 you can use it on labels, you can use it on
 fabric you use on anything. It's completely
 washable, so once you stamp something, the
 ink is going to stay on it.
 From my little tests of what I've done so
 far, I've stamped onto papers and labels very
 easily, more easily than it does to fabric.
 But if you had an item of clothing that you
 wanted to stamp on the fabric, you could,
 as long as you stand two or three times. This
 is great because it's so quick for us moms,
 it's just like stamp, done. I'm literally
 going stamp crazy around the house.
 Also, if someone did pick up the wrong item
 of clothing or if someone wanted the wrong
 item of clothing, I'm not saying that's going
 to happen at his school at this age, but you
 could easily cut out a tag or un-sew a tag,
 couldn't you? But if this stamp was stamped
 right onto the fabric, it'll be really hard
 to say that, that was your item of clothing.
 So I don't know, I just liked it. I'm even
 going to stamp his shoes. I'm just going to
 go stamp crazy.
 And labels for his Tupperware and lunchbox
 and things like that. You can get these, but
 my son is also allergic to peanuts, so I got
 the allergic to peanuts ones. I've got the
 no nuts ones, yeah. So it's like, "Fraser
 Norris. I am allergic to peanuts." It's also
 dishwasher safe. You don't have to worry about
 these coming off in the dishwasher. So I just
 thought that they were really handy as well.
 I hope you'd like some of these ideas and
 it wasn't completely boring. There are so
 many labels that you can get nowadays. It's
 crazy, you can get special shoe ones. You
 can get special sock ones, you can get all
 kinds of different… Like just ones that
 stick on like sticky tape. They looked really
 good, but then I decided to get the stamp
 over those, but yeah.

Buyer’s Guide

There are different ways that you can label your child’s shoe. There are several factors you need to consider when you are looking for the perfect labels. 

Why is a shoe label so important?

When you are looking for a school uniform for your child, you will notice that the shoes are usually the most expensive. This means they are also the most annoying to replace when they get lost. You want to avoid your child from losing them. However, sometimes it is easier said than done. School shoes are often taken on and off for different reasons. Kids have different activities they engage in at school, that require them to remove their shoes. When the activities are done, the child has to put the shoes back on and sometimes this is where the possibility of losing a shoe comes in. t can be difficult to identify whose shoe is whose because school shoes are the same. Even if your child is careful, it is easy to confuse identical shoes. This is when you will need to have a good means of identification. It is also wise to make sure shoes are not swapped for hygienic reasons. 

What to look for in a good shoe label?

There are a few factors that will influence the type of label you buy.  For example, look for a label that is made of quality vinyl and sticks well. These are two very important factors to think about. The shape of the label needs to offer the least resistance and allow the sticker to stay in place for the longest period. Stickers with an oval shape or rounded corners are usually the best. 

It may sound like a nonentity, but the font size and how it is written is important. The child needs to be able to read the label. The design should also allow all the necessary details to be on it, such as a phone number. Some manufacturers also sell the labels with clear covers. Thes will help protect the label.  

Does the type of shoe matter when choosing a label?

Some labels are made to fill out the shoe’s insole. It is important if you are getting this type of shoe label, that you know the dimensions of the shoe. An easy way to do this is to take the insole of the child’s school shoe. Match it with the label and this way you know that the label will fit the shoe. If you are buying a label for a shoe to be worn in any season with water or moisture then you must get a label that can withstand water. Look for waterproof versions. 

What type of labels do I get if my child can not read yet?

You can help your child along by getting labels in hos or her favourite colour. Before your child can read, they can identify colours and objects. You can use labels with a particular colour. Say your child likes the colour yellow, you can put yellow stickers with the child’s name on them, on everything the child owns including school shoes. Your child will associate the colour with the shape of letters spelling out his or her name. With time, the child will recognize the sticker and what it spells out.

Final Thoughts

The best school shoe labels will help your child keep track of his or her shoes. Help your child by getting an easily recognizable label. We hope that our top picks help you find the best way to label your child’s shoes. Happy shopping!