Canvas is a coarse material made from hemp that has a variety of uses including making sailboat sails, tents, painting canvasses and tennis shoes. The canvas shoe is a basic style of tennis shoe or sneaker. It has a simple construction with a canvas upper and rubber sole. Canvas shoes may be found in the high or low top variety and these days are available in almost every color. The canvass shoes made for children may have cute designs on them as well. On the down side, canvas shoes do not have good shock absorption, padding or support and are not suitable for the more intense sports and activities.

If you want to run, do aerobics, play tennis or any other sports you will need to spend a little more and purchase an athletic shoe and save the canvas shoes for bumming around or hitting the beach. Canvas shoes are fun, casual, versatile and very inexpensive. You can usually buy a decent pair for fewer than twenty bucks and a high quality pair in the $30 range.

Canvas shoes are low maintenance and easy to care for. First of all it is a good idea to protect your canvas shoes before wearing them for the first time by applying a waterproof spray on them. Canvas shoes can easily be thrown in the washing machine when they become dirty. You can easily remove any surface dirt from the sole or sides of the shoe with a slightly damp cloth. If the shoes are caked in mud simply allow them to dry completely then smack the shoes against the sidewalk to remove the majority of the mud before tossing them into the washing machine. It is a good idea to remove the laces and either toss them in the washer with the canvas shoes or hand-wash them. Canvas shoes can easily be hung up on a line to air dry. They should be ready to wear in less than a day.

Sometimes canvas shoes lose their natural shape becoming stretched or distorted. This can be caused by improperly putting them on and off, such as leaving the laces tied and pulling them over the heel each time or by the way we walk in them. Often people lean more weight on one side of their shoe or the other and this could potentially serve to wear down the sole or heel of a shoe and cause the upper to be over stretched. To remedy this problem, use shoetrees (which can be purchased at most department and fine shoe stores) or pack the toes of your shoes with newspaper to help them regain their original shape after washing. Always remember to tie up your laces and be sure to buy them in the correct size (to large and you may trip on them and too short and you will not be able to tie them easily). Another thing to remember is that shoelaces need to be replaced once in occasionally. A new set of laces can make your canvas shoes look like brand new.