Tired of wearing the same old crocs as others? Well, no more. Say goodbye to the boring regular crocs and customize them however you like. Now you may wonder if it is actually as easy as it sounds to customize crocs. The answer is yes, you can and there is more than one way to do that.
Ways to Customize Your Crocs
There are basically two ways to get a pair of customized crocs. One, you can either buy a fully customized pair or, two; you can customize them yourself using different charms, bling, paints, etc. The second would give it a more personal touch whereas the 1st one would save you time and effort.
1. Customize Crocs Online
There are several options out there for those who don’t want to go through the hassle of customizing their crocs themselves and would rather buy a fully pre-customized one. So, we tried to shortlist the options with brief details downwards.
Charms All The Way
Charms are probably the easiest ways to accessories or customize crocs mostly because they are really easy to work with. Besides, they are available almost everywhere.
To brief you further, you can find different types of charms from the official website of Crocs. They are listed by categories such as symbols and sayings, plants and animals, food, multipack, characters, sports, around the world, and more. They also have various holiday specials that are available around the holidays. And, most importantly there are different types of price ranges as well for you to choose from.
As for the types, they have mainly three types of charms. One, the original Jibbitz charms that you can just pop on the shoes. Then, they have the clip-on ones for shoes with no holes and lastly the ties that you can loop or swoop around anything. An interesting feature of this online shop is that they let you personalize your crocs in simple three steps. Pick your charms, place them on the crocs and click finish to place your order.
You can also buy charms from joom.com. Their charms are more random and they don’t have any special categories for the charms so you might have to scroll through the items to find what you’re looking for.
Online Artists To The Help
Another great way to get customized crocs online is hiring a local online artist who does customize and personalize shoes. This is a bit different than getting customized shoes from a website. On most websites, you need to state specifically what kind of customization you want. However, in this case, you can just tell them what type of look or vibe you want to go with.
In most cases, the artists listen to your ideas and combine them with their own to create something even better so there are always some elements of surprise. On top of that, you may even get in touch with them from time to time to monitor the whole process and implement your own little ideas here and there.
Now finding such an artist in your locality may be a little hard sometimes. Social networking platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, etc are great to find local artists as most of them operate their work on these platforms.
Etsy
Etsy is an online site where you can buy pre-customized crocs easily. The shoes are already ready-made so you can’t make any further changes. So it’s basically just like buying brand new shoes but not the regular boring ones that you see on everyone’s feet.
If you are not keen on spending time or effort on customizing but still want a cool pair of crocs, Etsy is the place for you.
2. Customize Crocs Yourself (DIY)
Now let’s look at some ways you can customize your crocs all by yourself! A heads up – these methods will require a decent amount of your time and effort at the very least. Besides, you will also need to buy the supplies used unless you own them already.
Before starting, here is a guide on DIY basket liner. You may also like it.
So, without further ado, let’s get into it!
Customize Crocs With Dye/ Paints
The first method everyone thinks of while customizing crocs themselves is using dyes and paints. But in reality, it’s a bit trickier than it sounds. Traditional fabric paints and dyes don’t stick to the rubbery materials of these shoes. Spray paints aren’t effective either as they break or chip away at a very short time. So, the only effective way to use paint on crocs is by hydro dipping. The procedure of hydro dipping can be a bit tricky so we are going to be explaining it in a few steps.
–Preparing The Shoes
Rub off the surface of the shoes with some acetones to remove any dirt and dust. Then let it air dry properly. After they are thoroughly dried off, tape the areas that you don’t want painting. As for the buttons and the straps, use a knife to cut the outlines to keep those neat.
–Preparing Water With Paints
Fill a basin or a small tub with water. Now for the paints, you can use standard acrylic or latex spray paint. However, it’s better to not mix the brands. Apply the paint to the surface of the water and move them around to create your desired design.
–Dipping
And finally, dip the shoes inside the tub to apply the paint to the shoe surface. Keep it submerged for a minute then take it out. Repeat the process for the other shoe as well. You will need to prepare the paint again if you are using the same basin for both shoes. After they are done, air dry them and then spray them with some fixative. And, you’re done!
Customize Crocs With Bling
Now, as they say, “Bring the bling”. Bling on crocs creates an edgier and girly look. And, if that’s your thing, go for it. Here, you are going to need some E6000 glue, syringe, bling, tweezers, and sandpaper.
First of all, wipe the shoes to remove dirt and dust and sand down the areas you are going to work on slightly. This helps the bling stones to stick to the surface. Otherwise, they just start falling off. You can also use acetone instead of sanding them down. Acetone removes the protective finish of the shoes that prevents the glue from sticking.
After the surface is ready, apply the glue on the surface with the syringe and stick the stones and bling however you like. Tweezers help hold the stones while working.
Customize crocs with Hydrographic film
It uses the exact same procedure as hydro dripping. However, here, we’re going to use hydrographic film instead of paints to customize the shoes. Using hydrographic film is one of the trendiest and most effective ways to customize crocs as it lets you decorate the shoes with any pictures you want.
–Preparing The Shoes
Follow the same procedure as hydro-dipping.
–Prepare The Water
Fill a basin or a small tub with tap water. Now, take the film and tape it off the side of it. After that, put the film in the water. Always make sure the side that’s touching the water is the non-printed side and there’s no moisture on the printed side. At this stage, spray the activator on the printed side and let it sit for a few minutes to dissolve before dipping the shoes.
–Dipping
Now, the fun part – dipping! It’s the same as you’d do in regular hydro-dipping.
Conclusion
Crocs are one of the most unexpected comebacks in the fashion world. This is why customizing crocs is a great idea to be in the trend and still be unique. If you are hesitant and not exactly sure about the customization idea, then charms are the best option for you. On the other hand, for long term investments, hydro-dipping is the better option.