• Find an old pair of pointe shoes that you have worn out (no longer usable for pointe work). • Remove the liner (if there is one, keep it). • Begin to pull the shank away from the sole. • When you get to a nail, try to remove as much of the shank from around it as possible. Then use pliers to bend and yank at the nail. Sometimes they come out really easily with no tools necessary. • Do this to all the nails (make sure that you remove all of them so as not to injure your feet). Sometimes the nails inside the box come out easier, so you can pry the shank off with your fingers. • Shake the shoe over a trash can and pick out poky, sharp glue. • If you had a liner in the shoe in the first place, put it back in and press it into place. This will keep the dried glue and extra debris inside the shoe from hurting you. Repeat with other shoe and wear in dance class!