Give your leather shoes a longer life with these tricks!
We love leather shoes. Cute boots for the ladies and neat leather shoes for the men; they’re always stylish and elegant. Unfortunately, leather is pretty vulnerable and scratches and dull spots are quick to appear. With the tips below you can keep your leather shoes smooth and supple, and you will be able to enjoy them for years to come.
Your leather shoes will be as good as new
Cleaning
Clean the shoes with a dry, soft cloth, like a microfiber cloth. Rub the dirt and mud from the shoe as best you can. Make sure you remove all of the big pieces of dirt. Then, clean your shoes with a cleaning product. You can use a leather spray or a different product made specifically for cleaning leather. Always use a cloth or a soft brush to rub this in. Be careful, because you don’t want to create any more scratches. Don’t use sponges because these can dry out the leather.
Salt
Do you have salt or brine stains on your shoes? Use a mixture of two parts water and one part vinegar. Carefully rub this mixture onto the stains using a soft cloth. You do have to grease the leather afterwards, because you not only remove the salt but also the layer of grease or wax when you use this mixture.
Polish
To make sure the shoes get back to their original shine and suppleness, you have to polish them regularly. Do this about every month (assuming you wear them almost every day – if this isn’t the case, you can polish them less often). Take out the laces and put them aside. Use a leather conditioner to make the leather supple again. After using the conditioner, use some shoe polish. Make sure the shoe polish is the same colour as the shoes or transparant. To make sure your shoes have the best shine ever, get a cotton cloth and stretch it by pulling both sides at the same time. Then use the stretched cloth to polish the shoes and you’ll notice they’ll start to shine.
Maintenance
If you want your leather shoes to look good for as long as possible, it’s best to regularly spray it with an impregnation spray that’s suited for leather. That way, you’ll keep moisture and filth at a distance. Also make sure you let your shoes rest regularly to let them dry. Use newspapers or shoe trees to ensure the shoes keep their shape. Putting your shoes away for a longer time? Make sure they’re completely clean before you do so and store them in a pillow case so they can ‘breathe’. If you store them in a plastic bag they’ll become ugly.
Read more: She puts bags filled with water in her shoes and the reason is genius! You have to try this!
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Source: WikiHow | Image: pxhere