The right shoe care can extend the life of your shoes enormously. In this article, we reveal the most important shoe care tips for leather and textile shoes. We need our shoes every day. They are one of the clothes that we need the most. Sometimes you can leave the house without a jacket or scarf but never without shoes. Even for the beach we have shoes. So it is important to first have the right shoes for us and second to take good care of them. We show you how you can keep them longer alive and how to deal with your sports betting.
With the right care, you can slow down the signs of wear and tear on your shoes and prevent them from breaking down unnecessarily quickly.
In this article, we have compiled the best shoe care tips for leather and textile shoes. These tips are easier to follow than you might have expected. If you have further question you can always consult a cobbler.
General shoe care tips
- Undo the laces when you put your shoes on or take them off. This way, nothing will tear. You can also use a shoehorn.
- Depending on the quality of the shoes, they will last for different lengths of time. However, if something breaks, you shouldn’t throw them straight in the bin: Shoemakers can often repair them, for example with a new sole.
Shoe care for leather shoes
Shoe care tip: Leather shoes in particular should be cared for thoroughly and regularly.
Leather shoes require special care. With these tips, the valuable material will last longer:
- Suitable shoe trees ensure that the leather stays smooth and in shape in the long term when you’re not wearing them.
- You should waterproof newly purchased leather shoes. You can waterproof them once or twice without hesitation, then again if you notice that the shoes are becoming water-permeable.
The basic rule when using impregnating agents is: Less is more. The less you use, the better, because there is no such thing as an ecological and completely biodegradable waterproofing spray. In many cases, waterproofing sprays are not even necessary. Instead, you can also impregnate smooth leather shoes with white or colourless wax (for example, with wax residue):
- Place the leftover wax in an old screw-top jar on the radiator, for example, or heat it in the jar or an old tin in a water bath on the cooker. The warm liquid wax can be better absorbed into the leather and is easier to spread.
- Rub the outside of your shoes evenly with a small cloth. Don’t forget the soles too.
- Last but not least, polish the shoes. To do this, take a polishing brush and brush the polish in gently and quickly.
You can find chemical products here:
- Drying leather shoes: If the shoes get wet, let them dry slowly and never directly on heat sources such as radiators. Otherwise the leather will become brittle. Instead, stuff the shoes with old newspaper and leave them like this for at least 24 hours.
- Plan breaks between wears: In general, you should not wear leather shoes for too many days in a row. After a day’s wear, they need around 24 hours to release moisture again. So change your shoes from time to time.
- Clean leather shoes: Wash your smooth leather shoes if they are very dirty. You can wash the outside of your shoes with lukewarm water and leather soap (available from specialist retailers). If they are not too dirty, you should only wipe them with a damp cloth.
- Grease leather shoes: You should apply cream to your smooth leather shoes after washing or cleaning them. Use a brush (or water and soap or a cloth as described) to remove the coarsest dirt. Depending on the type of leather and colour, you will need a different shoe polish. Ask a shoe shop for advice. After applying the polish, polish the shoes again as described above.
Care for textile shoes
Shoe care tip: Always undo the laces when you take your shoes off.
Follow these tips for textile shoes:
- You should waterproof your textile shoes even more often than leather shoes. Ökotest found two test winners whose ingredients, although not flawless, were better than the other test products. You can find them (Erdal and Imprägnol) on Amazon, for example.
- You should use a textile brush or a damp cloth to remove dirt. Once the shoes have dried, it’s best to re-impregnate them.
- By the way, you can wash trainers in the washing machine – but this doesn’t work for all shoes, only for models made of synthetic, natural materials or rubber. In general, however, you should be careful and, if in doubt, use curd soap, lukewarm water and a cloth.
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