How to properly care for leather shoes: With these tips, it’s easy to do – Guide
Properly caring for leather shoes – leather shoes look stylish and enhance your outfit visually. Whether for the office, a meeting with your boss or a formal occasion – leather shoes should always be in top condition. Find out here what is important regarding cleaning and care for different types of leather. This way, your leather shoes will stay fresh for longer.
Different Leather Materials: Overview
Leather shoes for women or men are not always made from the same type of leather. The following types of leather can be distinguished:
- Pigmented smooth leather (surface is dyed)
- Open-pored smooth leather (e.g. aniline leather)
- Full-grain leather
- Rough leather (e.g. suede, nubuck)
When it comes to pigmented smooth leather, water simply beads off, whereas with open-pored leather, it seeps into the material and darkens it. You can recognize suede leather by the fact that small scratches disappear quickly when rubbed with a soft cloth. Rauleder also has a different structure compared to the smooth leather variants for men – the velour surface requires extra care here.
Proper care for smooth leather shoes
To ensure smooth leather shoes last a long time, they should be regularly cleaned with a soft cloth and then cared for with a thin layer of emulsion cream. This cream is best applied with a sponge. After about 15 minutes of absorption time, the shoe is then thoroughly polished with a soft polishing cloth until a beautiful shine is achieved. Twice a month, a hard wax paste followed by polishing provides even better protection and shine effect.
This is what you need to care for your smooth leather shoes:
- Soft cloth
- Emulsion cream
- Shoe polishing cloth
- Hard wax paste
Care for Sensitive Aniline Leather
With shoes made of aniline leather, the upper material is porous. This means that liquids can more easily penetrate the material, making them unsuitable for rainy days. This material can be well cared for with a special leather conditioner. For this, the conditioner is applied thinly with a soft cloth onto the leather, making it somewhat less susceptible to dirt and moisture.
Leather conditioner protects against dirt and moisture
With the right tools, every leather can be cared for:
Pull-Up Leather: Caring for Shoes Made of Fatty Leather
The fat leather was treated with colored oil or fat. Unattractive spots can be easily brushed away here. A special shoe cleaning detergent removes stubborn dirt, as well as unpleasant odors and germs. The product is applied with a cleaning brush. After drying, the material is additionally cared for and impregnated with leather fat.
The most important tools for fat leather shoes:
- Special shoe cleaning detergent
- Cleaning brush
- Leather fat
Caring for sensitive suede shoes
Suede leather such as nubuck or suede is particularly sensitive. Dirt and stains are first removed with a cleaning brush. For stubborn stains, a leather shoe detergent can be used. Classic shoe creams are prohibited for the care of suede shoes, only an impregnation product is allowed occasionally. These leather shoes are also not suitable for rainy days, as they quickly stain and lose their attractive appearance.
Important: No classic shoe creams for suede shoes
Tips: How to properly care for your leather shoes!
Whether smooth leather, aniline leather or suede leather – in addition to cleaning, it also depends on the care of the leather soles. A proper impregnation is essential here. After all, you prevent small scratches, dirt and moisture and keep your shoes in good condition for longer.
Impregnation for longer durability
A good impregnation prolongs the lifespan of leather shoes, especially when done regularly. It is particularly important in autumn, but also in spring – especially for leather shoes with an open-pored upper material. Since classic impregnation sprays often contain toxic gases, pump sprays are recommended instead, which are not harmful to health and also do not damage water organisms in the environment. The impregnation agent is simply sprayed in a thin layer directly onto the leather shoes. After that, everything must dry thoroughly before the shoes can be worn again.
Pump sprays are better than classic impregnation sprays
Do not forget the leather soles
The soles of leather shoes should also not be excluded from cleaning and care. As these are frequently in direct contact with dirt and moisture, they can dry out and become brittle over time. Small cracks and water penetration are the result.
The appropriate means for sole care is a special leather sole oil. When this is regularly applied to the soles, they last significantly longer and moisture can penetrate less.
On the first application, the oil is generously applied to the soles with a sponge until the material no longer absorbs any oil. For subsequent treatments, often just a thin layer of oil is sufficient to care for the sole optimally.
Tipp! Use leather sole oil
Stay in shape longer
To prevent the shape of leather shoes from changing after coming into contact with moisture, you can use shoe trees. These are inserted into the shoes after wearing and keep the material in its optimal shape. For high-quality leather shoes, wooden shoe trees made from natural wood material are recommended.
With impregnation spray, brush, shoe trees & Co., you can enjoy your leather shoes for longer:
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