Leather and Boot Care
I bought a brand new leather wrist cuff at a #PrideMonth event last week. It’s a deep brown with buckles and rings and stuff and ooh, I love it! The first thing I did when I got it home though was clean it. WHY CLEAN SOMETHING THAT’S BRAND NEW? Just because leather shoes, cuffs, belts, and what have you are […]
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I got to revive a couple of nice Bass tassel loafers this past weekend. They’re identical pairs except one is black and the other burgundy. Since they’re made of smooth leather I gave them a bit of a shine after the standard cleaning and conditioning. BEFORE STEPS Clean with Saddle soap Condition – I’m trying a different product this time: […]
Read moreDon’t think conditioner is just for your shoes and boots. Belts, bags, watch bands, and many other leather items you own can benefit from routine leather cleaning and conditioning. You don’t have to go crazy and condition your stuff every two weeks or anything… but if you see that your watch band is drying out or your bag is looking […]
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These are lightly worn, eight year old smooth leather combat boots. They’ve been polished all over with a wax polish but have never been conditioned. That’s two mistakes that makes these boots goners. Note the peeled-away leather in the first picture and the significant cracking in the second. These boots would probably still look good if: They were periodically cleaned […]
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Here’s a pair of 5+ year old Johnston and Murphy men’s black oxfords. They’re very well kept, right down to the wood shoe stretcher inside each shoe. All these oxfords needed was a quick clean-condition-shine to remove some scuffs and dust. The black and white image helps show the scuffs a bit better than a color image… Here’s a detail […]
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So, last week I was so pissed off at Red Wing Shoe store because, even though they’ve been available for months, my local store decided not to carry women’s Iron Rangers I went to DSW and spent a lot of money. Besides Steve Madden Ciomi Combat Boots (maybe a later post) I bought these extremely comfortable Børn Binn wing tips […]
Read moreCounter? Vamp? Welt? Huh?? No, they’re not fancy words from some cheesy romance novel. Well… maybe they are… BUT, they’re also some terms used to describe the anatomy of a boot. See the picture and definitions below for more detail. Counter – Stiff material at the rear of the boot that helps maintain shape and strengthens the boot. […]
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Here’s some US military boot history… Before the “Two buckle boot” came into service later in the war, foot soldiers and others in the US Army during WWII wore the “Service Shoe” covered by a set of leggings. The Service Shoe, more of a low boot than a shoe, went through various evolutions to increase wear length, to reduce the […]
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Have a pair of boots that needs a bit of spiff but you’re running out the door? If you already have a shoeshine brush with some previously used polish on it (of the same color!) you should be good to go! Just lightly mist, or add a few drops of water to the brush and buff the boots especially on […]
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Not everyone is into cleaning their cleats, but if YOU are here’s an amazingly fast way to get scuffs and stains off of plastic and vinyl (man made material) cleats: Invest in a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, which is about $2 or $3 and available in a food market. Lightly dampen the “Eraser” and gently rub over the stains. Repeat […]
Read moreUse neutral shoe polish for the areas that may come into contact with you clothes. Keep your socks and pants stain-free by using neutral instead of a color polish on the inside leather shoe elements such as the tongue and on the flip side of the eyelets. This also works great for boot shafts.
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If you don’t want to wait for your Chucks to dry from the washer you can use a product like Mr. Clean MagicEraser with a little bit of water to clean the non-fabric areas. Then wear right away!
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This 40 second video shows you how to clean grime and sweat off of a suede coat collar. The steps are pretty universal so they can apply to just about anything made of Suede or Nubuck.
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An old, dirty pair of work boots, like these: …can be brought back to life in 3 steps: Wash off most of the dirt with a mild soap (Dawn) and water Remove the laces and clean well with saddle soap Condition with a conditioner such as Huberd’s or a Cream Polish such as Meltonian OPTIONAL The rest of the steps […]
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