How to properly clean shoes

Shoes are an essential part of our wardrobe. Without a doubt, shoes are the most important part of a man”s clothing, they are the key piece that denotes your style.

We can wear the best and most elegant of suits, but if we forget to clean our shoes our image will be spoiled, without a doubt shoes are the final touch to be elegant.

Cleaning shoes can be a cumbersome task, we give you some basic recommendations or tips:

– The first thing to do when cleaning our shoes is to place some sheets of newspaper or similar on the floor, in order to avoid staining when using products such as polishes or creams. Also make sure that your clothes are the most suitable for the job, they could be stained with any of the products mentioned.

– If your shoes have laces, the most appropriate and the first thing is to remove them so that they do not stain, and do not bother and that way we can clean much better and above all to be able to clean all the corners of our shoes.

– Once the laces have been removed, clean all visible dirt from the shoe; Make sure to clean all dirt or dust stains from the entire surface of the shoe, including the heel and sole area. To clean these stains, use a soft brush, a clean, dry cloth or cloth. If any stains persist, use a cotton cloth dipped in warm water to remove them.

If we do not clean these stains before applying the bitumen, we will only be able to cover the dirt but not remove it. For this reason, it is important to insist and not continue cleaning until the shoe is completely free of visible stains.

– Once all types of stains have been removed, a very important step is to hydrate the shoe so that the skin does not crack, use special creams for hydration. Next, we will apply a cream or a shoe polish the color of the shoe (or failing that, lighter, never darker than the color of the shoe itself), or a colorless one. The shoe polish will be applied in a circular motion until the entire shoe is evenly covered. It is advisable to apply several thin layers of shoe polish rather than a thick one, since by applying thin layers, the shoe”s skin absorbs the shoe polish little by little. Between coats it is always advisable to allow a few minutes for the bitumen to penetrate the skin well.

– Once enough layers of bitumen have been applied to perfectly cover the entire surface of the shoe, let it dry for a few minutes, and brush with a natural bristle brush. Finally, with a cotton chamois or a linen cloth, rub the entire shoe in circular movements, quickly and firmly, until they are shiny.

As you will see cleaning leather shoes is not a complicated task, the problem will lie when we have shoes made of other fabrics or materials other than leather and that will entail that we have to clean them with other products and methods.

IMPORTANT: Leather can be damaged if exposed to excessive heat. Therefore, it is not a very good idea to place your shoes near the radiator to dry them if they have gotten wet. It is advisable to fill their interior with newspaper to dry them inside and prevent them from deforming.