Shoes are an indispensable part of any modern wardrobe. They help protect your feet from the elements, among other things. The only problem is that there is nothing to protect your shoes from those same elements. Regardless of what type of footwear you are wearing, all shoes will eventually need to be thrown out, having degraded after many outings. Yet although you may not be able to avert this inevitable fate, you can certainly delay it for some time, keeping your shoes looking good as new. There are many terrific tips for taking care of your shoes, and some more obvious than others.
Yet there are almost as many aspects to keeping a pair of shoes clean, and many things that this depends upon. Moreover, you cannot simply do everything at once. Shoes need to be cleared of dirt before being wiped down; sometimes they simply need to be aired out, and sometimes they need to be washed. And, of course, how you clean your shoes depends on what type of shoes you are hoping to clean. It also helps to have a routine.
Developing a Cleaning Routine
Cleaning shoes can also become significantly more of an undertaking when you have lot of pairs to clean. Keeping every pair in good shape then requires a bit of organization and planning. If your shoe collection is comprised of a heap at the bottom of your closet, then you might find certain pairs end up neglected, with the temptation to simply opt for another pair proving just too great.
Categorizing your shoe collection is the best way to ensure you know when a certain pair are in need of a clean. The best way is to make sure that the shoes you wear most often are all in one place, and your most valuable shoes (the ones you really want to keep in top condition) having their specific spot as well.
Shoe Cleaning Tips
Once you know what shoes you have to clean and when, simply follow these tips to do it properly:
Practice Preventative Care
Get caught in the rain in suede shoes and those, no doubt expensive, kicks will very quickly lose their brand-new sheen. Had you applied a waterproof spray, on the other hand, then your prized footwear might have survived the ordeal. This is known as preventative care.
And there are many products out there to help you give your shoes that little extra protection. Sole protectors, rubber taps for pointed toes, and waterproof leather soles can all keep your new shoes looking new for longer.
Give Leather Shoes the Care They Need
This involves both leather rejuvenation and a good deal of that preventative care we just mentioned. Always apply leather cream onto dry shoes with a brush and leave them overnight. This massively extends the lifetime of leather, preventing it from cracking too soon. To bring back that new-look shine, consider buffing your shoes up with a horsehair brush.
Deodorize Your Shoes
Cleaning is just one part of proper shoe care, and it isn’t something that can be done too frequently. Fortunately, shoe deodorizers like those at Shoe Fresh exist, which can have your shoes at least smelling fresh before the next cleaning is due.
How long your shoes stay looking new will of course depend upon how often you wear them. But the good news is that the most expensive shoes you own are unlikely to be worn every day. This in itself will keep them looking new for longer, yet it still pays to know what to do when the time comes.