How To: Clean and Care for Leather Shoes

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With ‘Spring Weather’ right around the corner (hopefully) I thought I’d do a post on how to care for your leather shoes, and in particular, boots while they sit idle this summer.

Investing in quality leather boots can really save you money in the long run as long as you care for them. They are also much easier to keep looking nice longer because scratches and scrapes can easily be eliminated.

I cleaned my boots up for storage last week. And yet, here is Saturday morning’s weather:

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BEFORE:

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SUPPLIES:

Saddle Soap and Black and Brown Shoe Polish were the items I purchased for this endeavor. It cost me about $20 total because I decided to invest in the kit, since it will last a while, and when you move out you realize that things like q-tips and shoe polish were luxuries you never appreciated. (Thanks, Mom & Dad).

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PROCESS:

First wipe off excess dirt, then open the saddle soap and with a damp cloth, put a generous amount of saddle soap on the rag and proceed to work it into the leather of your boots.

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Next, wipe off any excess saddle soap with a clean section of your damp cloth. Here is a comparison of just the saddle soap (on the right) vs. no treatment. What a difference and I hadn’t even put shoe polish on yet!

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Now, when applying shoe polish, remember to test a small section maybe in the back or inside of your boot to make sure you like the color of the polish. Black and brown are pretty self explanatory but beige and blue can be more difficult to match up. I used the sponge applicator that came in my kit, but you could use a cloth if you like that better. I found that you have to be generous with the polish in the creases because it will wipe out more easily when you buff them.

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Let the polish dry entirely before using a dry cloth to wipe off excess polish and buff to your preferred shine 🙂

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FINISHED PRODUCT!

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Here’s one more trans-seasonal outfit inspiration. I put all my Winter coats away so I substituted my black rain coat with a blanket scarf that was still out of hibernation and my newly shined brown boots 🙂

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Hope you all have a good and WARM week!

Keep on keeping on,

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6 Replies to “How To: Clean and Care for Leather Shoes”

  1. It was snowing this past weekend in Central PA, too! Soooo nice and Spring-like. *cough* I actually really like polishing my shoes (nerd) but I need to get some saddle soap now! That looks like it made a huge difference and I’m all for making quality items last longer. 🙂

    1. Hi Hannah! I know, I’d like to say I’m surprised about April snow showers but I’m just not, haha! I like polishing my boots too, I just have to get in the mood lol
      Thanks for reading!
      -Taylor

  2. I’ve never used saddle soap or show polish. What a difference! Do you happen to know if it’ll work on *ahem* not real leather? I’ve never been able to afford real leather anything.
    PS. Are those your husbands big ol’ man hands? is he showing you how to use saddle soap? Cause that sounds just about like my life.

    1. Hi Bethany,
      I’m pretty sure you could use these products on synthetic leather, maybe test an unnoticable spot first though. And yes, my husband cleaned up and protected his work boots at the same time I was cleaning mine so he helped me while I took pictures 😉
      Thanks for reading!
      -Taylor

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