What deserves a big care-for-guide is definitely leather care. Looking after your leather shoes or garments is very important. By doing so you could significantly extend the life of your shoes! Since a comfortable and cool looking pair of shoes might be a rare thing to find, it’s absolutely worth your time and efforts to invest in caring for them.
Let’s dive straight in!
In winter leather boots are here to keep your feet warm and dry. But the shoes themselves can get quite wet and dirty. Place them on a soft cloth or towel and take a horsehair brush to give the leather some light buffing and try to remove any loose dirt or salt particles. Once finished with the brush take a damp rag to wipe your shoes to get rid of the remaining dirt. Then let it dry for about 10 mins. The next step is an important one, and you will need a good leather conditioner or balm. It’s very important to condition the shoes regularly, as the biggest damage to the shoes is dryness. Once the leather dries out it easily gets cracks and tears, which can’t be repaired or reversed.
Before you use the balm or conditioner do a spot-test somewhere hidden, to see whether the balm wouldn’t darken the leather too much. With dark shoes it might not be a problem at all if you have beige or light coloured shoes, it’s safer to try it out first.
Pour the conditioner/balm onto the second rag and rub it on the leather, rather circling and without rubbing hard. Depending on the condition of your boots you might need 2-3 applications. When the leather stop soaking in and the shoes begin to get damp, this is when you know that the job is done. Wipe off any excess balm and let boots dry for 20 mins. Then let them rest for about 12 hours, and finally give them a rub with another dry rag.
It is recommended to brush the dirt off leather boots once a week and to condition them every 3 months to keep them in shape.
When you finished the process of conditioning the shoes, it’s up to polishing them. Here, you can use a wax-based polish. Wrap the soft rag around two fingers and dip them into the wax. Apply the polish onto the leather using small, circular motions. After, do a quick buffing using the horsehair brush until the boots are shiny. The advantage of the wax-based polish is that it gives shine to your shoes and additional protection against salt and moisture.
