How to clean shoes 🥝 from leather at home

Not all owners of beautiful leather shoes know how to properly care for it and which cleaning method is most preferable. Of course, brushes, flannel or woolen rags are best suited for caring for leather products, but wet shoe shine will not hurt, especially if you use shoes for daily wear. From our article you will learn how to wash and wash leather shoes (sneakers and boots) with water from dirt that has been eaten up so as not to deform it and return the pristine appeal, gloss and cleanliness to your favorite shoes. After all, shoes polished to a shine look much more attractive.

to contents ↑

Can I wash leather shoes?

When buying shoes in the store, take care of shoe care products. Fortunately, every shoe store offers related products - from cream jars, stretchers, foam to sprays and special deodorants that effectively remove odor. The appearance of the shoes will look presentable much longer if you take care of the means to care for them. After all, uncleaned shoes quickly deteriorate and render it unusable.

However, if with daily wear the shoes have lost their former gloss and originality, then use wet cleaning - both outside and inside the product. Wipe your shoes with a damp cloth from dust, do not rush to water it.

Important! Manufacturers of leather shoes categorically forbid washing products in a washing machine. In addition, to clean leather products, you can not use detergents, bleaches and stain removers. When treated with such aggressive agents, even the best elastic skin is strongly deformed, and the consequences of such cleaning can be deplorable: one pair of shoes can stretch very much, and the other - on the contrary, will become tight. But these recommendations can be circumvented a little, if you take into account the quality of your couple directly. As practice shows, if you approach this process wisely, it is quite possible wash shoes in a washing machine.

Leather shoes can only be washed by hand using the following tools and materials:

• Special sponge or soft cloth.
• Soap.
• Water.
• Ammonia.

to contents ↑

Rules for washing leather shoes

Before embarking on a clean-up, carry out the preparatory phase:

1. Shoes carefully inspect and check its integrity. The shoes should not have any easily lagging parts.
2. Remove the insoles and laces.
3. Clean your shoes from dust and dirt with a brush or unnecessary rags.
4. Remove dirt and pebbles from the sole.

Wash technology

Wash products as follows:

1. Wash genuine leather shoes with a soapy soft cloth. To thoroughly clean the “little animals”, use a solution of ammonia. Add 5-6 drops of ammonia to the soap solution.
2. Clean the insoles with a brush and soapy water.
3. Wash the laces with washing powder or soap.
4. At the end of the washing, dry the leather products in a well-ventilated room: in warm time - on the balcony, in cold time - near special electric dryers.

Finish protection

After drying, the shoes must be treated with special means to protect them from moisture and dirt. For this:

1. Handle shoes special water repellentwith castor oil, for example, or apply mink fat and let it soak.
2. Apply good shoe polish to the surface of the products. If the shoes are new, then you can limit yourself to colorless cream.
3. Faded shoes refresh cream with a tone slightly lighter than shoes.
4. Polish your shoes to a shine with velvet or a piece of velvet fabric.

to contents ↑

How to clean shoes from dirt inside?

If cleaning shoes from the outside does not cause any particular difficulties, then putting them in order from the inside can be difficult. Use the following tips and tricks to clean your shoes from dirt inside:

1. Use an old toothbrush (preferably with stiff bristles) and a mild detergent solution to wipe the dirt from the inside. Rub the insoles carefully and neatly, the main thing is not to be too zealous.
2. Wipe the inside of the shoe regularly (once a week) with ammonia solution (1 teaspoon of alcohol per 1 liter of water). This procedure will not only save the appearance of the shoes, but also save them from the unpleasant odor.
3. To clean the insoles made of thin skin, use a baby cream. First, with a slightly damp rag or sponge, remove dust and heavy dirt from the inside of the shoe, and then apply a thin layer of regular baby cream and rub it into contaminated areas. Wipe off the rest of the cream with a dry cloth, leave the shoes to dry. The inner surface of the shoes will become not only clean, but also soft.
4. Use a regular shaving cream to clean the textile inside of the shoes. Shoe masters recommend using shaving foam for this purpose: gently apply the product inside the shoe, and after 30 minutes remove the contaminated foam with a cloth.
5. To clean the shoes from dirt inside, if dirt is persistent, trycarpet readers. After processing leather insoles with this product, be sure to soften the inside with baby cream.
6. Use a special skin foam to clean the inside of the shoe. suede. The tool perfectly cleans the insoles.

Important! When caring for the inside of the shoes, be sure to take care of your feet at the same time, as they tend to sweat and get dirty.

to contents ↑

How to remove a bad smell?

The smell that appeared over time in shoes may be due to the following reasons:

• The material of the shoe is poor-quality and does not breathe well.
• Shoes are tight.
• Feet sweating a lot.

All these reasons lead to the fact that the inside of the shoes absorbs an infinitely unpleasant odor, and you just want to wash your leather shoes.

To get rid of the smell:

1. Ventilate the shoes as often as possible.
2. Be sure to dry your shoes after wearing.
3. Treat the inside of the shoe with a weak solution of potassium permanganate, vinegar, or hydrogen peroxide.
4. Use soda or salt for light shoes. Pour soda (salt) into the shoes for a day, and then shake it out, remove the rest with a rag or vacuum cleaner.
5. Use special ultraviolet dryers - they dry your shoes very quickly, and they also kill all kinds of bacteria and fungi.
6. Wear socks only from natural fabrics, as synthetics only exacerbate the situation.
7. Choose shoes made of genuine leather only. The inside of the shoes should also be made of natural materials.
8. Use special deodorants for shoes that effectively remove odors. Also, do not forget about deodorants for the legs to get rid of the cause of the smell.

Important! Be sure to deal with the causes of this phenomenon if your shoes are of good quality. We considered each of the possible in the article "Feet sweating - what to do?".

to contents ↑

Shoe Care Tips

In order for your shoes to serve you for many years and always have a perfect look, and you don’t have to wash your leather shoes often, listen to the following tips:

• If the bots are dry, rub castor or vegetable oil into them, and then polish. Oil softens the skin.
• Shoes can be made practically waterproof by lubricating them several times with linseed oil along the seams. And if you want to achieve a long-term and high-quality result, but the purchase of expensive professional tools is not included in your plans, click on the link where we have collected the simplest and most effective do-it-yourself water-repellent recipes for shoes.
• Clean suede bots with the rough surface of a matchbox or a crust of stale bread.
• Brown leather shoes are perfectly cleaned with coffee grounds.
• If wet leather shoes harden, then after drying, rub them with petroleum jelly. After a few hours, clean with cream.
• Suede shoes Clean with small erasers with a regular eraser.
• Remove greasy stains on leather shoes with a solution of soda (1 teaspoon of soda in 0.5 cups of water). Rub the dirt until a foam forms, then remove the product with a soft cloth.
• To wash leather shoes and remove traces of dirt, old cream, use a special shampoo or a regular wiper. Wet the cloth with a cloth, wipe one shoe first, and then another. After - apply any fat, let it soak. Fat perfectly repels water, does not allow the skin to decompose and deform. After processing, apply cream and polish the shoes.
• Do not wear one pair of shoes every day. Assemble a “bench”, with a mode of operation, at least, “two in two”. On the “weekend” pair of shoes, put the pads inward so that the shoes do not lose their shape and do not pull their noses up.
• To model leather shoes do not lose their attractive appearance, in the rainy season, use rubber galoshes. This is the best means of protecting shoes from water.

to contents ↑

Stock footage

Today, a loud and expensive brand of shoes will not surprise anyone. Much more respect is caused by people who know how to carefully care for their shoes and prolong their original appearance for many years, regardless of the intensity and operating conditions. We hope that thanks to the information provided in the article, you will find a way to properly care for your favorite shoes, and they will delight you with their beautiful view for many years.