Most people are under the impression that all their leather shoes need is a quick shine up with shoe polish and they're good to go. However, in order to really make your footwear last, you need to do more than just the occasional shoe shine.
For example, you should give your favorite pair of leather shoes a day off every so often. The idea here is to limit their use to keep them from wearing out so soon. This also dries out there moisture and airs them out, which makes your pair of footwear last longer as well.
Tips from the Footwear Experts
- Cedar Shoetree: Get a cedar shoetree to absorb the wetness or moisture of the shoes you don't wear as regularly. You can also use that shoetree to air out your footwear after a lot of regular usage. This shoetree is also handy when it comes to keeping or maintaining the shape of your leather shoe.
- Leather Conditioner: Don't forget to use KevianClean Leather Conditioner on your shoes at least every three months. It's better than shoe polish because it doesn't merely hide the imperfections with the blackness of the polish. What's more, a leather conditioner is able to keep the glossy shine of leather shoes regardless of their color (they shine up non-black shoes).
- Drying at Room Temperature: Dry your shoes at room temperature. Make sure they're far away from your heater or fireplace, for example. The excess heat from a heater and the like can cause the leather to dry out excessively, making it brittle instead of leathery. What's more, the heat can also harm the adhesives that keep your shoe in one piece.
- Storage: It's not recommended that you store your shoes in shoe boxes for long periods. This is because prolonged shoe box storage can cause certain materials on your shoes to deteriorate, especially if you live in humid or tropical climates. It's better to store your shoes out in the open, with a nearby shoe closet of sorts available.
- Pre-Test: When applying cleaning product, shoe polish, or even leather conditioner on your shoes, err on the side of caution and do a pre-test of the chemical on an inconspicuous area of your shoe prior to applying it to the entire surface area of your shoe. The reason for this is because you want to test if the product works on your shoe and it won't ruin it.
- Shoe Cleaning: Don't just apply shoe polish on a dirty shoe. Instead, if you have full grain leathers, you should use a dry cloth to remove caked-on dirt first. Afterwards, dampen said cloth with warm water to wipe off the rest of the dirt. Don't use liquid shoe polishes on a full grain leather shoe. Instead, use the leather cream version of the polish.