10 Top Care Tips for Men’s Shoes

I was looking through my collection of shoes and trainers, under my bed, at my parents the other day. Some I had completely forgotten about and are a good 4 or 5 years old, yet still in excellent condition. I’ve always taken care of my shoes and trainers before I even knew what shoe trees were, I used to keep the tissue that they came in and made sure I always stuffed the shoe after use and wrapped them before putting them in back in the box. This got me thinking about writing this article, I’ve already done a similar article on how to care for women’s shoes. If you have a woman in your life, you can point her in that direction. They say that the first thing a woman looks at on a guy is his shoes, that means if you’re going to spend a lot of money or take the best care of any part of your wardrobe then it must be your shoes.

Investing a little bit more money when it comes to making a shoe purchase will mean you’ll get a more comfortable shoe as well as a wardrobe staple that will last you a good number of years. Taking the time out to care for your shoes will not only make them look good but it’ll stop the leather drying out and cracking.

While you want to clean your shoes regularly you should also condition, polish and weatherproof your shoes.

You can easily get most products needed in supermarkets or places like wilkinsons. Invest in some good quality cleaning products, you’ll need some shoe polish, leather conditioner and cleaner, a soft shoe brush, some soft cotton cloths and a leather protector.

• First brush the shoe to get any dirty off then apply the cleaner and allow to dry. Afterwards apply the conditioner to the shoe.

• Shoe polishes come in different types, the liquid types are very easy to apply and dry quickly but you maybe limited when it comes to colours. You can also get a paste which is the most messy to use. Your best option is a cream as they generally come in a large variety of colours. Apply the polish, you may want to do a colour test to make sure the polish matches first, rub in the polish and allow it to dry. Once dried shine your shoes by buffing them with a soft cloth or brush.

• Apply a weather agent spray to finish off the care process.

• If you have leather soled shoes, avoid wearing them in the rain, leather is a porous fabric so it’ll soak up the water leaving you with wet feet and soggy shoes.

• A cobbler is your best friend, whenever the soles on your shoes are wearing thin get them replaced. You may want to have a rubber sole fitted on top of a leather sole to add grip and also help them to last.

• Wearing different shoes on alternative days will help them dry out and last longer as well as keeping them fresh!

• Invest in some shoe trees, they fit inside the shoe to help keep their shape and can avoid any nasty creasing from appearing on the shoe. High quality shoe trees are usually made from a solid wood which give the added benefits of absorbing moisture and odours from the shoes.

• Patent shoes can easily be cleaned by wiping them down with a damp wet cloth. You can also borrow your girlfriend’s face wipes as these also do a really good job to keeping that shine.

• Suede shoes will need some different products for cleaning, invest in a suede block to remove any scuffs or dirt marks on the shoes. You may want to get a suede brush to keep them looking neat and a suede protector to save them from the elements.

• For exotic skinned shoes like crocodile or snakeskin you need to take extra care when wearing them and invest in a protector spray for special skins and apply it gently with a clean soft cloth.