How to Clean and Maintain Shoes: A Guide to Making Your Favorite Footwear Last Longer

Know how to clean our favorite shoes in the right way is the first and fundamental step to do them last longer. In a world that goes at a thousand miles an hour, full of stimuli, trends and shopping tips that often don’t even leave you time to fully enjoy what you buy, sometimes it’s worth it stop for a moment and focus on the quality and durability of an accessoryespecially if you’re aiming for a more sustainable approach to your wardrobe.

They exist a series of tricks, not even too complicatedwhich help you take proper care of your clothes and accessories and, as we will see in particular in the following lines, to keep your shoes in shape, clean and intact for a long time even when using them regularly, in addition to good habits in terms of conservation, such as always storing shoes in the appropriate containers dust bag.

To stay updated on royals, celebrities, shows and all the news from around the world Vanity Fairsubscribe to our newsletter.

From the white rubber of sneakers that tends to inexorably blacken to delicate materials such as suede, which tend to lose their original colour and compactness, we reveal a few little tricks to preserve the beauty of your favorite shoes for longer.

Sneakers that can’t be whiter with vinegar and baking soda

A pair of Nike Air Force 1s in a street style shot.

Edward Berthelot/Getty Images

How to remove stains and revive white leather or canvas sneakers is one of the most discussed topics in terms of cleaning footwear. The Nike brand website itself easily reveals how to maintain their whiteness and shine for longer, listing the right recipe for impeccable cleansing.

Provided it is done regularly, the suggested cleansing technique mixes a tablespoon of baking soda and two of white vinegar in a cup of water. The resulting mixture should be rubbed onto the surface using a soft cloth or a brush (taking care that the bristles do not scratch the upper!). For those who are less accustomed to DIY remedies, we recommend Magic Erasera special sponge available in supermarkets and laundry supply stores that is moistened and passed over the areas that need cleaning.

For the skin? Cleansing milk

How to clean shoes

Street style shot of a pair of Schutz leather platform heeled loafers.

Streetstyleshooters/Getty Images

Giving new shine to leather moccasins is possible and the quickest trick to do so could be found in your beauty case. Obviously there are specific productssuch as specific creams for leather, but if you want to resort to do-it-yourself methods, a little cleansing milk can restore softness and brightness to the skin. Use in small quantities, using a cotton ball or a soft cloth and, preferably, on medium-dark skin (on light skin it could create halos or darker spots). A valid alternative is alsoolive oil combined with a few drops of lemon: apply with a soft cloth and then dry with a sponge.

The stationery eraser for the suede

How to wash suede shoes

A pair of suede ankle boots.

Edward Berthelot/Getty Images

One of the most delicate materials in terms of footwear, it is undoubtedly suede. Stains, especially on lighter colors, are always lurking: even a few drops of rain can leave a mark. Before seeing how to act in the event of stains, it is best play in advance and always remember to spray on your shoes in suede a protector (which doesn’t work miracles but certainly limits the damage). If it’s too late and the stain is now evident, you can rely on the good old stationery erasertaking care to rub it delicately on the area to be treated. Even better, the very soft bread-rubber.

Friulane: in the washing machine with the wool program

How to wash shoes

Close-up on a pair of Babouche Frulan Friulians.

Edward Berthelot/Getty Images

They are the most loved footwear of the last seasons, they are so comfortable that you would wear them 24 hours a day and it is inevitable that this behavior leads to them getting dirty more easily. In fact, most of the models of Friulane are made of velvet or cotton fabric, materials that get stained in a short time. Taking care to ask the retailer for the perfect recipe for washing, we can still suggest you to put them in the washing machine without too many worriesas long as the wash is cold and with a delicate spin cycle.

Birkenstock: watch out for water!

Birkenstock Boston

A pair of Birkenstock Bostons in a street style shot.

Edward Berthelot/Getty Images

Another must-have on the feet of many, Birkenstocks seem to have been created to face any situation and surface but, in reality, they deserve some special care in terms of washing, especially regarding the sole. This in fact It’s not very friendly with water (which tends to dry out the material, penalising its comfortable appearance on the skin) and, although the temptation to immerse them becomes strong when you see them blacken with use, it is best to desist. As the brand’s website itself suggests, choose one Rub-in leather shampoogently, using a toothbrush or a brush with damp bristles. This action will create a foam that must then be removed with a cloth dampened with warm water.

How to store shoes and other trick

Miu Miu SpringSummer 2024 fashion show.

A detail from the Spring-Summer 2024 show.

Proper care goes beyond cleaning and also includes the conservationwhich must take place in places fresh, dry and without direct light. To protect the upper it is useful to store them in practical dust bag in fabric, the classic dust bags often included in the purchase while to preserve their shape, in addition to the shoe tree shapesit is possible to use the paper to stuff them. Maybe perfume it with a few drops of essential oil or with a little talcum powder to keep bad smells away.

And so the love between you and your favorite shoes lasted a lifetime.

Source: Vanity Fair

You may also like

What will happen to the price of XRP
Top News
David

What will happen to the price of XRP

The price of XRP has recently fallen, despite the growth of purchasing activity. Over the past day, Ripple has lost