You probably want to enjoy your newly bought shoes for as long as possible. It may sound a bit funny, but once there was a time when online shopping did not exist. You would go to the local shoe shop to buy a new pair of shoes. The salesperson would, whether solicited or unsolicited, advise you on your maintenance products for your shoes. Now the situation has changed, and we mostly buy our shoes on the internet. No intrusive sellers, try on shoes with the comforts of your own home, online shopping has many advantages. But in the case of shoes, no seller tells you how you should maintain your shoes. That is why we made a list of all maintenance products, so you know what you need to make your shoes last longer.
Maintain shoes: 3 step plan
It takes three steps to maintain your shoes. If you follow this plan regularly, your shoes will last longer.
Clean
Shoes get dirty. It is just the way it is. If you often clean them with a cleanser, your shoes will look beautiful for longer. Compare it to washing your hair. You often wash your hair to keep it beautiful, healthy and shiny.
Care
After cleaning, you move on to care. Caring nourishes your shoes and makes them look as good as new. Choosing the right care product is essential. Using a leather spray on a suede shoe has the opposite effect and makes the beauty of your shoe vanish.
Protect
Because you love to sing in the rain without worries, it is best to protect your shoe with water and dirt-repellent spray. It prevents your shoe from collecting dirt. It is best to impregnate a shoe directly after the purchase. If you want to keep your shoes looking gorgeous, we advise you to repeat this step often.
Maintenance products shoes
There are various products available to maintain your shoes and make them last longer.
Cleaning products for shoes
Clean spray/mousse
A cleaner is very suitable for cleaning shoes. Often this cleaner comes in a mousse or a spray. The basic cleaner suits all materials, except metallic. If you want to clean faux leather or other synthetic materials, it is best to opt for a mild shampoo. It is the perfect product for removing all visible stains. With a cleanser, you also clean all dirty edges with the flick of a wrist. To get the best results, spray or smear your shoe and use a cloth or sponge to rub it out.
Soft eraser
A soft eraser dry cleans all kinds of leather and textiles. By making circular movements on the stains, you remove all the dirt and striping. The soft eraser is suitable for all shoe colours.
Shoe deodorant
Not only does the outside of your shoes need caring, but the inside also asks for maintenance. Maintaining the inside of your shoes makes them last longer. If you want the inside of your shoe to be fresh and hygienic, then use a shoe deodorant. A shoe deodorant also removes unpleasant odours. The deodorant is suitable for all kinds of shoes and soles.
Care products for shoes
Trainer white
White trainers are brilliantly white when you buy them, but everybody knows that keeping them white is challenging. There are products available if you want to clean and care for your white trainers. With trainer white, you easily remove dirt and scratches. Trainer white is suitable for all white leather, textile and synthetic materials. This product is also perfect for making rubber soles white again. Besides this spray, there are a couple of household, garden and kitchen substances that you can use if you want to clean your white trainers.
Wax
Wax is also called beeswax or leather grease and is a care product for leather shoes. Wax nourishes your shoes and gives it a brilliant shine. Another plus is that wax keeps leather breathable. Besides its nourishing characteristics, wax also mildly protects your shoes.
How to apply wax? Take an old cloth (or T-shirt) and smear a thin layer of wax on your shoes. Make circular motions to soften the grease. Soft grease easily attaches to the shoe than unsoftened grease. Do you want to darken up certain parts, like the nose of your shoe? All you have to do is apply an extra layer of wax. Let the product sink in, and use a pair of old tights or an instant shine sponge for extra shine.
Wax is available in all colours, but you may want to opt for a neutral colour if you wish to use one product on multiple shoes. The advantage of coloured wax is that it enhances the colour of your shoes. If you prefer to go the easy way, there are wax sprays available. Wonder balm does magic on Dr. Martens shoes.
Leather cream
Just like wax, a leather cream is a maintenance product for leather. These two products have a lot in common, but there are differences. A cream is a lot softer and is therefore easier to apply. Do you have structured or perforated shoes? Then it is best to use a cream, since wax is hard to remove from the tiny holes. Wax is more protective, and leather is more nourishing.
Shoe polish
Shoe polish is a product for smooth leather and keeps your leather from drying out. It is a nourishing maintenance product, but it also enhances the colour of your shoes. You always buy shoe polish in a colour that matches your shoes. You apply the polish with an application brush, let it soak and then rub it out with a special rubbing brush.
Suede/Nubuck spray
Suede and Nubuck shoes need more care and maintenance than other leather materials. Using the wrong products on these two kinds of leather can ruin your shoes. That is why it is essential to buy the right products. A suede and nubuck spray nourishes and impregnates at the same time. Use a suede and nubuck brush to roughen up the material. Your shoes will look brand new! Spraying your suede and nubuck shoes soaking wet at once is the most effective way. Let your shoes dry thoroughly.
Metallic spray
You can not use all products if you want to maintain your metallic shoes. The metallic layer on your shoes is like a shiny topcoat and you do not want to rub it off when caring. Dirt does not have much chance, since the coating is layered on the leather. All you have to do is grab a cotton cloth and wipe your shoes. Never use a brush, since it scratches the metallic.
If you want to nourish and protect metallic shoes, there are special metallic sprays on the market. The spray keeps the leather smooth and flexible, and maintains the metallic shine at the same time. Another advantage is that a metallic spray keeps your shoes water and dirt-repellent. After spraying, it is best to let the spray slowly soak into the metallic coating instead of rubbing it out.
Patent leather oil
It is best to use patent leather oil on your patent leather shoes. This oil nourishes and cleans the patent leather. The advantage of shoes with a patent coating is that they are already waterproof. You do not need a spray to make your shoe water-repellent! You mustn’t use other leather care products on patent leather; these will leave matte stains on the glossy leather.
Protection products for shoes
Impregnating spray
Impregnating shoes is the same as protecting your shoes from water, dust and dirt. The technology puts an invisible layer over your shoes that keeps away rain and dirt. You can use this spray on all kinds of materials. Materials like patent leather and faux leather are coated and therefore waterproof by nature, so they do not need any protection. The water just glides off these materials and a cloth easily removes dirt.
The spray is colourless and suitable for all shoes. After impregnating your shoes, let them rest for 24 hours to let the spray sink in. We advise you to spray your shoes often, we prefer once per 15 times of wearing, to make your shoes last longer.
Nano spray
A Nano spray is a kind of impregnating spray, but based on nano-technology. All the tiny parts together form a protective layer on every fibre of the material to keep your shoe water-, dust-, and dirt-repellent. Nano sprays work longer than other impregnating sprays.
Material overview
There are tons of products available, but you do not need to buy a new bottle per pair of shoes. The chart below gives you an overview of which products you can use on which materials.