Fall is here and so are some shoe cleaning and repair tips!

Fall has started, bringing murkier weather for most of us. We all know what this means for our beloved pair of sneakers, especially the light-coloured ones! It only takes one rainy day and a little bit of outside dirt to transform those pristine white shoes into a shade of grey. Does this mean we have to stay inside and sit out the bad weather? Of course not, we all got a life!

We at COSH have gathered a couple of tips on how to take care of your shoes. This entails cleaning and repairing tips for your favourite pair of boots to last longer. 

Different types of shoes, different cleaning methods

Sneakers

Start by removing the laces and soak those in some water and laundry detergent. Use a sneaker cleaner or mild soap to gently scrub the surface of your sneakers, avoid soaking the whole shoe and focus on the surface area. For the scrubbing, you can either use a soft brush or an old toothbrush. For stubborn stains, apply the soapy water, and let it sit for a couple of minutes before rinsing.

Let the sneakers air dry. If the insides of your sneakers got wet as well, you can stuff them with old newspaper to soak up some of that moisture.

Leather shoes

Start by removing all surface dust and dirt you can with a dry and soft brush. To deep clean the leather, use saddle soap and a shoe brush. Lather the soap and gently rub it in. Wet a soft cloth or sponge to remove the soap. 

Once the shoes are completely dry, you can use leather conditioner to give an extra boost to the leather. For this, it’s important to work in small sections and not to overuse the conditioner. Apply the conditioner on the surface and spread it in small circles.

Canvas shoes

For canvas shoes, you can either use detergent powder or dish soap. Prepare the shoes by removing the laces. Firstly, prepare the cleaning mixture by mixing warm water with a small amount of dish soap or laundry detergent. Don’t dunk your canvas shoes into this soapy mixture, since fully soaking the shoe can alter the shape or ruin the soles once dried, but dip a soft (tooth)brush in the mixture to then scrub the stains on the canvas. Afterward, let the shoes air dry. Stuff them with some old newspaper to speed up the drying process.

Three tips for removing odour

To remove bad odours from your shoes, we have three tips for you. The first method is the easiest and requires no additional ingredients: leaving your shoes outside. You can either do this overnight or in direct sunlight. This allows the shoes to breath and works like a charm with mild odours.

A second tip is to stuff a tea bag in each shoe and leave them overnight/​for a couple of hours. For this, you’ll need dry and unused tea bags, preferably black tea. Although this is more of a temporary fix for mild odours, tea bags can help soak up any moisture and odours from your shoes.

Lastly, you can use a vinegar-water concoction, with equal amounts of water and vinegar. Either wipe or spray the inside of your shoes with this mixture and let them air dry. Vinegar works as an effective disinfectant and odour-killer, not only for your shoes. Your shoes might smell of vinegar at first after using this technique, but the vinegar smell will vanish fast. This technique works for both mild and strong odours. 

Visible mending

Visible mending can be used to spruce up your shoes, whether your shoes have holes in them or a stubborn stain that won’t come out, no matter how much you scrub. For canvas shoes, you can use embroideries to cover up and close small holes. 

Another option would be to use scrap patches (of fabric or leather) to cover up bigger holes in any type of shoe. Even leather shoes can be mended with this technique. Natural dyes can do wonders to give your shoes a little bit more colour and, as a bonus, cover up stains. Want to learn more? Read our latest blog article about visible mending here.

Third parties that can help you out

There are plenty of companies out there that can help prolong the life of your shoes and even give you professional advice on how to take care of them. Let’s have a look at some of them, shall we?

BLACKPOLISH

Take Düsseldorf based brand BLACKPOLISH for a fact. BLACKPOLISH is an expert at premium sneaker cleaning and personalised care. They not only offer tailored shoe cleaning options in the form of various cleaning packages, but also professional shoe care advice. Not in the area? No worries, you can also ship your shoes to BLACKPOLISH for a good deep clean. 

KAPIRE

Remaining in the Düsseldorf area, we can also find KAPIRE, a shoe repair business where artisan skills blow new life into your shoes. Whether it’s traditional shoe repairs or the restoration of leather goods, you can restore your favourite pieces here. On top of that, KAPIRE invites you into their open workshops to witness the restoration process yourself.

Shoerecrafting

In Bruges, we can find another shoe repair business: Shoerecrafting. Here, traditional handcrafted techniques are used to repair leather shoes. On top of that, they offer the option to re-craft your shoes by rebuilding the shoe from the bottom-up.

HOIHOI

HOIHOI is a Belgian-based leather repair shop, located in Oosterzele, offering a professional repair service for luxury shoes and other leather items. HOIHOI offers a fully digital service where you can simply upload pictures of your shoes and the damage done to them. Based on these pictures, an offer is made for the repair, which you can choose to accept or deny. If necessary, your shoes are re-coloured, refurbished, or polished.

Try these methods out and help extend the life of your shoes by keeping them looking and smelling fresh! Find more shoe repair or cleaning services near you.

Is the damage irreparable? Check out our latest shopping guide for vegan shoes to gain inspiration.