How to polish shoes the right way

By Anne

Would you like to know to polish your shoes the right way? It's not difficult job. However, many people do consider it to be a bit of a painstaking one. We’re sharing some practical tips for cleaning and polishing in this blog. We’ll be explaining how to polish both fabric shoes and suede shoes, as well as leather shoes.

Please note that 'shoe polishing’ can mean a lot of different things. In a literal sense, it means you’re reviving or adding to the colour of your shoes. If you’re looking on information on how to clean fabric shoes or suede shoes for example, we will explain this in the articles we linked for you just now.

Practical Tips

A few practical tips will make it much simpler to polish your shoes. You should start by giving them a good clean. Then you can start to add colour, lubricate and even some shine to them if you like. We’ll explain it step by step. First we’ll start off by explaining how to properly clean your shoes. Then we’ll advise you on choosing the right colour. Finally we will be giving you some tips on how to lubricate your shoes and how to revive their original shine. By the end they’ll be looking as good as new. Perhaps even better!

Cleaning your shoes

Note: Preferably you should not make use of the washing machine in order to clean your shoes. Determine the type of shoe - based on its materials - and then you can decide on how to clean it.

Make sure to always clean your shoes thoroughly before polishing. This prevents you from smearing dirt all over the shoes, which would end up ruining the results. A clean shoe can easily be polished to look its best by following our guide. A pair of flawlessly polished shoes looks perfect for example attending a fancy party or another special occasion.

Choosing the right colour

You can polish your shoes using a shoe polish with or without colour, depending on the desired results:

Colourless shoe polish: leather care

A colourless shoe polish helps you take good care of leather shoes. This ensures that the leather remains supple. This will keep your shoes looking like brand-new each day you’re wearing them.

Coloured shoe polish

Are you interested in both leather care and adding colour? With the use of colour pigments you can easily cover up any minor damage to the leather. Choose the right colour in exactly the shade you need.

Tip: Are you in doubt about the colour? Choose a slightly lighter shade rather than a darker one. It’s much harder to brighten up a dark colour than it is to darken up a lighter colour.

Lubricating and adding shine to the shoes

Polishing your shoes is an easy task. First you remove the laces and apply a thin layer of shoe polish using a soft brush or a clean cloth. Then you let them dry for at least 15 minutes. Use another soft brush or a new clean cloth to evenly distribute the colour.

Tip: Give your shoes a nano spray treatment for protection. This prevents moisture and dirt you encounter while going outside from penetrating into the leather.

Be careful not to use too much shoe polish. Too much of it will form too thick of a layer, preventing the leather from breathing as it should. This will cause it to dry out and become hard.

Do not use shoe polish on nubuck, suede or suede shoes. In those cases you will flatten the ‘hairs’ on the material, which will sadly ruin the good looks of your shoes.

Please note: patent leather is not suitable for polishing. It creates a greasy layer. Choose a product especially for patent leather, in order to maintain it nicely.

3 kinds of shoes to polish

Polishing different types of shoes requires a separate approach for each one. Fabric shoes, suede shoes and leather shoes each want to be treated according to the characteristics of their materials. Here are some tips to help you:

How to polish fabric shoes

Fabric shoes that consist of multiple materials have to be polished with extra care. Be careful to only polish the leather and plastic parts, for example. Any synthetics have to be cleaned separately. To maintain and lubricate the leather you should use shoe polish. Make sure to pay close attention to avoid any fabric parts such as suede and nubuck. Spilling any shoe polish on it might accidentally smoothen the hairs of the fabric. If you’re not careful this will cause it to lose its shine.

How to polish suede shoes

Suede shoes can only be polished using a specifically dedicated product. This is if by saying ‘polishing them’ you actually mean cleaning the shoes. Unfortunately you can't just use shoe polish to clean and maintain these shoes. Be careful with this material, as it can be very fragile in both light and dark colours.

How to polish leather shoes

As might be expected you are able to polish leather shoes using shoe polish. In order to do this you first want to clean the leather. Then you may lubricate it using either colourless or coloured shoe polish. This applies to all light as well as dark shades and of course dark brown, grey and black. Afterwards the shoes will look brand-new once again. By taking care of your leather shoes the right way you’ll be able to enjoy them for as long as possible.

Curious about more fashion tips? Check out our other blogs!

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