How to Care for Your Suede, Patent Leather, and Leather Shoes

(video transcript)

Hello it's Tammy Parrish from the Clothing Compass.

I wanted to talk to you today give you some tips about how to take care of your shoes and get them ready for fall and winter.

Suede

Here we have a suede boot, and what I want to do is get rid of these worn places, so obviously first I'm going to brush the boots. A trick that's Bianca from LINJA shoes taught me is a way to really get these out — use your kettle.

So turn the kettle on, and once it starts boiling, you're going to brush the suede in the steam. Now the steam’s coming out, so I’m brushing the suede in the steam, and it really does help.

Those places came out much better in the steam than without the steam.

Patent Leather

The next tip is for patent leather shoes. You obviously cannot use regular shoe polish on patent leather, so your secret ingredient is Vaseline petroleum jelly, which you can find in all drugstores.

Just take a bit on a clean cloth (I use this cloth for my shoes), take a little bit of the petroleum jelly, and rub it over the shoe. Then wipe it off, and you'll see those spots come out nicely, leaving you with a shiney patent leather shoe.

Leather Touch Up

If you have a leather shoe that needs a bit of polishing, but you didn’t allow time for a full shine. As you're running out the door, before you put your socks on, use one of your socks as a polishing cloth, assuming it’s (almost) the same color as your shoe.

This only works if your shoes have been polished recently, but I use it often as a quick touch-up.

More Tips?

Would like more tips? Please visit my website www.clothingcompass.com and sign up there for your Five Tips to Let Your Wardrobe Work for You.