Leather shoes are a great choice for a good looking, high quality dress shoe. Shining shoes and keeping them looking good can often be a chore, especially dress shoes for children.

Basic Do’s & Don’ts for Leather Shoes:

DO:

• Use high quality products made specifically for leather cleaning and leather conditioning.
• Use a high quality leather conditioner every few months to keep the leather soft and prevent drying out.
• Allow leather leather to dry at room temperature if it has gotten wet.
• Store in cool dry places that are well ventilated.

DON’T:

• Expose your leather shoes to hairspray, perfume or body sprays. If they are sprayed with these or similar products, simply clean and condition the shoes as above.
• Use soap, cleaning fluids (not meant for leather) or mink oil.
• Never store in plastic as it will cause the leather to dry out.
• Polish suede, roughout or patent leather.
• “Instant” or “EZ” shoe polishes can actually harm leather shoe, usually do not last and have a tendency to come off on clothing.
• Try to use black polish to change the color of brown leather. If you want to do this, hire a professional shoemaker to dye the shoes.

There are a number of leather care products out there. Some are messy and difficult to use and some simply don’t work. We’ve found that the best product out there (Leather Mate also know as Urad) was created by an Italian for the leather industry. This product not only cleans and polishes leather and vinyl but also conditions leather as well. This high-quality product is, very effective, easy to use (even children can use it with no fear of mess or clothing damage), biodegradable and won’t dry out leather. For more information on this product, go to Leather Save.

Example: “My children go to a private school and have to have well polished school shoes. It used to be a nightmare because if they polished their own shoes they’d ruin clothing, furniture, carpets and get polish all over the house. It meant that I had to do all the shoes, and frankly, it was an awful job I just didn’t have time for. Now they’re able to just quickly wipe Leather Mate over their shoes as we’re zipping out the door in the morning. They can polish their own shoes without creating a mess, their expensive uniforms aren’t being damaged by polish stains, and their shoes not only look good but don’t seem to get the same sort of damage they used to.

I’ve thrown out all my other leather care products. They were difficult, messy and unpleasant to use so I never quite got around to using them. The first time I used Leather Mate I was so pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to use that I went crazy and used it on absolutely everything. I did all our bags, briefcases, wallets, purses, the dashboard in the car, our leather couch, and the shoes of anyone who happened to come into our house. Unlike the other products I used to have gathering dust, I actually use Leather Mate all the time because it’s so quick and easy.”
N.C.

Article by Kris Nickerson
Kris Nickerson, http://www.livingness.com, is a veteran writer covering a variety of topics. Kris is also active in a variety of social betterment programs. “