Care and maintenance

Wax and alcohol, elbow grease and spit: this is the old recipe of the craftsman when he prepared the shoes for his customer. The wax carefully spread to close the pores, a drop of alcohol to remove the excess of grease, energy with brushes and cloths, some spit to make the operation easier. And as final touch, a “pull” with the palm of the hand that, thanks to its natural warmth, helps to melt the grease, letting it penetrate and making the shoe more polished.
Always use first quality products. The leather of your shoes is delicate; it does not need a polish which covers the pleats but a nourishing creme that slows down its ageing. The best products are English or German; they are creamy in order to penetrate easily. The paste shoe polish is recommended for the true polishing.
Always use a polish in a similar colour of your shoes. Do not use a neutral one because it makes the upper greyish.
Use soft brushes with long natural bristles: they polish more.
Use the polishing cream with parsimony. You can obtain a bright surface by making the cream penetrate into the leather pores, without closing them; an excess of grease just does’t let the leather breathe. A nice shoe must look well polished and transparent. Avoid covering or self-polishing liquids; they can speed up your work but also damage your shoes for ever covering their leather with a waterproof drying layer which is difficult to remove.

Your shoe-polish Kit

The right care and maintenance kit for your shoes should include:

You should have each product for each colour of shoes. This is not a useless luxury but the only way not to alter the original colour.
You should also have:

Maintenance

When should you clean your shoes? - Shoes should be cleaned always after being worn, the day after at the latest. After polishing your shoes 10-12 times, you need to degrease them. To carry out this operation you can use the excellent German products which contain trichloroethylene. Use a cloth soaked in this liquid and rub the shoes till the patina is removed. Let them rest during the night. Then polish them as if they were new. Don’t forget to polish the sole as well. Also don’t forget that shoes must be cleaned only when they are perfectly dry. If your shoes are damp when you take them off, let them dry on a wooden last or stuff them with a newspaper ( the paper keeps the shoes in form while they get dry and partially absorb the dampness); keep the shoes at room temperature, not close to heat sources such as radiators, stoves, and so on because they would get hard and chapped.
If some water marks remain on the upper, remove them using the special liquid; rub with a sponge and let the shoes dry on their last. The day after you can polish them.

How should you clean your shoes? - You need patience and care to carry out this operation but the results will be successful.

  1. Remove the dirt on top, underneath and in the stitchings using a brush with rather hard bristles.
  2. If there are some residual marks, remove them using a dampened sponge and just a little of neutral soap.
  3. Spread some shoe-polish on the difficult areas (stitchings, edges, etc.) using a brush with natural bristles. Then remove any excess
  4. Soak a cloth dampened with alcohol in the shoe-polish (just a touch) and rub it all over the shoe with circular movements, without pressing.
  5. Start to brush first in one direction then in the other one using a soft brush.
  6. When the polish is well spread, “caress” the shoe with the palm of your hand till it becomes transparent as glass.
  7. Brush again using the soft brush.
  8. Rub using the polishing glove or a soft cloth to remove any mark
  9. The last master touch: take the silk off from an old umbrella and rub the shoes vigorously forward and backward just like the unforgettable shoeshine in Vittorio De Sica’s famous movie “Sciuscià”.

Special cures

Shoes in Russian or Horse leather. The lucky ones who have these kind of shoes know that they need a really special attention. As a matter of fact, they should be polished using a deer bone which is enough to close the pores of the leather, giving it back its original brightness. If you do not have a deer bone, use a shoehorn or a wooden or glass roll.
Shoes in patent leather. Worn just on very special occasions, in the past these shoes were cleaned using a dampened cloth or breathing on them; now there are some special gel-products suitable for treating the patent leather.
Shoes in suede. Clean them just using a soft brush. Avoid to use the steel brush which can damage the leather. If unfortunately they got stained, try to remove the marks using a pencil eraser or a brush or cloth in crepe. If the shoes remain stained, do not try to use other stain removers but take them to your shoemaker. To prevent this problem, you may spray your shoes with a waterproofing product which creates a protecting film but at the same time allows the leather to breathe.

The shoes in your wardrobe

When you carry out the seasonal change of cloths and shoes, spread some lukewarm linseed oil on the stitchings and the soles of your shoes before putting them away: they will remain soft and slightly waterproof. Remember to put them away into wool or cotton bags. Never use plastic ones.

The Shoe Rack

The ideal one would be a small wardrobe in light porous wood with the doors in Viennese straw that let the shoes perspire. As shoes suffer both from a damp and dry environment, the shoe rack should be placed in a well ventilated room, away from heat sources or dampness (avoid the bathroom). If you have a panel heating in your house, do not keep the shoe rack on the floor.

The shoetree

Besides the daily care a shoetree is necessary to maintain your shoes properly. There are shoetrees in wood or plastic, equipped with screw springs. The wooden shoetree, which is heavier, is however the ideal one, especially if entire: the full wooden heel is definitely better than the usual bulb that presses on the counter.

The shoehorn

Made in noble materials (the most precious and nicest one is made of horn), iron or plastic, it should never miss in your shoe rack. Use it always when you put on your shoes. Do not force or lower the counter folding it up unaesthetically.

Shoes on a journey

It is better not to mix clothes and shoes in the same suitcase. When you travel you can use a bag in a washable fabric for your shoes (there are beautiful ones on sale). When you don’t use it, just fold it up and put it away. The bag opens like a book and each “page” contains one or two shoes put on their shoetree (in this case use plastic shoetrees which are lighter, easy to carry). Each bag contains about six pairs plus a pair of slippers and a mini-kit with brushes and shoe-polishes; everything you need even for a long holiday.