Luxurious or casual, old or new, you want your shoe to look sharp for a long time. This can happen only if you take proper care of your shoes. We can give you the top 10 tips to take care of your shoes. These tips are easy to follow and effortless to inculcate in everyday practice.
The days of dirty, smelly, and scuffled shoes are gone from now! Let us see what you need to do, to ensure a long life of your shoe collection.
Keep Your Shoes Away from Moisture
Moisture is the main reason there is growth of bacteria inside your shoes. The bacteria can be a major catalyst in breaking down your shoe material, which can severely damage your shoes. There are ways to mitigate the situation:
- You can use silica pouches to keep moisture and bacteria away
- You can also stuff newspaper inside your shoes (do ensure that you keep changing the newspaper every week)
Keep It Away From Dust
It goes unsaid that you need to clean your shoes every time you use them. If the dust is not cleaned it forms a layer on your shoe and the shoe loses its natural color. This can make your shoes look older comparatively. This is one of the most basic rules in the list of top 10 tips to take care of your shoes.
- You can use a shoe polish to keep your shoes clean
- Keep your shoes in a shoe closet
- Dust it before storing it in the closet
Get a Shoe Shine Kit
A show-shining kit contains a shoe cleaning brush, a cloth, shoe polish, and a cream. This kit is a must-have item, if you want to take proper care of your shoes. In fact, this is the very first step towards keeping your shoe collection just like how you bought it!
- Get a good quality kit that is compatible with your shoe material
Use a Shoe Tree
Shoe Tree is one of the most important shoe accessories that you should have. This ensures the natural shape and texture of your shoe. If you have branded shoes made with luxurious materials like silk, leather, suede, etc. then it is advised that you keep these in a shoe tree made of cedar. You should not miss out on this tip from the list of top 10 tips to take care of your shoes.
- Cedar shoe tree absorbs moisture and keeps bacteria away
- For synthetic leather shoes, you can get a metal shoe tree
Keep It Away from Sunlight
There is something called ‘dry-rotting’, which happens when you expose your shoes to direct sunlight for a long. Avoid doing this. Direct sunlight will tighten up your shoe material and it will start crumbling.
- This is the right way to take care of your new leather shoes
Avoid Plastic Shoe Boxes
Even your shoe soles need air circulation so that your shoe feels fresh every time you wear it. Avoid storing your shoes in plastic boxes. If you are asking the question, of how to prevent shoe odor, then this tip is your answer.
- You should also avoid cardboard shoe boxes
- You can instead use breathable bags made of cotton, etc.
Take Care of Shoe Sole
The shoe sole is the foundation of your shoe and you will need to take care of it. With repeated use, the shoe sole wears off very easily. Yet, there are some basic steps that you can follow to take care of your shoe sole.
- Tap your shoes together to make extra dust fall off the sole
- You can even use a brush to dust off dirt from the sole; get it online easily at Sun&SandSports
- Cleaning the grooves of the sole is equally important
Use a Protective Spray
Usually, after prolonged usage, you will notice visible stains, salt mark patches, and water damage patches on your shoes. These are elemental damages, but the good thing is you can stop this from happening. You can use a shoe spray to protect your shoe from elemental damage. In the list of top 10 tips to take care of your shoes, this one is quite an important one.
- Choose a spray that is compatible with your shoe material; find it easily at FootLocker
- You can find versatile sprays also (like the one used to protect sneakers, which is compatible even with suede, nubuck, leather, etc.)
- Protective spray is non-toxic and does not damage the environment
Air Your Shoes Properly
There are some shoes that you can dip in dishwashing liquid, wash it, and dry it (you can do this with sneakers). The main point is to air your shoes for a long time. It is a good idea to air your boots, shoes, etc. for a minimum of 12 hours in the air.
- Untie the shoe laces so that the tongue of the shoes is exposed too
- Ensure that even the insoles are dried properly
- Remember that we are not sun drying the shoes; just putting the shoes in the air
Use a shoehorn
The shoe horn is also an important shoe accessory to have. It can help you keep your shoes in the right shape. This accessory can help you wear shoes effortlessly and not make any crease on the vamp. This also protects the shoe heels. Leather and suede shoes are easily damaged if not worn properly; a shoe horn comes in handy for such luxurious shoes.
- You will see a stark difference in the quality of your shoes when you start using a shoe horn
- A shoe horn is quite durable and stays for a long; Levelshoes is the right online store to buy the product
Our Last Words
All the tips mentioned in this article are very basic ones. All you need to do is have the intention of keeping your shoes sharp and inculcate the basic shoe care routine in life. Rest assured, you can get the basic shoe care accessories at various online stores like Noon and Amazon.