The natural way to shine your shoes does not require a lot of money or time. It does require careful attention to the materials your shoes are made of, knowing proper leather care technique and having the right tools on hand.
Shoes are basically pieces of leather with coatings and stitchings to fit around the feet to provide protection. The natural way to shine your shoes takes this concept into account. If your shoes are made of natural materials, then those materials will inform the way you care for them.
Leather, we all know, is animal skin. Typically shoe leather comes from cowhide. Cheap leather shoes will be made from synthetic leather and plastics. It is very difficult to shine these shoes naturally because they are made from petroleum products. In order to care for these shoe surfaces, you must use artificial chemicals. However, if your shoe is made from 100% leather, then you can use natural oils and cleaning tools to care for them.
The most important part of shoe care is proper moisture management. Shoe leathers absorb the sweat from our feet. They also absorb moisture from outside, such as rain water or oils in the street. To manage moisture, you must ensure your shoes dry out. Do not wear the same pair of shoes everyday. Rotate two pairs. This allows the leather to dry out. Before you shine your shoes, make sure they are dry from the inside and outside.
The next tip in natural shoe care is to properly remove dirt. There are cloths and fibers you can use to clear dirt off shoes. First use a horse hair brush, or some other natural fiber brush, to clear off dirt and dust from the shoe. Make sure your brush is clean before you use or you may ruin the finish on the shoe. A good way to get dirt in small corners is by using a toothbrush, but it is not advisable to use a toothbrush on the entire shoe as the fibers are not long enough to dust away the dirt efficiently.
After using the brush, find a soft dry cloth to wipe the shoe clean. By this point the shoe should look pretty clean. After wiping the shoe, dip the cloth in some water and rub the shoe down with water. The water will help clear up any dust on the shoe. Finally, with a clean soft dry cloth, rub mineral oil into the leather of the shoe. Mineral oil will help moisturize the leather in the shoe and give it a rich deep color.
If you wish to make your shoe more waterproof, you can use a wax or silicone based polish, however, these will cause the leather to crack in the long term. The best way to care for leather shoes is to not let them get wet, but if they get wet, to let them dry. Dress shoes that need to be shined do better without wax or silicon agents. If you wish to waterproof them, apply the solution to the inside of the shoe, but realize this will affect the breath-ability of the shoe.
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