01
Let them rest
Never two days running. Leather takes in the moisture of the foot and needs twenty-four hours to give it back. Alternating two pairs extends the life of both more than any product does.
A stitched shoe is maintained, not replaced
Between a pair that lasts three years and one that lasts twenty there are two minutes a day.
Three rules that hold for everything
02
Put the shoe tree in
Straight away, while the shoe is still warm. It holds the shape, absorbs the moisture left in the leather and prevents the creases that in time lead to a split. Cedar is the best: it absorbs and it scents.
03
Dry them slowly
After rain: a cloth for the surface water, the shoe tree in, and well away from radiators, stoves and hairdryers. Direct heat dries sole leather out and cracks it.
The routine
01
After every wear
A soft natural bristle brush to take off dust and salt. Then the shoe tree.
02
Every two or three weeks
A barely damp cloth, let it dry, then neutral or matching cream. A little cream, well spread, and brushed up. Excess grease does not feed more: it clogs the leather.
03
End of season
A full clean, a more generous feed, shoe trees and a cotton bag. Never plastic, never airtight boxes: leather breathes even at rest.
Leather by leather
Choosing them is half the work.
01 Leather
Smooth calf and kid
Neutral or matching cream, a little and well spread, soft brush, cotton cloth for the shine. Full grain needs even less product.
02 Leather
Suede and velour
Crepe or rubber suede brush only, always in the same direction. No creams, no water. Take older stains to the bench before making them worse.
03 Leather
The sole leather
Keep it dry. If the shoe often gets wet, a light pass of sole grease slows the absorption. Nothing more.
04 Leather
Alligator, crocodile, python, lizard
A soft dry cloth and, now and then, a neutral reptile cream worked in with the fingers along the scales. Never solvents, never alcohol, never heavy grease: they lift the scales and the damage does not come back.
05 Leather
Ostrich
As for smooth leathers, with more care around the raised points. Neutral cream and a cloth, without loading product into the follicles.
06 Leather
Stingray and eel
A dry cloth, no greasy product. These are hard surfaced skins that are ruined by too much care.
07 Leather
Satin, silk, lace and fabrics
A very soft dry brush. Stains are not treated at home: satin marks and silk loses its lustre. Bring them in, something can almost always be done.
08 Leather
Furs and fleeces
A wide long bristle brush, air, no heat. Out of season keep them cool, hung or laid flat, never compressed.
Resoling
Resoling
A leather sole wears down: that is expected, and it is why the sole is stitched and not glued. The moment is when the outer layer is down to a couple of millimetres, or when the stitch line appears.
At the bench the shoe is taken apart, the old sole comes off and a new one is stitched on. The upper and the last stay yours: a well built shoe is resoled more than once.
Do not wait for a hole. A holed sole wets the insole, and then it is no longer a resoling job.
Repairs and rebuilding
Heels, heel taps, insoles, linings worn at the counter, open seams, zips. We also take on shoes we did not make, as long as the construction allows it.
I like putting an old ruined pair back together. Sometimes the customer does not even recognise them, and leaves here happy.
Bring them or send them: we look, we tell you what can be done and what it costs, then you decide.
Do
- Alternate two pairs, always.
- Shoe trees in right after wearing.
- A shoehorn to put them on: the counter is the first part to give way.
- Slow drying, away from heat.
- Regular feeding, in small amounts.
- Resole before the sole gives way.
Avoid
- Radiators, hairdryers and stoves for drying.
- Solvents, alcohol, aggressive stain removers.
- Greasy creams on reptile and on ostrich.
- Water on suede.
- The washing machine, under any circumstances.
- Closed plastic bags.
- Forcing them on with a finger in the heel.
The right tools
Cedar and beech shoe trees, natural bristle brushes, shoehorns, care boxes. On request we make bespoke shoe trees matched to the shoe.