Care Guide | Leather

Adapt your routine to how much time and money you want to spend on it, but make sure to cover the essentials to make your shoes look nice and last a lifetime. If you follow the guide below, you will be more than fine.

To begin with, remove the shoelaces before cleaning the shoes and put them in a bowl with some warm water and cleaning detergent.

Use a brush to remove surface-level dirt and grime. Apply a small amount of shoe cleaner around the shoe and work it in with a cloth.

Go over your outer soles with a heavy brush to remove dirt and grime. If you have leather outsoles, use the Saphir Leather Cleaner to get them nice and clean.

Let sit for 15 minutes, then move on to the next step.

Use the Saphir Medaille d’Or Crème Pommadier in a colour similar to your shoe or the neutral one if you want to use it for many different shoe colours. Add small dots of cream all over the shoes, but be modest in the amount. Spread it evenly and thinly with an applicator brush, a cloth or your fingers. Make sure to work in the cream thoroughly. There should be no excess cream over.

Don’t forget to treat the side of the leather soles as well, which will give a new life to the edges of the sole. Let sit for a couple of minutes, then make sure to brush thoroughly all over the shoe.

Now to the fun part – buffing. Once the shoe cream has been applied, it’s time to polish the shoes. By using wax, you both protect the shoe from moisture and water while giving them a nice polished look.

Use the polishing cloth, or just your fingers, to work in small and thin layers over the shoes. You can apply one thin layer all over the shoe to protect them more against water and other elements. The shoe should now get a dim look.

Wrap the cloth around two fingers tightly, dampen it and add a tiny bit of wax. Start at the toe and work the shoe in small circular motions to make the finish go from dim to a light shine. While you move around the shoe, add more wax and moisture as you go.

To create a superior shine, focus on the hard areas of the shoes, the toe and the heel. If more layers are used in other places where the shoe creases, the wax will build up and crack, creating an unnatural look. Follow these steps:

1. Apply 3-5 very thin layers of wax on the toe cap and heel. Using a cloth or your fingers. Work in each layer until you feel friction, then add the next layer the same way.
2. Add small dots of water on the layers of wax to activate the chemical reaction that creates the shine. Work in using small, light, circular patterns.
3. When the shine has built up to your satisfaction, finish off with a brush to remove any streak marks from polishing.

In other words, friction + water + wax = Shine. The more layers of wax you add, the more shine you’ll get. An extra tip – Use old nylon stockings to polish your shoes; they work unexpectedly well, and make polishing super easy.

Finally, to protect the sole, use the Saphir Sole Guard. The oily content will give a new lustre to the sole while adding more impregnation for protection against wet and damp weather, making them look nicer for longer.