Simple tips on how to clean suede shoes at home.
Many people avoid buying suede shoes because they don’t know how to clean them. It is true that cleaning suede requires knowing a trick or two, but the good news is: those tricks are easy to learn. Some of them come from the past, and the others leverage the cutting-edge cleaning technologies. Do you want to learn how to clean suede shoes right? Read on and find out what experts think!
How to protect suede shoes from dirt
Taking preventive care of new suede shoes can greatly reduce the need to clean them later. And, since most of the time dirt becomes stains with water’s help, you should close this loophole. More often than not, it spells the difference between the people who know how to clean suede shoes, and those who don’t.
Right after you bought suede shoes put water-repellent on them by spraying it until the suede becomes wet. After that let the shoes dry out and repeat the process 2 or 3 more times. You can use this method on either shoes or boots.
How to clean suede shoes
Important! Some types of suede are not supposed to be cleaned manually and require special treatment.
Before you begin cleaning suede shoes, dry them under room temperature. To remove stains from suede you should use special brushes with rubber teeth that are sold at shoe stores. If you don’t have one handy, you can use an old toothbrush or a pencil eraser. Dust can be quickly removed with a dry sponge.
Wet cleaning
If you couldn’t remove the stains with a dry brush, it’s time to try either a special solution for suede, or make the solution yourself. It is not as hard as it may seem, and you most likely already have all the necessary ingredients.
Did Elvis know how to clean suede shoes?
How to clean suede shoes with vinegar
Dissolve some soap or dish-washing liquid in water and add a few drops of ammonia. Stir the mixture until it foams, put this foam on the suede shoes over the stains, and then remove the foam with a clean dry sponge or a piece of cloth. Then put a tablespoon of vinegar in ¼ of a gallon of water and wipe the same parts with another piece of clean cloth which was soaked in this solution (the acid allows to neutralize the basic quality of the first mixture). Then let your suede shoes dry under room temperature, and here is your answer to the problem of how to clean suede shoes!
Important! Before trying any cleaning solution, put it on a small, inconspicuous part of your shoes: this way you’ll see if it can damage the suede’s color.
Other solutions for cleaning suede shoes
Another cleaning solution is a mixture of one tablespoon of baking soda and one glass of fat-free milk. All you need to do is soak a sponge in this solution and gently rub the stain.
Yet another method is to powder the stain with potato starch and let it sit for a while before cleaning the starch off the suede with a dry brush or sponge. If you don’t have potato starch, you can replace it with talcum powder into which a few drops of petrol were added.
Regardless of whether you are using baking soda, potato starch, or talcum powder, wipe the stained parts with a clean, wet cloth and let your suede shoes dry under room temperature.
Cleaning salt stains from suede
If you are wondering how to clean suede shoes from salt, in the preliminary stage of cleaning remove the dust with a dry sponge of brush, then soak the sponge in vinegar and wash the salt off. After the treatment wipe the shoes with moist cloth and dry under room temperature. You can also remove a salt stain with a stale piece of brown bread.
If the salt got deeply, hold the shoes over steam for a minute or two, but make sure the suede doesn’t get soaked. To this end, make a few rounds, holding the shoes over steam, and then letting them dry for a while. After the steam treatment, you can raise the top layer of suede with an old toothbrush and clean the stain with one of the methods mentioned above.
We hope these simple tips will help you keep your suede shoes clean for years to come!
How do you clean suede shoes? Are there any tricks you know we didn’t mention? Let us know in the comments below!