One of the questions we get asked the most is “I love my shoes but how do I make sure they last?”
Figuring this was an area for the experts, I went straight to Carolyn, our store manager and asked the question.
Here is her reply.
“Generally speaking, most of our shoes are a lovely soft leather and deserve to be treated with something soft in turn.
Something like Dubbin is great for a saddle, sports equipment or a really thick leather like an RM Williams boot….not for a finer leather like most of the shoes here.
Anything with a lanolin, a silicon, a jojoba or a bees wax is fantastic to use on any of the smooth leather shoes….eg-Collonil ultra cream is perfect!
Smooth leather does NOT need to be water-proof sprayed as it has already been tanned to resist water and dampness. The key thing to know here is that the leather will only continue to be water-resistant etc if it is maintained properly with a conditioner and not let to dry out and crack.
Any suede, nubuck, textile, waxed leather can be spray waterproofed prior to use; but this should be kept up regularly depending on how much the shoe is worn. 
A waxed/oiled or a nubuck leather CAN be conditioned with a soft cleaner, HOWEVER please note that this will darken and may affect the ‘antique/aged/distressed’ look of the leather.
Never, EVER spray waterproof the inner footbed of a shoe. First of all the foot-beds are designed to absorb sweat so to spray there is redundant.
Second if you spray in there the person is unnecessarily exposing themselves to toxic chemicals.
Stains/marks can be gotten out of suede or nubuck leather with a variety of products. It can help to in the first instance to let any stain that went on wet, air dry and then try to remove by gently brushing with a soft shoe brush.
If that doesn’t work, a ‘soft gum’ ‘cleaner’ or ‘nubuk box’ in the Collonil range can help.
They all apply like an eraser and the stain gets gently rubbed away. Please note that a clean part of the cleaning product needs to contact the shoe. If not, the dirt on the cleaner will be transferred back onto the shoe.
To care for patent leather shoes there is available a cleaner specific for that type of leather. It has an alcohol base that will take the scratches off and replenishes the leather as well. See Michael for some if we don’t have any.
The inner foot-beds of a Birkenstock (and other ones that are removable) can be washed in cold water (best to just rinse under the laundry tap) and sponged out with a wool wash, a hair shampoo, or any of the washing products we sell, then rinsed again in cold water and AIR DRIED.
Never put any shoes in the sun to dry or air, they may warp, fade or buckle.
And as with anything, there is an enormous amount of information on the web. Check this site out. Reminds me of my grandfather who used to polish his shoes like this.
And just in case you’re still on the fence about whether shoes you wore when you were still playing with dolls can be fabulous and fashionable – 
