Shoe Care

In Part 4 of our Gentleman's Shoe Series, Tom Beecroft from The Jaunty Flaneur in Mayfair, London offers his shoe care tips, and the key things that you need to do to keep your shoes in excellent condition and ensure a long lifetime. 

Leather Shoe Care

It's important when caring for your leather shoes to get into a routine which will ensure your shoes stay in tip top condition. The first thing to do when you get home from work is to open up the facings quite wide so there's no extra stress when you're taking your feet in and out of the shoes. Give them a couple of minutes for the air circulate before putting in your shoe trees and then brush down with a horse hair brush which will get rid of any dust or dirt that has accumulated during the day.

Storage 
Once you've done that, put them away in their shoe bags, and if you've got the original shoe box then so much the better as it will protect them in your wardrobe. If you've invested a lot of money in your shoes it's worth spending an extra couple of pounds on getting the right shoe care to look after them which we've set out below.

Shoe Care Products
The range of products that we highly recommend is from Safhir in France, which has a large amount of natural ingredients, things like mink oil, bees wax and carnauba wax and which won't dry out the leather in the same way that cheaper brands that use a lot of chemicals might do. Although they are a little more expensive, we would definitely say they are worth the investment.

Other tips to increase the longevity of your shoes is to use a shoe horn every time you put your shoes on. This is going to protect the backs of your shoes. Also if you have quite a long stride, having indented mental toe taps cut into your shoes will greatly increase the amount of time between resoling. Following these basic rules and habits will ensure that you add years to the life of your shoes.