Remove Snow Stains from Leather Shoes

I had a query from a client yesterday asking me how to remove ’snow stains’ from her leather shoes. Unfortunately she had to trudge through dirty snow yesterday and as a result the leather is stained.

Here are a few methods which may help to restore our reader’s shoes back to their former glory:

METHOD 1: WHITE VINEGAR & BEESWAX

• Step 1: Stuff your leather footwear with newspaper and let them dry out naturally. Don’t place them in front of a radiator or fire hearth.
• Step 2: Mix a cup of water with a tablespoon of white vinegar. Dip a clean cloth into the liquid, and then wring the excess out. Then, wipe the shoes/boots until the salt marks have completely disappeared. Let them dry out naturally.
• Step 3: Rub some beeswax into the shoes/boots with a clean, soft cloth which will condition and shine, and help to prevent future water / snow / salt damage.

METHOD 2: SHOE CLEANING PRODUCTS

• Step 1: As above, stuff your leather footwear with newspaper and let them dry out naturally. Don’t place them in front of a radiator or fire hearth.
• Step 2: Wipe the shoes with a clean damp cloth to remove any surface dirt.
• Step 3: Buff the shoes with a shoe cream or wax polish (in an appropriate colour), available from shoe shops. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

METHOD 3: STRANGE BUT TRUE?

• A recent texter to the Ray D’Arcy Radio Show suggested that buffing dry leather shoes with a peeled raw potato works wonders at removing ‘dried in dirty snow stains’! I have never tried this method so I can’t tell you whether it works or not.
• But, on the subject of strange, food-related cleaning methods, I know for a fact that rubbing leather shoes with the inside of a banana skin creates a blindingly good shine (albeit it can create weird banana-scented leather). Have you tried this?

Thank you to the team at Serendipity Shoe Boutique for their help in putting this feature together.

Yours in style,
Caroline

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or via RSS.

Information contained in this blog post may not be copied or reproduced without permission from Style By Caroline.