Shoe Care Tips

Shoe Care

Storing your Shoes

Protecting your Shoes

Cleaning your Shoes

Breathing Life into your Shoes (or Tszujing them as we say)

Restoring the Colour

Stretching

General Surgery

Shoe Care back to top

Without good upkeep, shoes soon get ruined and won't see another season. Just like us they need TLC and protection using ‘special’ products. Here are a few tips and information to help you keep your Jimmy Choo’s pristine from one season to the next.

Storing your Shoes back to top

Is there anything worse than finding your favourite pair of diva shoes has been scuffed or soiled because they are all thrown into your wardrobe on top of one another!!!! Using Tszuji® clear shoe boxes not only prevents this but also means you can see each pair at a glance and gives you room for more pairs!!

When travelling always pack your shoes into a soft bag like the Tszuji® Peek-A-Shoe Pouch – they deserve a little pampering too (and it will prevent those fab frocks from dirty heels or getting snagged)! Or you can wrap them in something soft you will also be packing (don’t blame us if you need to launder on arrival though!).

Storing your footwear using a shoe tree will help maintain their shape and can help prolong their life. Timpson have some excellent Shoe trees for keeping your shoes in shape.

To prevent your fabulous boots from getting the sag- wrinkles store them using a boot tree or boot shaper. Tszuji® will be releasing a fab line of Boot Shapers just in time to Shape your Booties this Winter.

Protecting your Shoes back to top

Remember the first time you took them out of the box– like a brand new Ferrari on the forecourt!! The first rule of protection is definitely prevention.

Never wear your shoes two days running. Allowing them to rest will allow them to recover their shape and dry out ( a little like us) – also means you will have to go out and buy another pair to allow you to alternate!

Prevent those annoying scuffs and dirt marks by lovingly storing each pair in its own clear shoe or boot box – oddly enough Tszuji® just happen to have some of these!

It is advisable to waterproof any new pair of shoes – this will nourish them and help protect against the weather. Kiwi Multi-Purpose Protector is a great product for this.

To keep leather soft and supple, you could also apply a little castor oil and leave to dry, then clean in the usual way.

Footwear is not waterproof unless clearly labelled on the product - never machine wash your footwear as this will seriously damage your shoes.

Heavily dyed leather uppers are not colourfast – be sure to apply some form of waterproofing. Kiwi Mutli-Purpose Protector will protect them from grease, water, mud and snow.

Allow wet footwear to dry naturally in a well ventilated area as this will prevent any damage. Do Not dry your footwear using an artificial heat source as this will damage uppers and cause the leather to separate from the bonding. We recommend using the Dryzone™ Shoe Dryer which will not only dry your shoes gently without heat but also protect from bacterial and fungal growth.

Poorly fitted shoes can not only damage those delicate tootsies but worse still ruin your prize Louboutins!! Using Foot Petals Tip Toes and Heavenly Heelz can help adjust the fit to your foot.

Perish driving scuffs, kerb scrapes, heel graze, grass stains, mud soiling and cobble creep – your heels are invaluable! Using Heel Angels heel protection strips from Tszuji® can prevent all of these shoe disasters keeping those killer heels looking killer.

Heel tips are designed to wear away and are not guaranteed by the manufacture, some companies do provide a replacement pair in any new purchases, but you can pick up new heel tips from your local cobblers at minimal cost.

Replace heel tips, leather soles and insocks regularly to prolong the life of your footwear and prevent damage to the construction.

Brand new leather soled footwear should never be worn in wet weather conditions, It is important to wear them on a dry day to allow a build up of grit on the soles, doing this will help protect the leather and extend the life of the footwear.

Castor oil is also useful for waterproofing the underneath of leather soles if you must wear them in the wet.

Cleaning your Shoes back to top

Before you polish your shoes remove any dust or dirt with a clean cloth or by lightly brushing – Kiwi Shoe Brushes and Wipes are great products and readily available.

Clean and protect your shoes regularly using the correct products. We recommend Kiwi and Dasco shoe care products.

If your shoes have a waxed leather upper, regularly use dubbin or a leather conditioner such as Dasco Leather Conditioner to keep the leather supple.

Suede uppers will look their best when brushed with a good quality suede brush – Dasco’s Crepe Suede Brush or Timpson’s Wire Suede Brush are both excellent products.

Instead of using a wire suede brush which can take off the top layer of the leather try using masking tape.

To clean nubuck leather use a very fine sandpaper - brings it up like new. You can also use purpose made products such as Kiwi Suede and Nubuck Brushes and Cleaners.

To clean patent leather shoes rub in petroleum jelly and leave for a while to soak in, the buff up with a soft clean cloth. This will not only keep them shiny but also prevent them cracking.

Synthetic materials are less fragile than natural leather. Clean your synthetic shoes with a damp cloth or a gentle brush, polish and waterproof.

Breathing Life into your Shoes (or Tszujing them as we say) back to top

Restoring the Colour back to top

If brightly coloured leather becomes faded in certain areas use an oil pastel of the same colour over the affected areas then top up with a neutral wax polish. Buff up and hey presto your faves are tszujed again!

Stretching back to top

Stretching that pair that never quite fitted can sometimes require ingenious methods – here are a few of our favourites.

You could start by using shoe trees that are slightly too big for the shoe - Timpson shoe trees will do the job.

Pack with potato peelings and leave for 48hrs.

Slip a leak-proof plastic bag into the shoe, fill with water, ensuring it fills the shoe completely. Close securely and freeze. The water expands and stretches the shoe.

Many thanks to Bervie McCrea for this most original tip.

Put a shoe that is too tight on and put rubbing alcohol on the tight spot and walk around with the shoe on.

General Surgery back to top

White salt stains on leather shoes are extremely difficult to remove and the treatment risky. You could try, however, mixing a mild washing-up liquid with an equal amount of white spirit and enough water to make a creamy solution (1:1::4 ratio). Work this over the entire shoe, giving extra attention to the salt mark, before rinsing and gently drying. This will remove the polish and, with luck, the salt stain. Repolish when completely dry. As any treatment only removes the surface salt line, the stain may well reappear.

If your Boot zips are getting stuck - run a lead pencil down the zip and they will run smoothly.

If crepe soles become sticky, put talcum powder on them and this will resolve the problem.

If crepe soled shoes become stiff put them in a warm oven (70 to 100 deg Celsius) for a minute and they will become flexible again.

To give a vintage look to a light pair of shoes, polish with a much darker polish than the original leather colour.