How to clean leather shoes

Dust first, always

We pull the laces, slip in shoe trees (or a wad of paper if there are none), and brush the whole shoe with horsehair, paying attention to the welt where grit collects. Then a cloth, barely damp, over the upper. Nothing clever yet.

The actual cleaning

This is the step most people skip. A leather cleaner or a bit of saddle soap, worked in small circles, wiped off, left to breathe. Dish soap is too harsh, so we never reach for it. When it is done right you see years of old wax and grime come off on the cloth, and suddenly the leather looks a shade lighter. That build-up is why so many black shoes look grey and tired no matter how hard someone buffs them.

Feeding the leather

Leather is skin, more or less. Ten hours in an air-conditioned office dries it out, then the walk to Churchgate station soaks it in sweat and humidity, and it cracks across the toes where it flexes. A thin coat of conditioner every month or two keeps it soft. Thin, really. Too much and it goes tacky and grabs dust.

Shine, if you want it

Cream polish puts colour back into scuffs. Wax gives that hard shine on the toe cap. Match the shade or use neutral. People ask us how long this takes. About five minutes a pair, once the cleaning is done.

After the monsoon

Those wavy white lines are salt. Water with a splash of white vinegar on a cloth lifts them, then we condition because vinegar dries leather out. Green or white fuzz in the stitching is mould, and it lives in the seams. Wiping the surface does nothing. It has to be cleaned out and dried properly or it comes back within a week. August is when we see the most of these, by far.