How to clean suede shoes at home

We always start dry

If the shoes got caught in the rain, we wait. Wet suede and a brush do not get along. Once it is fully dry we go over it with a brass and nylon suede brush, one direction first, then the other way to lift the nap back up. A soft old toothbrush does the job at home. You would be surprised how often the "stain" someone sends us a photo of is just dust pressed flat on the toe.

Scuffs, shiny patches, that sort of thing

A suede eraser takes off most marks. At home, a clean white pencil eraser is close enough. Light pressure, like you are rubbing out pencil on thin paper. Shiny flattened spots, usually on the toe or the heel where it rubs the bike pedal, come back with a little steam from a kettle and another brush. Keep your hand moving. Hold it there too long and you get a wet patch, which is the next problem.

Water marks are odd

Here is the strange bit. The cure for a water stain on suede is often a bit more water, spread evenly over the whole panel with a damp sponge so it dries as one colour instead of a ring. Paper inside, a fan nearby, no sun. Then brush. It works more often than not, though if the shoes cost what a good pair of Clarks costs now, this is the step where we would rather you handed them to us.

Oil, ghee, chutney

Fresh oil soaks up into cornflour or talc if you catch it the same day. Pile it on, leave it overnight, brush it off in the morning. Older oil marks are a different story. They darken the fibres and need a proper suede cleaner, sometimes two or three rounds of it.

And the stuff we wish nobody did

Washing machine. Hair dryer. Leather polish, which mats the nap for good. But the real suede killer in this city is simpler than all of that: wearing the pair through a July shower and then shutting it away in a cupboard while it is still damp. Two weeks later, there is a smell, and sometimes a white bloom of mould.