How to store shoes properly

Clean before they go away

Sweat salt and dirt keep working on a shoe while it sits in the dark. So anything going away for more than a couple of weeks gets wiped, cleaned and dried properly first. Ask us how many "mystery mould" pairs started this way. Most of them.

Keeping the shape

Cedar shoe trees are worth it for good leather shoes. They hold the shape and soak up moisture at the same time. For sneakers, a ball of paper in the toe does fine.

The box question

Original boxes keep off dust and sun, but in the monsoon they trap damp air in with the shoe. If you like boxes, drop a silica gel packet in and open them every now and then. During the rains, though, an open rack with some airflow is honestly safer.

Bad spots

A sunny window, which fades colour and yellows soles. The wall next to the bathroom, which is always damp. Plastic bags, which hold moisture right against the leather. We have seen all three wreck good pairs.

Peek in once in a while

In the rains, every couple of weeks, take stored shoes out, look, sniff, leave them in the air for an hour. Catching mould early is the difference between a quick wipe and a deep clean.