The Best Products For Maintaining And Shining Leather Shoes

How often you have to actively care for your shoes depends not only on how well you passively care for them but also on your wearing habits: how often you wear them, what kinds of surfaces you walk on, how long you wear them each day, and even what season it is. Fitzpatrick noted to us that "one does not need to shine his/her shoes more than once a week." If you are exceptionally hard on your shoes, if you have only one pair of shoes, or if you wear them in heavy rain or snow, you may need to tend to them more frequently.

This guide covers five tools and supplies that we have found through our research, our interviews with experts, and our in-store testing with Stanley Mayes to be indispensable components of your shoe-care routine.

A shoe brush is an essential tool for cleaning off dust from your shoes and for buffing in moisturizers and polishes. While any horsehair brush will work, our testing found that paying more than the minimum amount to get a more effective tool is a worthwhile investment.

Every professional shoe shiner I’ve had my shoes shined by has used an old cotton T-shirt cut into squares and longer strips (for buffing). I suggest you do the same to save some money.

A rag is necessary for applying the various cleaners, conditioners, creams, and waxes you’ll need for a full shoe-care regimen; you can also use a rag to quickly wipe down and dust off shoes or to buff polish to a mirror finish. Although you can purchase special rags for your shoes, nearly every guide I’ve read and every professional shoe shiner I’ve had my shoes shined by has used an old cotton T-shirt cut into squares and longer strips (for buffing). I suggest you do the same to save some money. It is imperative that you use a different rag for every different product so that you don’t end up with cross-contamination. I like to pin a label onto each rag so that I don’t forget.

A leather cleaner removes any foreign substances and dust that would otherwise get trapped under the polish and damage the leather. It also prepares the surface of the leather to accept the moisturizer and polish by stripping away the excess oils and polish already present. Stanley Mayes mentioned that one of the more common issues he sees with the shoes that come through his shop is inadequate cleaning. "Once in a while, it’s important to use a cleaner to strip off the layers of polish (that will often have dirt and other contaminants caked in it) that have accumulated so that the shoe can accept new polish and moisturizer," he noted. If your shoes look dull, or if you notice flakes of polish in the crease points, it’s time for a cleaning with solvent. Without taking this step, you are reducing the leather’s breathability (which keeps it from rotting) and harming your shoes by allowing contaminated polish to sit against the leather.

Next, a leather conditioner ensures that your shoes’ leather remains a stalwart buffer against the elements. Dry leather is brittle, which diminishes its waterproofing and breathability. Like your skin, dry leather will feel slightly rougher—running your finger along the shoe is a good way to tell if your shoes need some conditioning. In addition to feeling bad, dry leather makes a poor base for building up a polish patina.

Shoe polish provides the brunt of the aesthetics in a shoe-care routine. Basically dye suspended in oils and waxes, shoe polish fills in small scratches and cracks and renews the color and gloss of your shoes. Polishing your shoes is pretty straightforward (apply polish, buff to shine), but polishing your shoes well takes some finesse and patience. The Shoe Snob Blog has an excellent guide on how to polish your shoes properly (though it features The Shoe Snob’s own line of products).

Shoe polishes come in two forms: cream polishes (like the Meltonian and Saphir Médaille d’Or we tested), which are for restoring color, and wax polishes (like the Lincoln and Saphir Pate de Luxe we tested), which are for buffing shoes to a shine. You’ll often find shoe-polishing guides (including the one on The Shoe Snob Blog) that recommend using cream polish before applying a coat of wax polish. But you can use wax polish after conditioning with no ill effects—especially if your shoes’ coloring is fine as is. Similarly, you can use cream polish and not apply wax if you’re not interested in a mirror shine. Ultimately, it’s up to you.