How to Polish Shoes

Buying good shoes is important but equally, caring for your shoes is just as important if you want them to stay looking good for longer. In our Begg Shoes shoe shops, we often advise on which product to use and we often presume people know how to use these products, mostly because we deal with them on a daily basis as part of our job.

So we thought we would show you a tutorial video which Donald Begg has made which shows you How To Polish your Shoes. He has taken a pair of worn leather shoes made that have faded and been scuffed on the toe area. The video shows how easy it is to restore good leather shoes. For more information, read our Shoe Care Advice blog to find out how to look after different upper materials. In his shoe care kit he has the following items: shoe cream, soft cloths and leather and suede brushes.

Shoe Care Kit Info:

The following items in this tutorial can be found here:

• In store we have a range of shoe cream colours available while online you can add a jar of Black Shoe Cream or Neutral Shoe Cream to your order as it’s always best to see the jar with your shoes if you’re looking for any other colour.
• We have a set of 2 shoe brushes available in store or online. One you can use to brush off the dirt as Donald mentions and the other can be used to buff the shoes at the end to give them the shine. Alternatively, you can always keep one brush for light shoe cream and the other to be used for dark shoe cream.
• In this tutorial, Donald also mentions the suede brush which is used to restore the original appearance to all colours of suede and nubuck shoes. The brush has 3 separate surfaces, nylon bristles for suede, short rubber bristles for nubuck and a shaped rubber edge for seams, to remove all surface dust and dirt from your shoes.
• Perfect gel was mentioned, however not used in this tutorial. This shoe care product is a mild cleaning cream, containing wax, to condition and lightly-shine all types of smooth leather. It removes marks without altering the character of the leather.

Step by Step Guide

If you’re not able to watch the video here is a step by step guide on how to polish your shoes:

1. Make sure you have a clear area ready with old newspaper / surface protector laid down.
2. Have all of your shoe creams/brushes or any other tools/equipment to hand.
3. Clean off any excess mud, dirt or dust beforehand – your shoes need to be dry & clean before you begin polishing.
4. Polishing cloth (either clean or one that you use for similar colours i.e. 1 cloth for tan/brown shoes, 1 for black etc) and dab a small amount of shoe cream on cloth.
5. Rub into the leather in small circular motions and repeat until you have the desired level of coverage.
6. If your shoes require substantial coverage or colour refresh then once you have applied the shoe cream liberally, you can leave for up to 30 minutes for the colour to penetrate into the leather. The time would be dependent on how much nourishment the shoes require.
7. Turn cloth over to a clean area and buff any excess shoe cream off.
8. Buffing shoes with a soft shoe brush can enhance the ‘polished’, sleek finish.
9. Additional tip: If there is a scuff/mark on the shoe, before using coloured shoe cream try perfect gel or neutral cream to buff out the mark first. Then apply the shoe’s coloured cream.

Thank you for watching our tutorial, please share with your friends & family.