How to Clean White & Black Shoes

Cleaning white and black shoes, especially leather shoes, presents a challenge; to get your white and black shoes that sparkling, like-new look, you will need different products for different areas of the shoe. Here are some suggested methods and care products for cleaning shoes with both white and black areas. Note that this article is about how to clean white and black leather dress or fashion shoes, the type that cannot be thrown in the washing machine.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Saddle soap Soft scrub brush Nail polish remover 3 soft chamois cloths

1. Start by laying out your white and black leather shoes on a white towel on the ground or on a table. We are going for sparkling, brand-new-clean black and white shoes, so you need to have a clean workspace. Gather all your tools and shoe cleaning products.

2. Mix saddle soap with a small amount of warm water in a small bowl, such as a cereal bowl. Saddle soap, one of the most popular brands of which is KIWI, is a mix of detergents and softening/preserving agents. It works great for shoe leather, and will clean the black areas of your shoes especially well.

3. Use a soft brush, preferably a brush made specifically for shoe cleaning, to carefully and evenly apply your saddle soap/water mixture to small areas at a time using tight circular motions. Try to brush the soap onto only the black areas at a time, or only the white areas. As you go, use a dry chamois cloth to wipe off excess saddle soap/water mixture. The idea is to prevent any of the black dye from bleeding into the white areas on your white and black shoes.

4. Dampen your second chamois cloth enough to give it a good bit of moisture, but not so much that it is dripping wet. Go over each area of your white and black shoes in turn, wiping with a good bit of pressure to get rid of the remaining saddle soap. Keep wetting and changing areas on your chamois cloth until your black and white shoes are free from any soap.

5. Carefully look at the white areas of your black and white shoes in the light. It is likely the saddle soap and water cleansing did not take care of all the scuff marks and stained areas on the white leather portions. Any little stain will show up glaringly on white leather, so you need to pull out your secret weapon: nail polish remover! Using a cotton ball wet with nail polish remover, scrub the white areas of your white and black leather shoes in circular motions. The scuffs and stains will disappear like magic, guaranteed!

6. Finish your sparkling-clean white and black shoes with some leather conditioner to seal the shoes from the elements and to help protect them from cracking and scuffing. Apply the shoe conditioner in even, circular motions as directed on the product package, and wipe it into an even finish with a dry chamois cloth. Your white and black shoes are now looking brand new, even up close!