Maintenance and cleaning tips for the Winter season

During the Winter your shoes (like you) have a lot to put up with. Not only will the cold affect your shoes but also rain, snow, hail and (especially if you live on the coast like me) salty sea spray can smudge and blemish your beautiful shoes. In this blog you can read everything about maintaining and cleaning your Wolkys during the Winter.

It is often (mistakenly) thought that maintenance and protection are interchangeable terms and mean the same thing. This is not the case! Maintaining the shoes means you will nurture the leather with, for example, a nourishing shoe cream. For protection you would need a special protector spray (depending on the leather). At Wolkyshop you can find a range of maintenance creams and gel to nurture your Wolkys.

Suede is leather with the flesh side rubbed to make a velvety nap and nubuck is leather that has been rubbed on the outer side of the hide to give it a feel like that of suede but with a more shallow of a nap. Suede and nubuck are generally fairly delicate and therefore highly susceptible to dirt and staining. Regular maintenance of suede or nubuck shoes will greatly increase their life expectancy! It’s really important to protect your shoes with a spray will defend against water and dirt even before you wear for the first time. At Wolkyshop we use, and recommend, Carbon Wax spray. This will not only protect your shoes but also nourish them at the same time. The best of both worlds! Don’t forget to repeat the spraying every 8-10 times you wear the shoes to ensure the protective layer remains fresh and intact. Somehow you’ve already got your shoes dirty? Use a suede and nubuck box in combination with the shampoo to brush the stains away.

Greased or waxed leather is a normal type of leather which has a greasy or slightly shiny look due to the addition of leather oils, wax or dubbin. This type of leather often looks a little tougher, rougher and a bit more rugged which is why it is often used frequently in our Autumn/ Winter collections. To protect your greased/ waxed leather shoes it is best to use a good quality protection spray before you wear them for the first time. We recommend Wolky All Protect Spray. Repeat every 8-10 times you wear the shoes so the protection layer will remain all the time and continue to work to save your shoes. To maintain the greased/ waxed leather look you can use a Collonil Rustical spray or Rustical Cream. These products will both protect the leather and keep the unique rugged look. Forgot to protect and stepped in a muddy puddle? Not to worry, use a special leather shampoo to remove any stains.

Smooth leather is made of the outside of the skin. Various additives, for example a coating or wax ensure that different cleaning products must be used. To protect the shoes you can, again, use the Wolky All Protect Spray. Repeating the spraying process every 8-10 wears to keep that protective layer there at all times. For maintaining smooth leather shoes you can use either the Carbon Wax spray or a wax leather cream, this will keep the leather nourished and prevent the dreaded drying and cracking of smooth leather often seen on unprotected shoes. Accidently kick a pile of wet leaves? Use a special leather shampoo and nourish them afterwards with a Waterstop colour cream to retain the colour of the shoes. Always remembering to use the correct colour and shade of course!