The importance of polishing your shoes

Beautiful polished shoes will always elegantly finish an outfit. On the contrary, a beautiful suit worn with dull and dusty shoes and it is the direct loss of any credibility.

Not to mention that by taking care of your shoes, you make sure to increase their lifespan.

Credibility and savings, 2 good reasons to know how to polish your shoes!

To help you refine your look, we have researched and put together the 6 essential steps to properly care for your shoes.

You can also enjoy this moment of tranquility by settling comfortably, putting music or meditating by following our flow.

1- the preparation

First of all, remove the laces. This may seem superfluous but this is essential to avoid dirtying with polish.

If your laces are leather, you can of course leave them. The shoe polish will do them the greatest good. However, be careful not to get too dirty by waxing and wipe after drying so as not to dirty your trousers.

Then place the shoe trees in the shoes to stretch the leather. You can also set them up after the cleaning if this is more convenient for you.

2- the cleaning

Now you can dust off your shoes with a soft bristle brush or "scraper". Brush energetically all the surface of your shoe not forgetting the tongue or the space between the sole and the leather.

This step is essential to not trap dirt in the shoe polish.

To add a touch of ecology to this cleaning, we advise you to use brushes made of untreated wood and with natural fibre bristles.

From time to time, you can complete this dusting with a deep cleaning with a cleaning cream and a soft cloth. This removes old polish in addition to dirt. You must then apply this cream evenly and circularly on the entire shoe and on the edge of the sole and heel. It is also important to insist on the different folds of the leather, so as to leave no trace of the previous shoe polish.

Regular deep cleaning can extend the life of your shoes and reduce the risk of the leather of your favourite shoes to crack.

3- the nourishing cream

Now that your shoes are “clean like as a new pin", we must think about keeping the flexibility of their leather. A few splashes of nourishing cream spread out energetically with a soft cloth will do the trick. Tongue, folds, heel and sole are of course not to be forgotten!

You can take a cream from the hue of your shoes or a colorless cream.

After allowing a few moments to dry, you can remove the excess cream with a soft cloth or the soft brush used for dusting (once cleaned of course!).

4- the polish

As for the nourishing cream, we advise you to use a polish made from natural ingredients, such as beeswax. There are even now polishes entirely made using organic ingredients.

Using a new soft cloth, apply evenly the shoe polish on the whole shoe. It is not necessary to rub too much; the polish does not have to penetrate the leather but it is there to make it shine.

You can help with a polish brush or an old toothbrush to reach the more difficult areas such as the space between the shoe and the sole. You will be assured that there will be polish everywhere!

Note that it is better to choose a shade of wax slightly darker than that of your shoes. This will hide some traces of wear and other small defects that would tend to come out with a lighter polish.

You can also exercise your talents by using for example a navy blue polish on black leather or a burgundy one on brown leather to vary the patina colour of your shoes and get coloured shines.

5- the buffing

After allowing the shoe polish to dry for a few minutes and removing the excess with a cloth, now is the time to give free rein to your energy.

Bring a soft brush, with horsehair for example, and vigorously rub your shoes to get them sparkle!

6- the lacing

Now all you have to do is to accessorise your shoes with a pair of Petit détail laces to bring the final touch to your look!

Here is a presentation of our "triangle technique" to help you quickly put on your laces.

Finally, to meditate while polishing your shoes or changing your laces, we invite you to read our tip "Mindfulness and laces".

To discover all Petit détail collections : The waxed laces, The white laces in classic cotton for sneakers, The GOTS certified organic cotton laces.