by Julian Burak
As you may have guessed, here at Harrison Fjord Co., we firmly believe in the importance of taking care of yourself. You only have one body, one life, one skin, and all that faux-self-motivational-crap. The very same idea applies to the things that you wear. Just as you must show respect and care for your body, you must show equal care and respect to your possessions, as they are, essentially, an extension of yourself.
For the past few weeks, we have been focussing our men’s style articles on shoes, such as how to distinguish between different shoe styles and our guide to different types of boots and where to wear them. That is because we have a deep, dark secret.
We love feet.
Not in an “I’m in love with your feet” kind of way. Your feet are arguably the most important part of your body. They carry you around all day, they support you, they dance when you want them to – it’s high time that feet started getting the respect that they deserve.
By having high quality shoes, you ensure that you are getting the best support and comfort for your foot. A high quality shoe, however, will not look ‘high quality’ forever – with great shoes comes great responsibility. By having these high quality shoes, you must maintain them and take care of them to prolong its life.
So without further ado, here is what we recommend for taking care of various shoe types:
Cleaning Your Shoes
Leather – If worn every day, clean your shoes 2-3 times a week. A soft cloth with water and a little soap should be used to clean off dirt and dust. Then a polish should be applied afterwards. There are different coloured polishes for different coloured shoes but we recommend a natural polish or wax. Apply gently with your fingers and rub in with a cloth tightly wrapped around thumb. Make sure to get inside the creases and stitching. This process can be repeated until desired polish is achieved.
Suede – As with leather shoes, is wearing suede shoes every day, then they should be cleaned 2-3 times a week. Suede protector should be sprayed on your shoes when you first purchase them and after each time you clean them, which will work to protect your shoes from water and stains and makes them far easier to clean over time. When you clean your suede shoes, use a suede brush to clean off dirt and oil stains. Suede marks very easily and when badly stained may not look the same again, so be sure to take proper care of them and clean them straight away when they start to get dirty.
Canvas – Shoes should be cleaned once every one to two weeks. Canvas shoes are more durable and require less care – we recommend spot washing your shoes whenever they get stained or dirty. This can be done by using a small amount of detergent with some water and a soft toothbrush to clean spots out of the canvas. This is the safest way to maintain your shoes without ruining them. Placing canvas shoes in a washing machine is a risky option, as the spin cycle and heavy duty rotory blades can ruin the shoes – your best option is to maintain them as you go.
Shoe Trees
Shoe trees (left) are usually made of cedar wood, and are made to act as a ‘permanent foot’ that rests inside your shoes when they are not being worn. This helps preserve the proper shape of the shoe, and avoids getting dints or other imperfections in your shoes. Not only will this prevent damage to the shoe, particularly when the shoe is wet, but will also significantly increase the life of the shoe as it protects from morphing and creasing. We recommend using cedar wood shoe trees as opposed to plastic models, as natural wood helps deter odors in the shoe and absorbs and excess moisture and sweat left behind by the foot.
Show Me Your Sole
One of the most important steps that should be taken before you take your first actual steps in your shoes is to resole your shoe. When buying a new pair of oxfords or brogues – or any dress shoe, for that matter – they usually come with smooth leather soles. While these soles look fantastic when new, they wear quite easily and, if not properly maintained can damage the rest of your shoe. As such, we recommend taking your shoes to a cobbler to have a thin, rubber sole attached, as this will not only prolong the life of your shoe, but also give them significantly more grip, making them much more comfortable to wear.
Take care of your shoes as they help take care of you and with this advice may we lend a hand in that matter as well.
Need more tips on different styles of men’s shoes, what they’re suited for and where to wear them? Check our our articles on different shoe styles that every man must own and our visual guide to different types of boots.
Questions? Ideas? Comments? Join in the discussion on the Harrison Fjord Facebook page, and follow us on Twitter.