Shoes - Water mark/stain

In the future, overshoes in downpours. (And an umbrella, if not using one before.) As for being happier with the current shoes, you could pay a cobbler to dye them. Doing mutiple pairs, unfortunately, is likely to be costly. You also could try using darker polish on them, which might turn out okay.

I don't know if there is anything you can do...it often depends on the leather. Water stains tend to be pretty hard to get rid of especially on light coloured or poorly tanned leather. When shoes get that wet, residual tanning compounds, superfluous dye stuff, and even salts get deposited in greater concentrations in just the same way that the tide leaves a line of spin drift and detritus on the beach as it recedes. One thing you can try if you are game...get your shoes entirely wet again. Fill a bucket with warm water and chuck them in there and let them sit say, four hours, completely submerged. Pull them out, shake or towel off the excess water and cover them with a liberal wash of Lexol (in the tan container). If you have R.M. Williams Saddle Dressing or anything like it, coat the leather with that, as well. Both of these products will slow down the drying until the moisture can even itself out. The R.M. Williams is actually a little better at this than the Lexol but several coating of Lexol may compensate. Turn the shoes upside down and allow to dry slowly, applying more Lexol as necessary. You might even rotate the shoesupside down, on their sides, right-side up, etc.--if they seem to be drying too fast on one side of the shoe or the other. If the shoe has a chance to dry slowly and evenly, sometimes...sometimes...those residual chemicals and dye stuffs can be redistributed. When thoroughly dry, recoat everything, inside and out with Lexol and polish. Now for the disclaimer, if your shoes are gemmed or have paper insoles, etc., etc., they may be damaged by this treatment (if they are not already damaged). But if they are well made shoes, and you assiduously recondition them, you should not damage them and you may get them back to an even, or very nearly even, colour. Second discalimer...again with the tannage and the quality of the leather...this is not guaranteed to work and it may not be for the faint of heart. But when it works it's dern near a miracle.

That's certainly an interesting method. However, since someone who is not a shoe expert probably wouldn't know if the shoes are safe to let soak, wouldn't it be safer to take the shoes to a professional?

I wouldn't try anything so drastic unless you are v brave. I've had the same probably a few times and have settled with: lesson learned (although obviously it wasn't).

How would you define a "professional?" I've dealt with water stains many times over the years and never known any other method to be even remotely sucessful. Even dying doesn't solve the problem,just covers it. And in passing, if you don't know whether you have an all leather shoe or not, you probably shouldn't...1) have bought them in the first place; 2) be surprised at water staining; and 3) even thinking about trying this.

Professional - someone at a shoe repair place. Yeah, dyeing would only cover the problem, but that seems better than doing nothing or risking destroying shoes.

Hmmm...would making bespoke boots and boots, full time, for over thirty-five years as well as doing shoe repair for 20 of those years, qualify?

Not to take away from any of the responses but,
I'm suprised no one has asked the OP to provide photos before offering advice in the first place.
I would like to see this stain he's talking about.

Try this:

Insert shoe trees.
Apply "Water and Stain Remover". This can be found at a local repair shop. If you can't find it try a 50/50 mixture of white vinegar and water. Use liberally over the entire shoe. Let dry. Repeat process if necessary. Apply a coat of "Water and Stain Protector". Let dry. Condition and polish. Set edges with sole and heel dressing.

I haven't kept up with the shoe repair industry for many years I'm afraid, so I was interested to learn of this product. What is it made of, do you know? Is it really effective? !00% 0f the time? Thanks for your time...