Suede Shoe Rescue, Cleaning

I have a pair of sand colored suede bucks that are 4+ years old. The other day I spilled liquid car wax on them. I wiped off the excess, then let it dry and used an eraser and stiff nylon brush. But the best I could do was this.




The spotting was bad enough that I wasn't sure I would wear them for anything other than yard work so I was willing to experiment. I went to my local shoe repair guy and he suggested Lincoln E_Z cleaner and a brass wire brush.

His instructions were to 1) simply put some full strength in a bowl 2) dip the brush 3) wash/rub all over the entire surface of both shoes 4) wipe off excess moisture 5) let air dry.

It probably took me 5-7 minutes to do everything.




The shoes were dry by this morning. I then took the dry brass wire brush and gave them a little brushing. Here are the results. I was delighted.



If anyone has any nice suede shoes that are in the back of the closet because of spots or stains, I would recommend giving this a try. The wire brushing also raised the suede finish and makes it a bit more fuzzy, almost like new.

BTW, when the shoes were brand new, I used a silicon waterproofing spray on them. That may have helped this overall process. I will probably spray them again with silicon.

Good to know...Thank you for the tip.

i had a home repair incident where acrylic gesso went all over a few pairs of shoes. this will come in handy for some tyrwhitt's that saw some heavy fallout.

damn nice recovery!

you took pics before the brass-brushing?? just curious

Very nice! I will try on an old pair of suede brogues that have seen better days.

Originally Posted by danyllau

Click to expand...

you took pics before the brass-brushing?? just curious

1st pic was after wiping off excess, using a suede eraser, then rubbing with nylon bristle brush

3rd pic was after scrubbing with brass brush and cleaner, waiting until dry, they brushing one more time with brass brush. The final brass brushing helped to restore it's even suede/fuzzy look like when they were new.

I have always been very careful with suede. But, at least I know that I can take care of normal spills and spots. I plan to take on an older pair of dark brown brogues using this same system.

Great job on the cleaning! I picked up my first of suedes this week so it is pleasing to see that they can cleaned if necessary.

Great info, thank you. I have a pair of dark brown Gucci suede loafers which look o.k. but have seen better days. The suede on the toes is dark and plastered down from time and use as well as attempts at revival.

There is no way I am going to get rid of vintage Guccis, and your post came at the right time.

Thanks for the tutorial. I have just the shoe to try it on...poor ankle boots been sitting in the back...

Regards.

Be sure to do the entire surface of both shoes evenly for best results. Do not use this for spot cleaning. Good luck!

Where did you buy this stuff may i ask?

Giving this stuff a shot at cleaning up this salad dressing stain on my Alden chukkas

Thanks, @GusW

Thanks for this post. Why not pretreat the shoes with spray?

would anyone happen to know if there is anyway to fix this? I would be really grateful.