Grease stain on shoe help

[csgrad]

I accidentally had some greasy Chinese noodles drop on my shoes and they left a nice dark grease stain on them. What's the best way to remove this?

 

[Quirk]

I don't know if there's any way to successfully leach grease out of leather. I would guess that you'd have to use mink oil or something on the rest of the shoe(s) to even it out. Just a guess though.

 

[csgrad]

Think I'm going to get some lexol cleaner and give it a shot and hope for the best.

 

[acidboy]

Whoa, as someone who's been eating Chinese food since learning to chew, and having God knows what spill on my shoes: soy sauce, sate sauce, congee, dimsum... I must say those are awfully OILY noodles to leave a mark. Hope the Lexol does the trick.

 

[j]

Wait.. I think there is some way of using talcum powder to absorb the oil out of the leather. I am not sure though, hopefully someone can chime in.

 

[csgrad]

The shoes were amadeo testonis...

So the thin layer allows stains to go in really easily. Anyways, I bought some lexol cleaner and its a bit better. The lighter grease stain is about gone, and the heavier stain got blended into the leather, but still a bit dark. Eh, I guess it adds character to the shoe haha. I bet a coat of cream should finish the blending, but I don't have any atm.

 

[Charley]

I cannot really offer a solution. However, I would advise that you not apply anything in the way of a shoe cream or polish until you are satisfied with the stain removal. Or satisfied that you've done your best on removing it. Applying conditioners or polishes will only complicate the cleaning process. My advice would be to try again with more of the lexol cleaner. And maybe with some of the Coach cleaning product. Use something such as a QTip to just hit the area with the oil soaking. It may take several applications as the oil will be absorbed into the leather - and some will migrate to the surface when some is removed.

Saddle soap is a somewhat harsh remedy that you could consider. It is also likely to remove some of the color in the rest of the shoe while removing any oil. However, if the oil is removed, that bit of color can likely be restored with the application of several coats of cream and conditioner. The problem with the oil is that it may cause the shoe to "take" polish differently in that spot each time you try to shine them.

 

[IGORSEMONOV]

I could recommend you the products on care of footwear of brand SAPHIR by french company AVEL. In my opinion they are the best in the world.
http://www.avel.com

 

[mbell]

Originally Posted by j

Wait.. I think there is some way of using talcum powder to absorb the oil out of the leather. I am not sure though, hopefully someone can chime in.

I actually had a similar problem recently dropping some olive oil coated veggies on my shoe while cooking. I used a Janie Stick on the shoe and it got the stain out to the point where it was only noticeable up close. The Janie Stick is basically talcum powder and probably some other stuff in a stick form like a piece of soft chalk. You rub it on, let it sit for a while to absorb the stain and then brush off the powder.

The nice thing about the Janie Stick is since there is no liquid involved it is very unlikely to make things worse. I've had mixed results with it as far as getting stains out, but it is safe enough to use on silk. I've rescued a tie or two with it.

mike

 

[LatinStyleLover]

Not wanting to start a new thread when an old one contains my exact problem, although no definitive solution, I have resurrected this thread. I was making some Buffalo drumettes, which are coated in a combination of butter, Crystals hot sauce, and multiple spices. While combining/stirring the aforementioned ingredients, a couple of drops splattered onto my Crockett & Jones boots, which I had not gotten around to protecting with a waterproofing material yet (not sure this would have caused the grease to bead up and roll off anyway). There is now a slightly smaller than a dime spot and a couple of pea-sized spots of the butter mixture. I would obviously hate to use the wrong thing on it and solidify the stain, so am turning to anyone here who may have had success in dealing with this issue. I am tempted to go with the talcum powder idea since I don't see how that could hurt anything.

 

[philosophe]

Talcum powder is the way to go. I recently dropped something oily on a tan shoe. Raphael at Moulded Shoe (NYC) recommended rubbing in some talcum powder, letting it sit, and brushing it off. A few rounds of this technique saved my shoe.

 

[LatinStyleLover]

Originally Posted by philosophe

Talcum powder is the way to go. I recently dropped something oily on a tan shoe. Raphael at Moulded Shoe (NYC) recommended rubbing in some talcum powder, letting it sit, and brushing it off. A few rounds of this technique saved my shoe.

Thanks. The first round of talc is on it right now. As I said, I did not think this would harm them in any way, so I put some on, rubbed it in a bit, and it is now sitting there. I will brush the excess onto a piece of paper and repeat, as necessary, until it appears to be all gone. When all done, I thought some Lexoal leather cleaner and then Lexol leather conditioner?

 

[philosophe]

Originally Posted by LatinStyleLover

Thanks. The first round of talc is on it right now. As I said, I did not think this would harm them in any way, so I put some on, rubbed it in a bit, and it is now sitting there. I will brush the excess onto a piece of paper and repeat, as necessary, until it appears to be all gone. When all done, I thought some Lexoal leather cleaner and then Lexol leather conditioner?

After the talc took off the oil to my satisfaction, I went back to my normal leather conditioner (Crema Nubiana then, Saphir Renovateur now) and polishes. Just be patient with the talc process.

 

[LatinStyleLover]

Originally Posted by philosophe

After the talc took off the oil to my satisfaction, I went back to my normal leather conditioner (Crema Nubiana then, Saphir Renovateur now) and polishes. Just be patient with the talc process.

I've got two pairs of almost identical CJ boots, one the "Conniston" and the other the "Veldt Boot." The Conniston was the one that got splashed so I will use the Veldt Boot while I work on the Conniston. With the weather we are having now I pretty much use these boots exclusively, one pair one day and the other pair the next. The Veldt Boot will have to do for now, and it works better in snow and melting snow anyway.

 

[Schweino]

I just had a similar problem. Huge olive oil drop on my tan Grenson Rose Oval shoe.

Tried the following:

- Soak the spot with a cloth with hot water -> almost no result
- Put some dishwashing liquid on it, then soak the spot with a cloth with hot water-> helped a bit
- Put a few drops of lemon juice (from one of these plasic lemon squeezers) on the oil spot, after a few mins soak the spot with a cloth with hot water -> the spot is completely GONE!