Sending suede shoes to the cleaners.

[lamergod]

Hey guys. I've got a pair of white suede oxfords and they got some dirt on it. I know that suedes cannot be cleaned with water so I didn't bothered.

I was wondering if it's alright to send them to the dry cleaners.

 

[wetnose]

There's some instructional videos on youtube that's a good place to start. Failing that, find out where the girls send their uggs - those cleaners would have had lots of experience as a result

 

[cioni2k]

I screwed up a pair of new suede loafers. Brought them to a really good shoe cobbler in NYC, had them dryclean them. Came back looking great! They can be fixed not all hope is lost. Dont just bring them to any normal dry cleaners though

 

[Concordia]

Do you live near a good cobbler or shoemaker? Those guys either know how it works or can send the work out to someone who does.

 

[Gus]

This was for suede bucks. I don't know if it would work for white but it did work well for natural suede.

http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=70189

 

[lamergod]

Sadly in my country there's no culture of all these stuff. All the clobbers in Singapore are old men covered with black stuff.

I've read somewhere about spraying 3m suede protection. Wonder if this works for shoes.

 

[tj100]

Originally Posted by lamergod

Hey guys. I've got a pair of white suede oxfords and they got some dirt on it. I know that suedes cannot be cleaned with water so I didn't bothered.

I was wondering if it's alright to send them to the dry cleaners.

The 'no water on suede' rule is a myth. See the video from Leffot:

http://blog.leffot.com/2009/11/20/suede-wash-down/

It takes some guts the first time, but yields really good results.

 

[Edify Inc]

Originally Posted by lamergod

Sadly in my country there's no culture of all these stuff. All the clobbers in Singapore are old men covered with black stuff. I've read somewhere about spraying 3m suede protection. Wonder if this works for shoes.
You must not have been out recently. Most of my shoe repair outlets (and I have 8 of them) are staffed with workers below the age of 40, a few who are not even 30. I myself just turned 30. We might have dirty hands due to the nature of the job but we are most certainly not "covered in black stuff". I know of several other competitors who have employees in the same age brackets as I do. I studied shoemaking in Europe and have several years of experience. I have handled hundreds, if not thousands of pairs of shoes, and I probably have forgotten more about shoes than you ever will know. Please do not dismiss our profession so lightly. We are craftsmen in our own right. /rant To answer your question: Yes, suede shoes can be drycleaned, and there are many shops who specialises in shoes and bags cleaning, in Singapore, no less. Suede protection is a must if you wish to keep your shoes looking relatively clean.

 

[kungapa]

Originally Posted by tj100

The 'no water on suede' rule is a myth. See the video from Leffot:

http://blog.leffot.com/2009/11/20/suede-wash-down/

It takes some guts the first time, but yields really good results.

Did this to a pair yesterday - worked wonders!

 

[pgd3]

Originally Posted by kungapa

Did this to a pair yesterday - worked wonders!

Usually for dirt just a suede brush and some elbow time does fine.

Afterall you really are just trying to brush the dirt off. I think until you remove the excess dirt water runs the risk of carrying it into more of the suede than need be.