A common shoe care advice is to brush off your shoes when one come home, to remove any surface dirt. Most think this is solely due to appearance, but that’s only one part of it. The more important thing is that doing this can significantly prolong the lifespan of your leather shoes. Here I explain why.
The life of a shoe is tough. It’s down on the dirty ground, literally kicked around all days, and if weather is harsh it’s even worse. This means that your shoes will always pick up dust and dirt, even if it’s not always that visible. And it has a tendency to gather in the creases of the leather, where the shoes bend. If you let dirt gather up in the creases wear after wear, the leather will be worn down and eventually crack quicker.
It’s quite simple really. With dust and dirt in the creases, every time you take a step and bend the shoes, there will be a lot of abrasion. The dirt particles will be squeezed between the leather and slowly but steadily grind it down. If you dip your fingers in sand and rub them against each other, you’ll understand what I mean. Same thing, but here on an even smaller scale, so to speak.
An illustration of how dust and dirt particles gather up in a crease, and how it will cause a lot of strain on the leather when shoes are bent and the creases are pushed together.
Without dust and dirt, even if the leather is bent over and over here, there will be less abrasion.
Luckily there is that very easy solution of always brushing of your shoes after every wear (or wipe with a moist dish cloth if the shoes are wet and dirty). Have a shoe brush ready to be used directly when you come home, and make it a habit to first insert the shoe trees (which will stretch the leather and reduce the creasing) and then brush off the entire shoes, with extra care over the creases at the vamp. This way you’ll always start fresh when wearing the shoes, without dust building up. A very cheap way to improve the lifespan of all your leather shoes.
Have a shoe brush dedicated to remove dirt located near your entrance, and make it a habit to brush them off after every wear.
