Last summer, Mr. V’s leather shoes went through extreme rain dancing, one foot bunny hopping in muddy fields & jay-walking in the biggest typhoon ever. They were worn out. They have become pale looking shoes that look like they’ve watched countless replays of Chucky. They probably knew they came close to getting trashed. It was just a matter of time.
Of course, Mr. V has a soft spot for this pair. He’d probably wear them till they decompose on him. So, to decrease the ugliness this pair exudes when out with its owner, I needed to make this old leather shoes new again.
I could spit on them.
I could steal a 4 year old’s paint and start painting the leather shoes brown.
I could deep fry them.
Fortunately, before I was about to do #2, I remembered that olive oil makes a good wood furniture polish. Somehow, I managed to convince myself that whatever’s good for wood is good for leather. I did a quick search online. I was right. Olive oil was a good leather shoe polish. But what makes a GREAT polish is both olive oil and lemon juice. I don’t know about you, but I chose to go with great.
I mixed one part lemon juice to one part olive oil. Got an old rag, dipped in and applied a layer on an already brushed-clean shoe.
It looked like this after I covered one shoe. After the polish was applied, the shoe looked darker than it really was. I gave it an hour or two to absorb the polish and it changed into a more natural brown. See the stark difference between before and after applying the polish.
As you can see below, there were certain spots on the easy slip on shoe that still lacked color. So, I applied another layer again. When the polish dried and I was satisfied with how it looked, I used an old dry rag to buff it a little to give it some shine.
I left it overnight before Mr. V wore them again. Just look at them. Great looking shoes indeed. Not only did I avoid harsh chemicals from store bought shoe polish, this was sort of FREE…. in a way.
Quick Method Polishes one pair of size 11 (or 44) shoe
what you need:
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs lemon juice
Old rag
directions:
- Ensure shoes have no dirt/debris. Use a brush or a damp rag to clean them.
- Mix olive oil and lemon juice.
- Dip rag in mixture and apply a layer on the shoes. Let polish absorb and dry (roughly an hour or two).
- If parts of shoes are still pale/old looking to your taste, repeat step 3.
- Buff the shoes using the dry parts of the rag.
How do you make your old leather shoes new again?
