I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but the most sustainable wardrobe items are the ones you already own! So, it’s important to take care of those items. One of the items that ends up getting the most wear and tear, at least for me, is shoes. I tend to wear the same few pairs over and over. This, combined with our harsh winters full of snow and salt means that I need to do a good shoe cleaning every now and then!

My most worn pair of shoes are my Dr. Marten’s Leona boots. I bought them in June of 2019 while on a trip to attend my sister-in-laws wedding. Which makes this the 3rd year for these. I wear them about 3/4 of the year (they get a rest in summer because it’s too hot to wear them).

Because I wear them so much, they get quite a few scuff marks. Also, a few days ago, I was walking up some concrete steps and I scraped the toe on the underside of the step. This led to a gouge in the leather and revealed the brown leather underneath.

I was a little upset in the moment but I remembered that I had shoe care products at home. I knew that I could make the mark unnoticeable with a little TLC.

Here are 4 quick & easy shoe cleaning & repair steps:

Step 1: Use a dry cloth to wipe off any surface dirt.

Step 2: For black shoes, use a black shoe polish on a clean cloth. Cover any scrapes, paying particular attention to the toes. Allow this to dry for about 10 minutes.

Step 3: Since I could still notice some of the brown leather in the gouge, I used a black sharpie marker to cover the brown leather that I could still see. If you only have to cover scrapes, you can skip this step.

Step 4: With another cloth, use a shoe wax, such as this one from Dr. Martens that I purchased with the boots, to go over the entirety of both boots.

And that’s it. The whole process took less than 20 minutes and my boots look as good as new again.

I really enjoy taking some time to care for the things that I own. Back when I was addicted to fast fashion, I treated my clothing as if it was disposable. I would have had no qualms replacing these boots over that little gouge.

But now, I want to hold on to my things as long as possible. And that means taking the time to care for them.

I’m happy to finally have developed the mindset that things are meant to be worn and loved. Any damage that occurs while that is happening tells a story, just like the scars we wear.

You can see some of the other shoes I own here and here.

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