How do I clean these shoes?

February 5, 2009 9:41 AM

How can I clean vomit off leather shoes?

My friends and I had a bit too much fun over New Year's, and my Florsheims paid the price.

I now have several whitish spots on them. All solids have been removed. I want to clean the shoes without ruining them.

Any ideas?

posted by reenum to clothing, beauty, & fashion (3 comments total)

Shoe brush followed with Saddle Soap followed with a polish?
posted by Comrade_robot at 9:45 AM on February 5

(following on Comrade_robot's suggestion)
... with repeated applications of polish, allowing sufficient time between for the polish to be absorbed by the leather. In warm weather, multiple appln's in one day are possible; in winter, no more than once/day; you can cheat it with hair dryers, or setting the shoes near a vent.

I had a bleach stain on my leather work shoes. Several applications of polish later, only I can find the stain. Vomit probably isn't more corrosive than bleach.
posted by IAmBroom at 10:15 AM on February 5

(Full Disclosure Follow-up)

I just polished my shoes, after a few weeks of harsh winter snow/ice/salt abuse. The polish was all worn off, the bare, scraped leather visible in a few places, and the bleach spot highly visible again.

An application of shoe polish, plus an overcoat of saddle soap (for extra water protection), and the spot is invisible again.
posted by IAmBroom at 7:55 AM on February 8