Comments on: Smooth Black Shoes

Question: Smooth Black Shoes

Ambrosia Voyeur — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 11:12:16 -0800

Tips for keeping black "man-made leather" shoes looking sharp?

I have several pairs of cheap black shoes, boots and sandals that are fake leather. I love them and they've lasted forever, but they acquire scuffs very much like their natural counterparts. How can I reblacken or clean this matte surface?

I'm not sure if every pair is bicast leather, or if there may be no actual leather component beneath the surface, or if that matters.

By: wryly

wryly — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 11:29:45 -0800

Seriously -- a permanent sharpie is a must.

By: cmgonzalez

cmgonzalez — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 12:34:10 -0800

A marker will only do so much, and if your fake leather is at all shiny, the marker will render the scuffs matte. In other words, it won't match and it'll look patchwork.

What you might want to get is a leather repair kit, preferably geared to scuffs. These work for non-leather/vinyl shoes as well.

By: junesix

junesix — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:44:07 -0800

Take it to shoe repair. They should be able to examine the material and then advise you on a brush to smooth out the scuffs and shoe polish in the right color to cover it up.

By: YoungAmerican

YoungAmerican — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:54:06 -0800

I agree with junesix. An intermediary measure, if the scuffs aren't super-scuffy, is to get some black scuff cover, which you should be able to buy anywhere you can buy shoe stuff -- grocery store, drug store, whatever. That'll blacken any darn thing.