How to Make Leather Shoes Soft
Leather shoes need special care to keep them looking good and to help them last longer. When you first purchase them, they are hard. The leather can easily be softened so your feet can feel comfortable in the shoes. The process is simple and will not harm the shoes.
Materials Needed
- Plastic sheet
- Shoe brush
- Water
- Saddle soap
- Scrub brush
- 70 percent isopropyl alcohol
- Cloths
- Newspaper
- Leather conditioner
- Cover a work area with a plastic sheet. This will protect the surface from the chemicals you will be using to soften the leather. Place the leather shoes on top of the plastic sheet.
- Wet a shoe brush with water. Squirt a few drops of saddle soap on the scrub brush. Use enough soap to create lather.
- Scrub the first leather shoe thoroughly. Make sure clean the interior as well as the exterior of the shoe. Scrub the second shoe in the same manner.
- Apply isopropyl alcohol on a clean cloth. Make sure the alcohol is 70 percent isopropyl. The cloth should be soaked with alcohol. Squeeze a small amount of the alcohol out of the cloth.
- Rub the first shoes with the alcohol soaked cloth. Wipe the inside and outside of the shoe. Wipe the second shoe in the same manner. Add more alcohol to the cloth if it is needed.
- Crumple up newspaper. Place the newspaper inside each of the shoes. Make sure the newspaper is packed tightly. Allow the shoes to sit for 48 hours with the newspaper in them. Remove the newspaper.
- Apply leather conditioner to a clean cloth. Work the leather conditioner into leather shoes. Work in circular motions and apply a little pressure.