Sequence and features of cleaning nubuck shoes, care rules

Author of the article

Svetlana Pavlikhina

Reading time: 5 minutes

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People often prefer nubuck shoes, but proper care is necessary to maintain their appearance. Many people do not know how to clean nubuck shoes at home.

You can purchase special products in stores or use improvised ones. It is permissible to store such shoes only after preliminary cleaning.

Next we will talk about the advantages and disadvantages of such shoes, how to clean them, and how to store them properly.

What is nubuck

This is leather with a fine pile, it is made using special processing and dressing, in the process chrome tanning and polishing are carried out.

There are three types of this material:

1. Natural.
2. Artificial.
3. Oil.

Most often, stores offer shoes made from natural nubuck, the leather of large animals processed in a special way.

The following advantages of the material are highlighted:

• The surface allows oxygen to pass through well, which has a beneficial effect on the health of the skin of the feet. The material does not contribute to sweating of the skin in summer, and retains heat well in winter.
• Shoes made of nubuck retain their original appearance for a long time and wear well, although they require proper care and storage, since the material is demanding on the environment.
• The product looks elegant and harmonizes perfectly with any clothing.

Store salespeople usually conceal that the material does not tolerate moisture, and for an unknowing person this becomes an unpleasant surprise. If you wear nubuck shoes without prior preparation, their appearance will deteriorate quite quickly, as the material becomes unusable.

Washing, mode and temperature in an automatic machine

High-quality sneakers made of fabric or synthetic materials tolerate machine washing well. But there are a few rules:

• Prepare as before hand washing: remove the removable parts, clean the sole from large contaminants.
• Place the sneakers in a special bag made of thick fabric.
• If there is no program for washing sports shoes, set it to “Delicate” or “Hand Wash”.
• The temperature should not exceed 30–40 degrees. For colored products it should be lower than for white ones.
• Add an extra rinse.
• Turn off spin and automatic drying.
• Do not wash shoes with other items.
• Do not put more than two pairs in the car.

Use of purchased products and devices

Sprays, brushes and other products for regular leather are absolutely not suitable for caring for nubuck.

It is necessary to purchase special cleaning products:

• Double-sided brush. On one side there are soft fibers, on the other there are metal ones. The tool allows you to remove dirt without much difficulty, and does not spoil the material. It is recommended to purchase two brushes: one to keep at home, the second to use as a travel brush, so that it is always at hand.
• Special eraser. It removes dirt from the fibers well; it is most convenient to use it on light-colored shoes, which are more difficult to care for. You should not replace this tool with a stationery eraser; it has a different structure and is completely unsuitable.
• Shampoo. It is not required to be used frequently; complete cleaning is required several times a year.
• Special impregnation. Perfectly protects products from precipitation (snow, rain). The product must be applied at home, which will give it the opportunity to be absorbed before going outside.

When caring for nubuck shoes, you must first clean them with a double-sided brush. It will remove dirt not only on the material itself, but in the seams . Then you need to apply a spray that matches the color. In wet weather, it is recommended to additionally use a water-repellent spray.

These simple steps can quickly restore a more attractive appearance to a couple. Before purchasing products, you need to make sure that they are really suitable for this material.

Can sneakers be washed?

The main dangers of improper washing: shoes can lose their original appearance and even become unstuck. Therefore, when choosing a method and means for washing, it is important to take into account the quality of the shoes and the materials from which they are made.

There are two washing methods:

• manually;
• in the washing machine.

Many sneaker manufacturers do not recommend machine washing.

The difficulty here is the combination of materials: rubber or foam, fabric, leather or leatherette, glue. In addition, the machine itself may be damaged.

Do not machine wash your sneakers if they:

• have glued elements, uneven seams, signs of poor quality production;
• made of leather;
• decorated with decorative elements or reflectors that can easily come off;
• heavily worn or damaged: protruding foam can clog the washing machine filter.

For such shoes, manual cleaning is used.

Using Home Remedies to Clean Nubuck Shoes

If there is heavy soiling, it is better to have the item dry cleaned, but this option is not always available.

In such cases, you can deal with contamination at home using various methods:

1. Ammonia. With its help, salt stains that regularly appear during winter walks are perfectly removed. It is necessary to prepare a solution by taking 4 parts of ammonia and one part of water. The resulting liquid easily removes stains; it is advisable to hold the shoes over the steam, this will allow the villi to straighten. The material requires treatment with a tinting spray.
2. Vinegar does an excellent job of removing stains on delicate materials. You need to mix one spoon of this product in a liter of water. Using the resulting solution, use a swab to clean the shoes from dirt, hold them over steam so that the villi straighten, clean with a brush, and treat with a spray.
3. Kitchen salt is great for removing grease stains. It is enough to rub them with fine salt, and then treat the pair with a wet cloth. Then dry and clean with a special metal brush.
4. You can clean the material with pieces of stale bread or an eraser.

There are a number of tricks for restoring shoes:

• To touch up problem areas or update color, copy paper is used. This method has been used for a long time; even our grandmothers often resorted to its help.
• If you need to clean a brown surface, you can use coffee grounds.
• To straighten the pile, you can hold the product over steam or use simple sandpaper.

In order to clean nubuck shoes, you should not wash them under running water; this will adversely affect the material. Washing with soap will completely ruin the product.

Handwash

Preparatory stage:

1. Remove the insoles, laces and all removable parts.
2. Clean the sole under running water. You can use an old toothbrush to remove small stones and dried dirt.
3. Dissolve a suitable detergent in a bowl of warm water (30–40 degrees).
4. Soak your sneakers for a few minutes.

After preparation, you can proceed directly to washing.

1. Take a foam sponge or soft brush.
2. Soak the brush in the detergent solution.
3. Rub the inside and then the outside of the shoe.
4. Finally, wash your soles.

Follow a few more rules:

• Be careful with decorative pieces so as not to tear them off.
• Try to protect metal elements from moisture so that they do not rust.
• If the water becomes dirty quickly, change it often.
• You need to rinse your sneakers 4-5 times using cool water.
• You can rinse your shoes with running water.
• Do not allow detergent to remain in the material.

Soap solution

To clean sneakers, you can use a solution of regular laundry soap.

1. Add shavings of solid or several doses of liquid laundry soap to a bowl of water.
2. Wait until the product is completely dissolved and soap foam appears.
3. Keep particulate matter out of your sneakers.

You should not soap your shoes with a whole bar of soap - stains may remain on the surface, which will be difficult to get rid of.

Liquid soap

Liquid hand soap can handle moderate stains. It is also better to first dissolve this product in water and apply it to sneakers in the form of foam. You can apply a little soap to a damp brush for cleaning.

Household chemicals

• When washing sneakers, it is better to use liquid detergents and gels.
• If you decide to wash with powder, wait until the particles are completely dissolved in warm water.
• Choose the product according to the color of your shoes. There are special gels for white, colored and black products.
• Use mild, neutral products that do not contain chlorine.
• Oxygen bleach may be suitable for washing white sneakers.
• For hard water, add softeners.

How to remove greasy marks

Removing greasy stains from nubuck shoes is an extremely difficult task.

You can use special methods:

• Using salt (the cleaning method was described above).
• Using starch for cleaning, then treating with a special brush.
• Grease and oil stains are easily removed from white nubuck with starch and talcum powder, after which the products are cleaned with a brush.

To remove such contaminants, you can use gasoline . You have to be careful because it can ruin the material, leaving streaks. If this happens, you need to rub the damaged areas with the metal side of the brush and paint over them with spray paint for suede and nubuck.

Material properties

Nubuck is a special type of leather. Outwardly it resembles suede. But, its production is carried out using different methods than the processing of glossy and matte leather. Namely, these processes form the final price of products made from this material.

Nubuck is the end result of processing the leather of animals belonging to small livestock. In contrast, suede is obtained from large grains. There is also an artificial alternative to the material in question.

Products made from this material look elegant and aesthetically pleasing. Its disadvantage is expressed in “whimsicalness”. A drop of dirt or unfavorable weather conditions can ruin the presentation once and for all. Therefore, you need to take proper care of these shoes.

Features of cleaning shoes made of light nubuck

You cannot use any method to clean shoes made of light nubuck. You can use starch or talc, a solution of water with ammonia, then dry it, straighten the pile and treat it with paint or shoe polish on top.

You can use a damp sponge to remove salt stains. Then dry the shoes and apply a water-repellent spray.

Any cleaning method must be carried out in advance, and not just before leaving, since drying is an important step in caring for the material.

Advantages

Modern material is gaining more and more popularity among shoe manufacturers, and the market demand for such products is growing.

The following main advantages of the material can be identified:

• Pleasant to the touch;
• Performs well the function of thermal insulation;
• Does not stretch during wear, like, for example, genuine leather;
• Does not become hard in the cold;
• It lasts a long time and is not prone to cracking.

If you do not ignore the rules for cleaning capricious shoes, you can significantly extend their service life and save a lot of money.

Artificial synthetic nubuck repels moisture well during rain, however, it does not cope well with what is called “foot breathing.”

Another type of material based on nubuck is Nubuck-oil, a variety in the production of which oil was used. With oiled material, moisture permeability decreases, and the wear resistance of shoes increases significantly. The only drawback is that the products weigh a little more.

Dry and wet cleaning

When using shoes in wet weather, you need to take into account that they must be dried after wearing, and this will take several hours. It is not recommended to clean after coming home from the street; you need to give the couple time to adapt to room temperature.

It is worth resorting to the help of a brush; using water is strictly prohibited. It is better to clean the sole using the dry method . If this method does not give the desired results, you can use a damp cloth, but make sure that water does not get on the material of the product.

Wet cleaning of stains should be carried out when dirt appears that cannot be removed using a dry method. After the procedure, shoes should be thoroughly dried.

Using a special shampoo does not lead to streaks and cleanses the skin well, but it is often not recommended to use it. It is advisable to carry out the procedures at the beginning and end of the wearing season.

When using a coloring spray, you need to take into account that the product is quickly absorbed and dries, so the treatment must be carried out quickly.

Then it is advisable to straighten the pile with the metal side of the brush; it is advisable to do this in advance, since if you do everything immediately before leaving the house, the material will be more sensitive to dirt.

Basic rules of care

• Take regular care of your shoes. This means that shoes, boots, and shoes should be cleaned after each wear.

• Proceed with cleaning only after the shoes are thoroughly dry.

• Avoid getting wet or getting moisture deep inside the material.

• Dry items in natural conditions without using heating devices.

• Apply a special impregnation to the surface of the shoes, which forms a waterproof and dirt-repellent film.

Is it possible to clean wet nubuck shoes?

It is not recommended to clean wet nubuck; it is advisable to dry it, and it is better to do this at natural temperature or using a special dryer; exposure to heating devices has a bad effect on the material.

When drying shoes, it is recommended to use newspapers that need to be stuffed inside. This technique ensures uniform drying and the shoes are not deformed.

If the pair is made of artificial material, then wet cleaning is possible, but washing is not recommended.

Color restoration

The special tinting sprays mentioned above will help you restore and maintain the color of your product. And also, often, impregnation for nubuck has a wide range of colors to choose from for your product; buy not transparent, but colored impregnation.

For some, it will always seem too difficult to care for, but in fact, the main thing is to remember a few basic rules:

1. Clean every day.
2. Treat with moisture-repellent impregnation.
3. Wipe only dry and use special brushes for nubuck.
4. Do not wipe with a damp washcloth.

Following these simple rules will help you keep it in perfect condition. Such shoes are an expensive pleasure; they are made from high-quality materials and require attention, but with proper care they will serve you for years!