Cleaning white leather shoes

[Insidious2]

bleach?

What's the best way to get back the original bright white for leather shoes? Some have said 1 to 1 water/bleach mix, others have said toothpaste..

What do you think? My sleds need a pick me up

[Dr_evil]

I'd say go for the toothpaste first as bleach could ruin the leather

[cpriceAP2]

Bleach will definately dry out leather. Be careful.

[Exerve]

toothpaste should do the job

[Deerslayer]

~Toothpaste~ works like a champ

[larrybud]

[quote name='Rugger' date='18 July 2010 - 12:17 PM' timestamp='1279469824' post='2583535']
What's the best way to get back the original bright white for leather shoes? Some have said 1 to 1 water/bleach mix, others have said toothpaste..

What do you think? My sleds need a pick me up
[/quote]

Try some Murphy's Oil Soap. Works great for getting grass stains out.

[Brad G.]

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

[MoonMullins]

Well....
It may sound strange, but cheap shave cream (barbasol) will gently clean the shoes, remove grass stains and condition the leather...honest, give it a try.
It it also what the club house guys use to clean and condition baseball gloves.

-Mike

[CaledoniaKid]

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

There was a similar thread here a while back...shampoo on a toothbrush for the creases, works great! Probably the same idea as the above post, because this hint came from the Oakland A's system and their white cleats.

[mtsmith]

[quote name='MoonMullins' date='18 July 2010 - 07:30 PM' timestamp='1279499416' post='2584471']
Well....
It may sound strange, but cheap shave cream (barbasol) will gently clean the shoes, remove grass stains and condition the leather...honest, give it a try.
It it also what the club house guys use to clean and condition baseball gloves.

-Mike
[/quote]


+1, used to use that on my baseball gloves all the time, now my golf shoes.


on a side, I use toothpaste occasionally as well

[saleamua]

+1 on the shaving cream, particularly Barbasol. Great for stripping down the leather and building it back up for a spit shine--works great for black leather as well--lotsa practice during my military days...

[XJared]

Toothpaste first, then Magic Eraser for anything the toothpaste doesn't get off.

[courserecordmaker23]

try hot water and just a wash cloth first, with a little elbow grease

[Solutions Etcetera]

Magic Erasers and Toothpaste are abrasive and will scratch the leather (if it is still in good shape)… so this might not be what you want to do. Bleach will attack the finish of the leather and cause it to dry and crack down the road.

Now I have no experience with shaving cream so that may just be the cat's meow, but what I use is a product called Lexol that is available from local tack shops. They make an excellent cleaner (Lexol-Ph), and a dressing (Lexol) that does a wonderful job of conditioning and preserving leather. I use it on shoes and furniture and it is the best. Lots of folks use it on hundreds if not thousands of dollars of saddles and other tack, so you can be sure it is not going to harm your shoes. Considering you can pick up a half liter of both the cleaner and the conditioner for around twenty bucks (which will last you years), it seems a no brainer.

You could also get yourself a tin of saddle soap, which I think will be better than most alternatives suggested above, but like all soaps is high in alkali and can cause some discoloration, especially in lite tanned leather (white). And, after using any kind of soap, I would recommend using a conditioner/preservative like Lexol or a good quality neutral shoe or boot dressing from someone like Kiwi, which will replenish some of the natural oils soap will strip away.

My 2¢ from a shoe and leather furniture ho.