Winter TipsA plan to winterize your footwear and keep your feet warm and dry.
When you think about winter, you are thinking wet snow, or ice,
(weather-proofing, and slipping) What is weatherproofing? When we say waterproof/weatherproof it
is not keeping you feet dry necessarily, but protecting your leather
shoes and boots against the wet-dry-wet-dry cycle. Some of the
oilier products do seem to make your feet drier because it blocks
the pores of the leather for a period of time. Some kinds of construction
seems to keep your feet dry longer. Rubber boots will also protect
your shoes, and there are insoles that we sell that help keep
your feet warm also. Installing a rubber sole that some people
call a sole-guard helps against slipping and keeps thin leather
soles drier, thus keeping your feet warmer. Try not to buy vinyl
soles because they can be very slippery. When your shoes are weather proofed, they don't dry out hard and
dry. When you notice that your shoes are staying wet longer, that
could be the signal that you need to weatherproof you shoes again.
In harsh conditions, you will have to apply the products more
often, maybe as often as once a week in the worst part of the
winter. When you have the kind of leather shoes that you wear for dress,
or casual, you can apply liquid silicone, or spray silicone on
the surface of your shoes, and welt area to keep your shoes from
getting too water logged. If they are a light color, stay away
from silicone products, and oil products, because they may darken
your shoes. Food for thought, it has been told by many army men
that a well polished shoe works to keep your feet dry, so take
that to heart, and keep your footwear around for a long time. If you have work boots and shoes, you can use many brands of oil and paste, to weather proof them. Oils may darken but the sprays may also if it is a silicone base. The oil does have a tendency to also block the pores of the leather, and that alone can make the shoes warmer.
Suede shoes require a suede formula of a water repellent We also
carry a suede shampoo and suede renew colors to freshen up the
look of your suede shoes. Suede leather is a higher maintenance
kind of leather. We advise you to always clean them every time
you come in from out side Always have a suede brush or suede stone/eraser
handy to clean off foreign particles immediately as soon as you
get home If they are wet, let them dry, and then brush them and
if they were really wet, it might not hurt to re-spray them with
the suede protector before you wear them again. Cedar shoe trees in your shoes and boots allow your wet shoes to dry naturally, and keep their shape. When your shoes dry without shoe trees, the wrinkles will become permanent, and destroy the look and life of the your footwear.
We also have chains that you can put on your shoes or boots to
help guard against slipping or falling. We don’t suggest shoe
chains or ice grippers for people who already have trouble with
picking up their feet, as the chains or ice grippers may grab
too much and cause you to trip and fall. Installing non slip soles (also know as sole-guards) on both leather or vinyl soles can be effective to enable you to walk better without slipping. ..We also have the sure foot anti slip guards that you can stick on leather or rubber soles. (They don't stick well on plastic or vinyl soles) If you have Vinyl or plastic soles, you should have us install anti slip soles that requires the use of vinyl glue that is availiable at most shoe repair shops.. 591 N. Hamline Ave St. Paul Minnesota 55104 |