With good care, leather shoes can be worn for a lifetime and thus represent a long-term investment. Even though leather is durable, it is nevertheless sensitive to temperature changes, water, moisture... and also to everyday city life with pavements, subways and bicycle pedals. Anyone who has ever left the house with a brand new pair of leather shoes knows the disappointing feeling when the first scratches and scuffs appear on the toe of the shoe.

Despite your best efforts, these scratches on the leather are often inevitable. But there's no need to worry: minor scratches and scuffs can easily be covered up. If the scratches on your leather shoe are only superficial, you don't even need to take it to the cobbler! Here you will learn step by step how to give your leather shoes and bags a new shine with simple means. Now your precision and patience are needed!

⁰¹ Step 1: Clean the scratched area

First of all, your shoes must be clean to ensure that the repairs are effective and that dust does not penetrate the leather. If you want to keep your leather shoes for as long as possible, cleaning your shoes is an essential ritual. Use a standard or micro-fibre cloth to remove any traces, stains or dust. Repeat the step as often as necessary.

⁰² Step 2: Use a nourishing cream for shoes

Once the surface of your shoe has been cleaned and the dust removed, the application of a soft cream for smooth leather can be very effective in masking the scratch. The cream will clean, protect and add shine to your leather shoes. The fatty substance will also remove any traces of old cleaning products. Finally, this step is intended to moisturise the leather, thus preventing cracking.

Choose a cream that penetrates quickly and apply it gently with a round brush in circular movements. Let it soak in for a few minutes. Use only a small amount of cream each time: it is better to moisturise the leather gradually than to apply a large amount at once. Treat the entire shoe and not just the scratches with the cream to avoid irregularities in the colour.

⁰³ Step 3: Focus on colour

For one-coloured shoes: the essential choice of cream

Shoe cream is perfect for covering a small scratch on leather. The tricky part is finding a cream colour that perfectly matches the shade of your shoe. Our tip: If you're hesitating between two colours, go for the lighter shade. If you haven't used the colour before, it's a good idea to test it on a small, discreet area of the shoe first to make sure it matches the original colour.

Once you have selected the correct shoe cream, apply it to the area to be repaired with a clean, dry cloth, starting from the centre of the scratch and working outwards. The shoe cream will also give your shoes a new shine from the first application.

For multi-coloured shoes: choose a neutral shoe cream

To make the scratch less visible or even disappear completely, apply a colourless shoe cream to the leather. Work it into all scratched areas with a round brush. Apply light to medium pressure with circular movements to penetrate the grease into the leather: the aim is to soften the edges of the scratch.

⁰⁴ Step 4: Finally make your shoes shine with a brush or polishing glove

Polish your shoes with a brush or cloth! When the shoe polish is completely dry, you can use a shining brush, always in a circular motion. For extra shiny effect, you can also use a polishing glove. Thanks to the lambswool, the glove polishes your shoes and protects them, so they look like new.

To avoid scratches in the future, it is important to care for your leather shoes regularly. While it is impossible to avoid scratches altogether, proper care can ensure that your pair of leather shoes lasts a lifetime. Therefore, our tip is to care for your shoes at least once a month!