Shoe care for beginners (I) – Smooth Leather shoes

Everybody wears shoes but not everybody knows well about how to take care of them after they have left the shoebox. Everybody has a favourite pair, the one that suits you for any occasion. So, in order to make those shoes last a regular care is needed. As you may know, different materials require different products to maintain them. In this post you will find easy and basic steps to take regular care of your smooth leather shoes, this will keep them not only clean and shiny but well nourished.

Three easy steps will maintain the good look of your smooth leather shoes:

1. First, remove the dust and dirt of your shoes with a cloth.
2. Then apply the Tarrago Shoe Cream or the Tarrago Shoe Polish (any of them will work), choose the right color and follow the applying instructions in each case.
3. Finally, shine your shoes with a cloth and you are ready!

The second step is the one that you have to pay a little more attention. Either you choose or have at hand the Tarrago Shoe Cream or the Polish, both will clean, nourish, ensure waterproof, and shine the leather. The Cream will enhance the colour and the Polish will help to maintain the flexibility of the leather, both are good for regular care. Here you will find a more detailed description of these products and will learn how to apply them:

The Tarrago Shoe Cream is a soft-wax based cream, including carnauba wax, which nourishes, maintains, shines, enhances the colour and ensures waterproof protection. This product is available in more than 50 colours. To choose the right one, we recommend to purchase it in a physical store so you can compare the colour of the shoes with the available ones and choose the one that best matches.

How to apply:

Use a small amount of cream with a cloth and spread it evenly and let dry for one minute so the wax can penetrate the leather. At last, shine the shoe with a cloth.

The Tarrago Shoe Polish is a pigmented wax-based polish based on three types of natural waxes (30% of total waxes). It contains beeswax, which nourishes and softens the leather; carnauba wax, which provides a lasting shine and ensures waterproof protection and mineral waxes, to help the waterproofing and protection of leather. These waxes are dissolved in a natural solvent, the turpentine, which helps to clean, lubricate and nourish the leather. Its high concentration of pigments provides great coverage, protection and nourishment to the leather. The Polish is available in black, brown and colourless.

How to apply:

We recommend that you follow the “SPIT SHINE” system to obtain the maximum shine. This system works as follows:
1. Spread a medium-thick layer of polish paste over the area of the shoe to be spit shined. Let it dry for 5 or 10 minutes.
2. Wrap a soft, clean cloth around your index finger so that it is smooth and without wrinkles. Alternately, you can use a cotton ball. Dip your finger or the cotton ball into a water container. The cloth/cotton should be wet but not dripping.
3. Buff the dried polish by using a circular motion with the cloth/cotton, until the wax starts to become shiny. Still with the damp cloth on your finger, apply a fine layer of polish and keep rubbing lightly in a circular motion until a hazy shine develops. Keep on applying thin layers of polish with the damp cloth/cotton, buffing them in the same way.
4. When the shoe is highly glossed, use a clean dry soft cloth or a shining brush to give it a final buff.

If you are feeling more enthusiast about starting to take care of your shoes, we can suggest two extra products to include in your shoe care routine for those days that you need to ensure waterproof protection or need shiny shoes in just one spray. We are talking about the Tarrago Universal Protector and the Tarrago Instant Shine, both colorless sprays.

The Universal Protector

acts as a repellent for water and dirt, it respects the colors and breathability of the leather. The Instant Shine provides a brilliant finish and improves instantly the leather appearance, reviving worn out colors by the sunlight or the use over time. For applying both of them, first clean the surface with a cloth, apply the spray, and let the shoes get dry.

So, are you getting more and more enthusiastic about starting to take care of your smooth leather shoes? Now you know how: remove the dust and dirt, apply the Tarrago Shoe Cream or Polish, and shine them after. Easy!!

Get the products and go for it!! You won’t regret it!