SHOE CARE

MAINTAINING TOAST FOOTWEAR

As Toast likes to use natural leathers in our shoe products you will notice subtle variations in colour or texture; these are not faults, but part of the quality of the skin.

Before exposure to moisture, you can apply leather/suede protector to your shoes or boots (we recommend Scotchgard) to prevent rain marking the leather. However, many scuffs and marks can be renovated by lovingly polishing with the correct products - your footwear will look all the better for it.

Many of our shoes and boots are made with leather soles which provide a beautiful finish but may be a little slippery until they are well worn in. Do take extra care when walking, especially on stairs. Leather soles are a natural product and are porous in wet conditions. Leave wet shoes to dry naturally (never by artificial heat). The addition of a rubber sole and heel pieces by a cobbler will help extend the life of your leather soles and will provide extra protection.

When you're not wearing your shoes or boots stuff them with tissue or newspaper to help keep their shape.

Here we have provided some basic care guidelines to take into consideration when caring for your Toast footwear.

POLISHED LEATHER (INCLUDING PATENT)

Clean with a neutral cream polish or a correctly matched traditional coloured polish. We recommend Kiwi shoe polish which comes in a range of colours. Apply with a soft brush and polish off with a different soft brush. A final shine can be given by buffing with a soft cloth.

MATT LEATHER

Be sure to never use a polish on this leather because you will make it shiny. Instead, we recommend using a saddle soap to clean your matt leather footwear. A good saddle soap is Belvoir Glycerine.

First clean the footwear with a damp sponge to remove any dirt and allow to dry. When dry, take a very slightly damp sponge and rub it on the saddle soap to get a covering of very slightly soapy residue that you can then apply (if your sponge is too wet, the soap will get very foamy and the final effect will not be so good). Then leave to dry naturally.

NB: Scratches can easily be removed using Nivea hand cream, but please contact customer service for more information.

FABRIC

Fabric footwear cannot be cleaned in the normal way, but it can be protected from marks by treating the fabric with Scotchgard and small marks may be removed with a damp cloth.

Through the course of time, fabric footwear with a metallic finish may show some signs of fading - usually around the areas where they have most wear and tear. To care for your metallic footwear, we advise to clean using a damp cloth to wipe off any dirt.

NB: Take care when wearing fabric footwear in the rain as the effect could be irreversible.

SUEDE & SHEEPSKIN

We don't advise the use of a wire suede brush to clean your suede and sheepskin footwear as many of these brushes are far too stiff, and can mark the fine skins that we have selected. Instead you can use steam to renovate your footwear.

Hold the skin in a jet of steam and use a stiff, clean shoe brush to raise the nap of the suede and to remove small marks. Take great care with this as steam can scald. When you have gone over the entire surface of the footwear, stuff the inside with some newspaper or tissue to re-shape nicely and leave to dry naturally.

Very stubborn suede marks can be tackled successfully with a good suede shampoo, suede sponge or by rubbing with a clean India rubber when dry.

NB: With deep, rich colours it is possible that there may be some colour transfer, so please do not wear with pale trousers.

For further information about individual care, contact customer services on 0844 557 0460 or email contact@toast.co.uk


Toast Shoe Care - Print Version