Stevens tips for caring for your shoes are:
- Don’t be scared of a shoe no matter the colour or fabric
- Try to moisturize the shoe aswell as polishing, don’t moisturize with a brush as you need to penetrate the leather and will only achieve this by rubbing the cream into the leather.
- Use a leather cream that doesn’t contain silicone and is preferably Beeswax or mink oil based. I use a combination of Creme Surfine and Renovateur from Saphir which act as cleansers aswell as conditioners and Artist Palette from Bootblack in Japan.
- Buff off the cream after leaving a couple of mins to dry.
- Avoid the off the shelf quick shine sponges because they dry the leather and leave a skin which slowly suffocates the leather
- Concentrate on the side of the soles and back of heels as much as the uppers
- Use a toothbrush to clean the welts as this removes all hidden dust and dirt
- Add your polish, preferably a wax and oil based polish with low chemical content, build up one layer at a time, let it dry then add another and try to get a smooth application.I use Saphir Medaille d’or.
- Build up the layers from the toe in a circular motion and blend into the welt and sides of the shoe.
- For every three layers that you add on the toe and heel add one layer on the rest of the shoe to avoid cracking etc.
- Certain shoes can take more polish than others and all shoes take more polish on the toe cap and heels so remember the 3 to 1 rule.
- On very soft leather do the same process but lower the amount of layers or use a creme based polish the best being from Saphir and Bootblack in many varying colours.
- Once you see a gloss under the wax finish with a pair of stockings
- I use 60 denier but anything above 40 will produce a wonderful finish.
Check out our YouTube tutorial for a more in-depth explanation on getting that perfect shine.

