I love snow in its powdery form. When it starts melting and turns into a nasty and slushy brew, there is not much fun about it.

When snow melts in the city, it becomes a horrible blend of water; rock salt; calcium chloride (this is another type of salt found in deicer products with the ability to absorb a great deal of liquid and therefore works much more efficiently than rock salt when it comes to clearing snow and ice from sidewalks, streets, and roadways); dissolved oil, grease, and heavy metals (roadways and motor vehicles are considered to be one of the largest sources of heavy metals. Zinc, copper, and lead are three of the most common heavy metals released from road travel. On the road surface, most heavy metals become bound to the surfaces of road dust and during precipitation, the bound metals will either become soluble [dissolved] or be swept off the roadway with the water/snow/ice); dirt; all other possible impurities found on the city roads and sidewalks.

If these materials are left on your footwear for extended periods of time, they will damage your shoes and boots permanently.

When I watch fellow New Yorkers to see how they navigate the sidewalk slush and slush puddles the size their studio apartments, I see many different techniques that are more or less efficient. But one thing is for sure: You’re not going anywhere in the city with dry shoes or boots as there are so many invisible puddles everywhere! You may think that it’s just going to be an inch or two, and it goes all the way up to your knees. There are no snow boots that can save you from such deep ponds – not even your designer over-the-knee boots!

All salts will cause damage to leather and suede footwear through their corrosive properties if left untreated. The leather, suede, and shearling (as found in most UGGs boots) surfaces will be damaged, shrink, crack, and become hard to the touch.

The easiest way to protect your leather footwear from permanent damage is to clean any items that have salt on them as soon as possible and condition them to replenish the softness of the leather. I am not even getting into suede or shearling as they should not be worn in slush anyways even though I see way too many UGG-whores trying to walk in the slushy streets with their UGGs soaked up to their ankles looking like wet loaves of bread!

Each day, when I come home, huf is tasked with cleaning, conditioning, and polishing of my leather boots. They look great (and sometimes better than when they were new) after an hour or so of TLC and are ready for me. I always wear a different pair of boots each day and never wear the same pair on two consecutive days as to preserve the leather and let them breathe.

I asked huf to take pictures when he was cleaning my Elie Tahari leather knee-high boots so that I can prepare a tutorial on how he cleans, conditions, and polishes my boots and also share with you, which products he uses. Below is the step-by-step tutorial on how to clean off the salt from your boots and make them shine like the very first day you wore them.

With the winter of 2011 becoming one the snowiest in decades, it would be a good idea to clean your leather footwear to avoid permanent and costly damage.

Goddess Tasha

My leather Elie Tahari boots - still wet

1- This is how my beloved Elie Tahari leather boots look after one day wear in NYC. In this picture, the boots are still wet and are covered with salt etc.

My boots after they are dry

2- This is how my boots look after they are dry. I did not even walk more than a couple of blocks in them and you see how bad they look.

Products you need to clean, condition and polish

3- These are all you need to clean, condition and polish your leather boots.

KIWI saddle soap

4- First, you must remove all the salt residue and dirt using a wet cloth and let the boots dry. Then you apply KIWI saddle soap with a moist cloth. You should first develop lather and then rub this well into the leather. Repeat procedure until you clean the surface. Then let the leather dry and buff with a soft cloth.

Fiebling's Distressed Leather Conditioner

5- Once you finish the saddle soap application and the boots are dry, then you can apply the leather conditioner. huf uses Fiebling’s Distressed Leather Conditioner. It removes deep scuff marks and restores original boot texture while softening the leather. Rub conditioner well into the leather using a soft cloth. Allow to stand on leather minimum 10 minutes. then buff boots with a soft bristle horsehair brush. Apply the conditioner to the whole boot at one time.

Tarrago Professional Shoe Cream

6- Once the boots are cleaned and conditioned, you can use a professional shoe cream (huf uses Tarrago Professional Self Shine Shoe Cream). This brand is good as it has natural waxes that nourishes the leather surface while giving a deep shine. Allow to dry. Then brush softly with a horsehair brush.

Angelus brand acrylic sole & heel enamel

7- The next step is the application of an acrylic sole and heel enamel. huf uses Angelus brand for this purpose. Use a Q-tip to apply the enamel to the soles and heels and let it dry to a rich gloss. This enamel will make your heels and soles water resistant.

Horsehair brush

8- The last step is to brush the whole boot with a soft horsehair brush to a high gloss. You should take your time (huf is taking 10-15 minutes per boot) and make sure that you treat the entire surface of the boot.

My boots look as good as new – for now! All this work and they will look like the first picture after only one day in NYC slush!

I don’t mind since it’s huf’s job to take care of my shoes and boots. And he will start working on them as soon as I take them off

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©2012 Only High Heels. All Rights Reserved.

I am very much into studded shoes and boots right now.

I’ve just bought a pair of lovely Loubs (Pigalle 100) for my shoe collection and I love them.  They are just gorgeous (see pics below).

There are some other nice examples of studded shoes and boots that I would like to purchase (see pics below) in the near future, which are not too extreme that I cannot wear them daily-like Rodarte studded shoes by Louboutin [although I love them as well!!] Right now, I need shoes and boots that complement my business attire and that can be worn everyday.

But anyway, I will cover that in a future post about studded shoes and boots more in detail. 

The BootBitch

©2012 Only High Heels. All Rights Reserved.