HOW TO CLEAN YOUR BABY SHOES

A question you often ask is "How do we clean shoes" ?

 

 

Our soft soles are designed for indoor use mainly but can be worn outside when used lightly .

 

What does lightly mean ?

It means outside on the deck or patio. On pavements and other hard dry surfaces . They can be worn on dry grass on a Sunny day . We recommend that you avoid getting shoes wet or muddy .

 

Protecting little feet.

When your baby starts crawling and exploring the great outdoors their little feet are protected as they navigate different surfaces such as grass, decks ,concrete patios. If you think about it when babies learn to crawl feet are dragged across these surfaces so expect them to get scuffed and worn through use. We know that if a baby is using a walker on hard surfaces such as concrete the continuous dragging can cause holes. It's then time to replace as the shoes have done their job in protection and done it well .

 

Cleaning tips

Inch Blue soft soles are made from soft leather uppers and the soles are suede . We sometimes use suede as an upper and on the motifs. As they are worn they will get dirty ....it's surprising where little feet get and what grime they collect .

 

SUEDE SOLES .

We recommend using a suede brush on the suede parts ie soles and motifs. Do NOT use a suede brush on the leathers uppers as it will cause damage.

LEATHER UPPERS

A damp cloth can be used safely on the leather uppers and will wash away dirt and grime that has built up through use. Our customers recommend a wet wipe too ...we've tried it and they work !

PRINTED LEATHER.

We recommend you use a clean damp cloth only. Do NOT use wipes. 

 

What should you do if your shoes get wet ?

Dry them naturally ....put newspaper or tissue inside them so they retain their shape and air dry. Do not put them on radiators as they will dry hard. If they feel hard when they have dried just use suede brush on soles and roll shoes with your fingers to gently soften them. A leather conditioner can help soften them .

 

Can we wash in a washing machine ?

NO. We don't recommend that you do as they can shrink and also lose colour which can bleed into the rest of the wash .

ACCIDENTS  I often mistakenly washed my babies shoes when they wore tights (you know when you pull tights off they end up inside out ). Because they had gone through a detergent wash they dried hard but I still used them. Suede brush again on soles and I used some leather conditioner to soften. 

 

Smelly Stuff

It happens ....baby vomit , poo ....stepping in poo . Can shoes be saved ?

If this happens there is only one solution if you don't want to throw them away . Put your rubber gloves on ....(I find disinfectant on tissue in both nostrils essential !!) and wash in warm water until they are clean ...then wash vigourously in disinfectant or washing powder.. Let them air dry naturally with tissue inside ..When dry smell them and if you are happy it's a good result. The shoes will shrink slightly and be hard ...use suede brush on soles and leather conditioner to help soften . Hope this helps . If you have any other questions or need advice drop us an email hello@inchblue.com

 

Happy Cleaning !

 

Rhi xx