Five Crazy Tips to Make Your Shoes Last Longer and Look like New

Remember when everyone knew a few shoe cleaning tips and used them regularly? Remember when caring for your shoes was part of your daily routine? No? Well, you must not be as old as I am. Anyway, in today's economy, it pays to make your shoes (and everything else) last as long as possible. Plus, your Mom was right. People really do look at your shoes. Here's five ways to put your best shoes forward.

Shine vinyl or patent leather with chapped lip medicine. What's the point of wearing shiny happy shoes if they're all covered with dust and grime? For a quick fix, look to that tube of petroleum jelly you keep in your purse. You know, the one that you roll on your chapped lips? Just squeeze it onto a clean paper towel and rub those shoes until they shine. Other forms of lip medicine work well too.

Use furniture polish for leather shoe cleaning and care. Lemon oil cleans darkened leather. Sometimes shoes darken with use. Don't throw them away. This is usually caused by oily or greasy build up. How do you remove grease? With citrus oil. The oil nourishes them, while the lemon cleans them. It's just like polishing your wood floors or furniture.

Olive, mineral or vegetable oil shines up the shiny. If you're at home, it's easy to find a shoeshine product. Forget about that messy black shoe polish though. It makes a mess out of dress slacks. You want your clothes to last long, too. Olive mineral and vegetable oils can protect your leather shoes without the mess. They're cheaper than mink oil and a more humane shoe care choice.

Buy shoe inserts before you need them. What's a great way to get shoes to last? Buy the little cushioned odor blocking soles when you buy your shoes. Get a couple pair so you're ahead of the game. When shoes get stinky, just change them out, rather than having to buy a whole new pair. Insert newspaper overnight as proactive shoe care too.

An art gum eraser erases stains on those blue suede shoes. Who knew? I actually learned this as a teenager. In high school, I took as many art classes as I could. I loved to draw and sometimes wrote on my blue jeans. In a moment of inspiration, I once drew a masterpiece on a new pair of suede shoes. Panicking, I grabbed the first thing I could find to erase the marks. That art gum eraser worked wonderfully to keep me from having to explain my actions to my folks.

More from this contributor:

Five Strange Things You Can Clean in the Dishwasher

How to Green your Spring Cleaning with Nontoxic Cleaning Supplies

How to Clean a Dryer: Vent, Filters and Drum

Source:

Personal experience