Easy Homemade Leather Shoe Shine and Conditioner--Scuffs Gone!

I'm currently writing a book on old-fashioned, homemade remedies for all sorts of interesting "problems" we come up against in our daily routine. It has been enjoyable so far, and as I talk to people about what I'm up to, I realize that so many folks don't know about many of the useful, inexpensive, and easy-to-prepare (read "no expensive or exotic ingredients!) solutions that are just waiting to be explored...and successfully used. So today, I'm going to talk about how to condition and bring new life and shine into your old leather shoes.

I have nothing but old shoes, it seems! I tend to be frugal in all things, and when I find shoes that are comfortable, I tend to wear them out. In fact, the shoes I've photographed for your perusal today have even been resoled and re-heeled once because the leather uppers were still fine. But, alas, and not surprisingly, those leather uppers were beginning to look pretty scuffed after several years of regular use. Here's a sample of what I was wanting to fix:

Scuffed leather shoes

And here's what I did:

I mixed together about 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil and then added several drops of dark malt vinegar. (I included the vinegar because I think it helps clean the leather, but I suppose it's not really necessary.) I chose those two particular ingredients because of their dark color--I figured that they would help the dark brown leather to look better as it would darken as well as brighten.) I whooshed the oil and vinegar together, and then soaked a paper towel in the mixture and wiped my shoes. I let it soak in and then softly wiped away the excess. And here's how they look afterward:

Shoes shined!

They look so much better! This was an easy and ridiculously inexpensive fix. I'll bet it didn't even use a penny's worth of ingredients...or maybe a penny's worth, which is still about as cheap as it can get.

So give this DIY shoe shine a try next time you want to breathe new life into old shoes. Or try it on your leather purse--anything leather, in fact. I think you'll be pleased!

And if you're interested in cleaning and conditioning wood furniture using oil and orange peels, be sure to read my post on that subject: http://georgiaplainandsimple.blogspot.com/2015/02/homemade-multipurpose-cleaner-simple.html

I hope you have a day rich in blessings. And even when life is hard, God is right there with you and He cares. May you feel His comfort.

Blessings to you and yours,
Georgia