Emma Miller
Salt on shoes appears in the winter season when roads and sidewalks are treated with it to keep them slippery. This raises the question of how to remove salt stains on shoes and return them to their presentable appearance.
And although now the utilities are moving away from the practice of using salt, traces of other reagents on the shoes also remain. Moreover, the material from which your shoes or sneakers are made does not matter: white stains will appear on leather products, and on suede or others.
So let’s figure out what to do if there is salt on the shoes and how to get rid of these stains.
Salt on leather shoes – how to get rid of
Instead of fighting the problem, it is better to be proactive and prevent it. In our case, the prevention of the appearance of white streaks is a remedy for salt on shoes. You can buy it in shoe stores. Such means of protection are available for leather, and for cloth and suede products. But most remedies for leather will not work for suede and vice versa, so before buying familiarize yourself with the instructions, so as not to waste money.
Leather shoes are almost the most common choice, so let’s start with them. To remove salt stains on such shoes, you can:
- Wash the shoes in warm water (you can with a little laundry soap), then let them dry. To remove salt residue, you can wrap the shoes with a paper towel or tissues. To avoid ruining your shoes, it is best to avoid artificial heat sources such as radiators, heaters, and so on.
- Salt stains can also be cleaned with a vinegar solution (mix one part vinegar with two parts water). When the shoes dry, treat them with shoe polish.
- You can also use ammonia to combat white streaks. To do this, wipe dry shoes with a cloth soaked in ammonia, let them dry, and also treat them with shoe cream.
- Another way to get rid of salt stains on leather shoes will be an “ointment” of fish oil and castor oil. Take these ingredients (three parts fat to one part oil) and bring them to a homogeneous state in a water bath. After the mixture has cooled a little, smear salt stains on the shoes with it. In a few hours, they should disappear.
How to remove salt from suede shoes – tips and tricks
Getting rid of salt stains on suede shoes is a little more difficult. Before cleaning such shoes, it is recommended to treat them with steam and comb them with a brush. And any method of cleaning is better to check first on an inconspicuous part of the boot to make sure that the material will not be spoiled.
So, to remove white salt stains on suede shoes, you can try the following options:
- If the shoes have a persistent color, we recommend gently rubbing the divorces with a solution of ammonia (10%).
- You can also use soapy water. They need to treat the contamination, let it dry completely, and then comb the pile well.
- Cleans well suede semolina. Dry semolina just pours on the shoes, wait until the salt is absorbed, and thoroughly comb the boots with a brush.
- You can also try a variant with potatoes or lemon. With any of these products you rub the divots on the shoes, let them dry, and then comb the lint.
As you can see, it is possible to remove salt from your suede shoes at home, although the material itself is quite capricious.
By the way, some ways to combat salt stains for suede shoes, such as mortar, are suitable for things with nubuck.
