How to Maintain Designer Shoes and Make Them Last Longer

If you’ve spent the money on a pair of designer shoes, the last thing you want is to ruin them. Whether if it’s by stepping in water, creasing or scuffing your shoes, there are so many ways that you can easily destroy your designer sneakers.

As someone who loves and owns a few pairs of designer shoes, I’ve picked up a few tips and tricks on how to maintain and make my designer shoes last longer. Which raises the question…

How Do I Protect My Designer Shoes?

Protecting your shoes will extend the lifetime of your shoes and help your luxury shoes to retain their value.

You can protect your shoes by cleaning them regularly, storing them properly and using products to protect the materials.

Protecting your sneakers is half the battle, as you will want to maintain your footwear as well.

In this post, I share how to maintain your designer shoes and a few tips to help keep your luxury shoes looking brand new.

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How to Maintain Designer Shoes

Here are the 7 steps to maintaining your shoes:

1. Regular Cleaning and Maintenance

Regularly cleaning your shoes is not only a great way to maintain your shoes, but also a great way to keep your shoes looking new for longer.

Using a cleaning product like Jason Markk, is the best way to give your shoes that shiny and new look. You can clean your shoes weekly if they get regular use, or more if you feel the need to wipe them down.

Another trick that I use to keep my shoes looking new, is to change the laces every few months. Spending the time to clean my designer shoes and change the laces really brings my shoes back to life.

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2. Store Your Shoes Properly

Most designer shoes come with dust bags. However, keeping your sneakers in the dust bags will not protect them against moisture or physical damage.

Storing your designer shoes in the original shoe box or a shoe storage box is the best way to protect your shoes against physical damage.

As someone who travels a lot, I always pack my designer shoes inside dust bags to prevent them from getting scratched. I also use Shoe Trees to make sure that my shoes do not get creased or damaged.

Taking the time to store my shoes properly, has increased the lifetime of many pairs of shoes for me.

3. Have Your Shoes Repaired as Needed

If you worked hard to buy your shoes, you’re going to want to have them for a while. Occasionally getting your shoes repaired by a cobbler has many benefits.

In the long run, repairing your shoes will save you money as you won’t have to buy a new pair of shoes. A shoe cobbler has ways of treating leather, suede and other materials to make them look new again.

In the past, I’ve used a cobbler to repair the leather on my shoes and I was very happy with the result. If you like to wear your designer shoes, getting them repaired my a professional is a great way to make your sneakers last longer.

4. Protect Your Shoes with the Right Products

There are various different products you can use to protect your shoes, depending on the material used for your shoes.

For leather shoes, you are going to want to use a protective spray, cream or leather conditioner.

For canvas shoes, you’ are going to want you’ll need a good fabric protector spray. This will protect your designer shoes against stains, make them easier to clean and water resistant.

For suede shoes, a Suede Protector spray is essential. This will protect your suede shoes against stains and it will preserve the appearance of the suede material.

Recommended: Suede Protector Spray

5. Condition Leather Shoes

Overtime, leather shoes will become stiff and dry out which can lead to your shoes getting crease marks and peeling. Applying a leather conditioner will keep your leather soft and moisturized.

Another reason to use Leather Conditioner is because it contains natural oils and waxes which will protect your shoes from stains and damages.

Overall, a leather conditioner is a solid preemptive step you can take to extend the lifetime of your leather designer shoes.

If you’re wearing leather shoes like Christian Louboutin’s, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Gucci, Prada, Alexander McQueen or Saint Laurent, then consider purchasing a leather conditioner.

6. Avoid Wearing Your Shoes in Bad Weather

This tip may seem pretty obvious, however I have made this mistake before. If it’s raining, snowing or muddy outside, avoid wearing your designer shoes!

Even though some people have the mentality that they’re just shoes, one of the easiest ways to ruin your sneakers is by wearing them in harsh weather conditions.

If your designer shoes mean a lot to you because they were expensive or because of sentimental value, then avoid wearing when the weather is bad.

Plus, it’s often hard to find a specific model of designer shoes. So if you ruin your shoes, you may not be able to get your hands on the same pair ever again.

7. Regularly Rotate Shoes

Regularly rotating your shoes will significantly extend the lifetime of your designer sneakers. Obviously, this can be expensive if you only wear designer shoes.

However, if you wear your designer shoes on nicer occasions and your affordable shoes on casual occasions, your designer shoes will last longer.

Overtime, as your designer shoe collection grows, you will have a solid rotation of shoes to choose from.

As someone who has been collecting luxury shoes since I was 16, I’ve seen my own shoe rotation evolve. By regularly rotating my shoes, I’ve been able to make my shoes last longer and which helps retain their value.

8. Avoid Scuffing or Creasing Your Shoes

One of the best ways to avoid creasing your shoes is to use crease protectors. After wearing my Gucci Ace Sneakers for a few months, I realized that they were getting creased around the toe box.

One product that was a total game changer for me was Crease Protectors. They’re an affordable product that slides inside your shoes and prevents your luxury sneakers from getting creased.

Using products and being aware of your surroundings is a good way to avoid scuffing your shoes. When I put on a pair of luxury shoes, I’m subconsciously thinking about my shoes to make sure I don’t ruin them.

Recently, my father got his first pair of designer shoes (Saint Laurent Court Classics). He was never into luxury fashion and it was his first time owning anything from a designer brand.

When he was trying on the shoes in the Saint Laurent store, he used his left shoe to take off his right shoe, instead of taking them off with his hands. Luckily, he didn’t scuff the shoe inside the store, but taking off his designer shoes the right way was very new to him.

Should Designer Shoes be Kept in Boxes?

Yes, keeping your designer shoes in a protective box or the orignal box is a good idea. This will prevent your shoes from getting wet, dusty, dirty or damaged.

Unless you plan on wearing your designer shoes regularly, they should be kept inside dust bags in a protective shoe box.

This will help extend the lifetime of your shoe and prevent your shoes from getting ruined accidentally.

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Final Thoughts On How to Maintain Designer Shoes

It’s no secret that a lot of work, money and time goes into purchasing a pair of luxury shoes. If you have designer shoes, then you’re going to want to do everything you can to extend the lifetime of your shoes and make them last longer.

By undergoing regular maintenance on your shoes, you will notice your shoes look newer and last longer. It’s important to take the preventative measures to ensure that your shoes do not get scuffed, scratched or damaged.

In this post, I shared the steps to maintaining designer shoes.

What is your favorite pair of designer shoes? Please let me know in the comments below.