Are you excited to wear your winter boots again but embarrassed by their dull, scuffed appearance? And gentlemen, do you love a certain pair of dress shoes, but know they need a good buffing? Stress no longer because do-it-yourselfers are using common household items to give dull leather new life. Check out these unusual remedies.
- Vegetable and olive oil. Use a clean, damp rag to clean off any dust from the shoe and then buff with a small drop of oil to bring
out the shine. - Banana peel. Yep, you get your daily potassium and sparkly shoes . Just rub the inside of the peel over the shoe and then wipe clean.
- Vinegar. Perfect for cleaning scuffs off leather tennis shoes, just use a rag and some elbow grease.
- Petroleum jelly. After you feel your shoes are good and clean, rub a bit of petroleum over the tops with a rag to prevent cracking in the leather.
If you want to go the traditional route and use a shoe shine kit, check out this great step-by-steptutorial.
Olive oil….. 2 thumbs up
Could I use coconut oil??
I bet you could. We’ve read coconut oil is great to moisturize and it’s all natural.
Dont do it coconut oil will dull the lether and leave white residue in cold weather
That’s exactly what it does. Learned the hard way.
No the coconut oil will not work for some reason. I used it on my black leather boots. And it left white spots. Tooks me farever to remove.then I use vegtable oil it works perfect
How did you get the coconut oil off of your boots i’m having the same problem
Hot, hot water!
yes how ever it doesn’t work as well as olive or vegetable oil.
Coconut oil is d best. I’m doing this for last 7 years. It shines Dan anything in d world
You must have different coconut oil because it leaves white residue for me to
Depends a lot in climate I think due to the melting temperature of the oil. In colder regions it solidifts and becomes white whereas it reminds liquid oil above like 27°.
Source: I work in the same shoes in Ireland and in Greece.
Can I use Banana Peelings and Used Cooking Oil (mixed)?
Olive oil worked great, thanks for the tip!
Vegetable cookingoil made it worse
Vegetable oil worked incredibly my shoes are shining for church
I just buffet the toes of my boots with vegetable oil and they turned black and havent returned to their dark brown finish. Did i do aomething wrong and how can i get them back to normal?
U prob wore the colour right out of the leather lol
You should only try the oil method on white or black shoes
Your boots weren’t oiled at first. Just stained. You added oil and it darkened to leather. You won’t be able to get it back. If I were you then I’d oil the entire boot so it looks good. It’ll just be a different color.
It really works, thank the lord we have a right mind to find things to use in our house then to buy a $29.99 and up bottle or jar of shoe polish. You better be glad and to think to the lord for the earth and the people who is on it.
Thank the Lord for a tip on shoe polishing ? Are you for real ? The mind boggles.
I cleaned a pair of tennis shoes with Neutrogena Makeup Remover towelettes. Sounds weird right? It works great! My shoes looked so new, I was complimented on my “new” shoes. The brand new look, was new to me. So I just said “thanks” Give it a try!
Wow Neutrogena? Will Neutrogena soap work? Thanks man
Spot test the oil before using, it really darkened my boots(which is fine with me they look good) and left them duller than before. I’ll stick to using Saddle soap.
they really did work
it works
Most of these tips are not true. Unless you want dirty colored starch to dry up in all the crevices of your shoes such as the stitching and seams, using a banana peel is a terrible idea. And while it seemed to work for me the one time I tried it, I’ve read in various articles that olive oil actually deteriorates the leather in the long run. I wouldn’t want to bother with coconut oil as it solidifies at mild temperatures.
My brown shoes are now oil stained, I would say you should mention in article that shoes need a high sheen finish before using any of above!
Thank you for that tip, Gordon!
After you get your shoes perfectly shiny, and when they are dry, spray the top with a light coating of aerosol hairspray. It will seal in the shine and make your leather sparkle. Old military trick for you guys and gals to enjoy
No don’t. I’m an Air Cadet and I did it one time but once you walk white stains form in the cracks where the shoe bends and it is really hard to get off. Please learn from my mistake.
Do you know if corn syrup will work for jrotc shoes. The formal kind of jrotc shoes.
what can i use to shine my boots fast so they can look real shinny
does oil work on cowboy boots to remove scuffs and or scrapes?
i got $500 Stetsons and i want them looking good even tho they look like shit right now
I needed my black leather work boots to look nice in a quick and timely manner for a work Christmas party, I used the banana peel and it work wonderfully! They look as nice as they did the day I bought them (minus the few marks here and there from working in them) I definitely thank people like all of you that figured these things out! I don’t think I will ever need to buy a $20 container of shoe polish again
[…] you and the environment. Take a more healthy and eco-friendly approach by using Vaseline instead. ClassicCleaners.net breaks down a shoe shine technique using household items, and ending with a petroleum jelly shining […]
Olive oil worked perfectly! I started getting minor cracks but they’re barely visible – I’ll need to condition often to make sure they don’t get worse. I used a mild dish soap and rag to clean the boots in the laundry. I dried them off with paper towel, then I soaked a cotton pad lightly with olive oil and rubbed it over the boots. They look brand new lol thanks for the tip!
Tried one drop Olive oil. Leather Dress Shoes still dull. Used 2 drops. No change. And they are black from Italy . Still look good, just won’t shine on top. However, I used a drop on the sides and heels. That part shined. Just not the top. Time for some new shoes I guess. ✌️But I have EEE wide feet. Cannot find shoes to fit
cleaned my Clark shoes with a damp cloth, decided to use a few drops of mineral oil on an old kitchen towel, then buffed it pleased with the outcome.
Chain saw lubricant is my go to
Pam or other spray oils work really great as well.
can i use aloe vera?
I used the oil method on my black dress shoes and now my shoes are looking spiffy as hell for ROTC
Put on new boots and walk around in the water at the beach. Let them dry thoroughly, then apply shoe polish. They’ll take a bright shine much easier and hold it longer. Works wonderfully for BDU black leather duty boots.
Use hair oil, it works really well and it doesn’t affect the shoe in any way badly.