Some Tips for Shoe Comfort & Shoe Cleaning (& Scuff Removal!)

I purchased these Report Grover nude flats back in October of 2011 and I have worn them to death. They were from Hautelook and cost me just under $40 including shipping and tax. 

Honestly, when I first started wearing them, I was pretty disappointed. I bought them in my normal size, which is a 6, but they ran very large. They were also quite painful to walk in, because they were so stiff. I was hoping they would be at least a little more comfortable than that. 

My solution to making these flats comfortable: 

• CVS heel liners (buy here)
• Dr. Scholl's Rub Relief Strips (buy here or try CVS brand)

Even with the heel liners, sometimes my feet still slide out, but they do keep my ankles from getting cut up.  I stick the rub relief strips on the inside of the shoes right above my toes, because the stiff toe box really hurt my toes, especially my pinky toes! The combination of these two products does the trick for a while.

Why did I put up with these shoes? It's kind of hard to find a pair of plain nude flats, with a pointed toe and even harder to find a pair in my size, for a decent price point. These were the closest things I could find, so I really wanted to make them work for me. It turned out okay, because I have worn these shoes a lot!

Also, I'm reluctant to replace these, because I've already broken these in. I have the worst luck with flats. Even though I've never purchased a pair of high-end shoes, I have, however, tried quite a few mid-range flats and plenty of cheap flats. They're always too stiff for my feet and tear up the skin of my feet around the opening of the shoe, rub the skin of my toes, rip up the back of my ankles, etc. Thus, I've grown reluctant to buy new flats and I stick to the ones I've already broken in.

So anyways, moving on... here are some pictures... This is how I cleaned my flats and removed all scuff marks from the patent leather.

I don't know how that large crease on the right shoe got there and I don't know how to get rid of it. 

I've wiped both shoes down with some Kirkland Moist Flushable Wipes from Costco. 

I'm embarrassed to even show how awful the shoe looks, covered in scuff marks. The scuffs were caused by some type of brown lacquer that was placed along the heels of the shoes. Every time I so much as let the heel of the shoe run along the patent leather, a new scuff mark would appear, even if I just crossed my legs. It got to the point where I was ready to toss these and look for a replacement. 

I still wore them quite often, especially to work, because they went well with most outfits. As you can see from the very first picture and the picture below, the scuff marks aren't that visible on the outer half of the shoes, and I doubt anybody usually has any interest in looking at my feet.

After removing the scuffs, this is what my flats look like.

... and I removed the brown lacquer from the bottom of the shoes too, to prevent any future unwanted scuffing...

That's the finished result!

This is how I achieved scuff removal (from patent leather). 

It's very easy, but may be time consuming depending on how many scuff marks you have on your shoes.

1. Clean your shoes.
   a) I'm pretty sure any moist wipe or baby wipe would do the trick. I like to use Kirkland Moist Flushable Wipes to clean the inside and the tops of the shoes.
   b) Take some Q-tips, preferably the ones with a pointed end and run them along the inner corners and the lining of the shoe, because dust settles there and can get tripped inside your shoes.
   c) Wipe down the bottom of the shoes with rubbing alcohol. Since the bottom of the shoe is the dirtiest part of the shoe, I wanted to make sure I really got all the nasty stuff off of the shoes. Depending on what your soles are made of, rubbing alcohol may be too harsh. You should be able to see all the dirt come off of the sole.
   d) If you have a sticker on the bottom of your shoe, remove the sticker, and clean off the leftover, unwanted, sticky adhesive with rubbing alcohol.
2. Removing Scuffs with nail polish remover!
   a) Mine is 100% acetone. I believe I purchased some generic brand from Bed Bath & Beyond. You might not want to use 100% acetone, depending on the material of your shoes, because it may be too harsh.
   b) Soak a Q-tip with nail polish remover and dab at the scuff marks. Repeat until you remove all scuff marks.

So simple. I can't take credit. I got the idea from this video, simply by searching 'how to remove scuff marks.'

A couple of things I discovered:

• I've heard a lot of people treat their leather with cream or lotion. I have yet to try that, but probably will soon. 
• Rubbing alcohol is too harsh for patent leather. I tested it on one spot and it really degraded the texture of the patent leather, making it rough and no longer smooth.
• Rubbing alcohol is excellent for getting rid of stickers (size stickers, sale stickers, price stickers) or unwanted adhesive on shoes.
• Nail polish remover can be too harsh for soles. I confused my bottle of rubbing alcohol with my bottle of 100% acetone and accidentally used the remover to try to remove a sale sticker from the bottom of a pair of shoes. The nail polish remover started to take away the finish of the sole, but I actually think that has more to do with the fact that the shoes were made of cheap material.

I hope this post can help you clean your shoes, remove your scuff marks or shoe stickers, or make your shoes more comfortable to wear. 

I actually still would like to replace my nude flats with a new pair that is hopefully less stiff and a better fit for me, but until then...these will be just fine. I didn't go through the trouble of cleaning them for nothing. Plus this pair is broken. I don't want to put up with a new pair of hard flats!

Have a great day everyone!