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Many are worried about getting shoes with metal shanks – the reinforcement in the arch – due to them not want to have issues at the metal detectors at airport security. In almost all cases there’s no problems to have shoes with metal shanks though, and you won’t have to take your shoes off in the security control. Here’s why.
A common suggestion to asses the fit of a shoe, and something that many people use regularly, is about placing a finger between the heel of the foot and the inside back of the shoe. But the info you get from this is more or less useless and doesn’t give any relevant information. Here’s why.
A common misconception is that the only way to reinforce eyelets on shoes are metal or plastic inserts in the holes. This is not the case though, all shoe manufacturers have the holes reinforced with a reinforcement tape backing which isn’t visible. Learn more in this article.
I can understand that it’s tempting to just throw dirty shoes in a washing machine on a gentle cycle, get them out looking much cleaner and think all is good. At least more and more people are doing it nowadays, especially with sneakers and similar. Problem is that shoes are not built to go through the stress that a machine wash incur and you’ll risk damaging them in several ways, and significantly shorten their lifespan. Learn why in this article.
A common shoe care advice is to brush off your shoes when one come home, to remove any surface dirt. Most think this is solely due to appearance, but that’s only one part of it. The more important thing is that doing this can significantly prolong the lifespan of your leather shoes. Here I explain why.
Articles continued:
Still today the most commonly used shoe trees in the world are ones with a front part and a big spring that is bent to be placed against the heel. This type of shoe trees are in fact bad for your shoes, in the worst case they may even destroy them. Learn why in this article.
One of the most common mistakes done when it comes to shoe care, if one look at the population as a whole, is the use of waterproofing spray also on full grain smooth leather. Yes, it do protects against water, but it also makes it difficult for the nourishing ingredients of shoe creams to penetrate the leather, which means the leather risks drying out. Learn more in this article.
Many shoe factories and shoemakers use plastic coverage during the manufacturing process, to protect the uppers from stains and marks. When one remove this at the end of the production, you will inevitably end up with plastic left. About this topic, and how to handle it (or not handle it), in this article.
Pigmented shoe cream isn’t paint colours, but if one wish one can do quite distinct enhancements of the shade into darker tones. Here’s a walkthrough on how to do this in a good and efficient way to make sure that the colour come out even and nice looking.
This tip is especially important for pigmented shoe cream, but also goes for all liquid creamy shoe care. Don’t think that you’re clever and put out dabs of cream which you plan to rub in consecutively, when leaving cream on the leather there’s a big risk of stains occurring.
