When did you last clean your shoes?

My dad cleaned all the shoes in our house when I was growing up and my first few boyfriends cleaned their own. I thought it was a man's job till I married and learnt it was definitely not. I tried to institute regular cleaning sessions but it didn't work, so in our house mine are cleaned periodically (I have a lot of shoes) and DH's almost never. He is happy to wear old, worn-out, grubby shoes for most outings unless I complain and then it's down to me to find a better pair and clean them myself.

No wonder he has terrible feet and now issues with walking.

I gave my boots a squirt of Mr Sheen yesterday and rubbed them with a duster, does that count?

Now you’ve sent me on a trip down memory lane.

I did use to enjoy polishing up my school shoes usually brown or black lace-ups or t-bar with Cherry blossom or Kiwi (loved the smell)🙂‍↔️ there was a navy or red tube with sponge for summer school sandals too.

No trainers then but the white pumps/plimsoles were done
with that slightly chalky stuff in a tube with a sponge tip.

When I had patent leather shoes for parties 🥳 and best there was a cream cleaner an a soft cloth.

Since trainers became de rigueur they’re lucky if they get an old wet cloth slathered all over and the boots are left to rot from one year to the next now.
Love Crocs and sliders too.

Not many shoes are leather these days & the ones that are don't seem to suffer if they're not cleaned regularly.
In this house shoe cleaning's gone the way of winding clocks. Washing daps & trainers in summer is the chore now. We still have tins of polish & about 10 brushes though.

I haven’t used traditional shoe polish for years. I have on those scuff coat liquid ones with the little sponge on the end.

Many years ago I opened a seldom used tin of black polish and in addition to polishing the shoes it resulted in the kitchen walls and ceiling requiring a coat of paint.

The tin of polish was half empty and the contents were broken into pieces. I had this smart idea that if I melted the bits of polish it would all cool and set into one smooth area again.

I was wrong. I placed the tin on the gas cooker and it gently began to melt. Unfortunately I didn’t quit while I was ahead. Seconds later it blew off the cooker and splattered black polish all over the ceiling and walls 🙈

I recently rootled through one of our utility room cupboards, including the shoe cleaning box. Good set of brushes, the tins of polish had to go though as beyond redemption. Having said that, I do give my black boots a polish periodically, squeazy polish but real brushes. Others are trainer types and get a scrub in the sink as needed. My late Father was very fussy about his shoes, always polished, and the first thing he did when meeting someone for the first time was look at their shoes. He always said you could judge a person (man) by the care they took with their shoes, and their hands, he had a hatred of raggy, dirty nails too.

I love cleaning leather shoes it gives me a sense of satisfaction, the nourishment from the wax also means they're likely to last longer. My dad was ex army and he taught me how to shine shoes as a child, I hate to see leather shoes that aren't cared for but my granddaughter's shoes are never polished, they think it's a weird thing to do 😄

Not cleaned but waterproofed my new suede boots.

I clean my boots most weekends ......... tin of black polish, two separate brushes and I am as happy as a pig in muck......I LOVE cleaning boots and shoes!
And during the week I give the leather a wipe over with some wax protection stuff I bought years ago......brings the shine up lovely!

I remember cleaning ( with polish and brush) my school shoes every day after school. We all cleaned our own school shoes on a piece of newspaper if inside. Years later it was my son’s school shoes. I tried to teach him to clean his own shoes with the spong applicators ( he has learning disability) and in the end resorted to machine washable trainers for him. Now- I do polish shoes as needed - but rarely - it’s more a case of brushing off mud or dirt- or sticking washable daps in the machine. I still use waterproofing on walking boots. I’m familiar with the dried up tins of cherry blossom if it’s a colour I haven’t used for years.
The polishing pad I use now was my corduroy stuffed chin pad made originally to hold my childhood violin!

I went to my shoe cleaning box to buff up some shabby leather shoes for a funeral (not for the shoes) and all the polish had dried up.

I clean the soles of my boots or shoes on a regular basis, especially in this weather. OH always cleans his walking boots when he gets back from walking the dog - and does the same with GS when he is here too.

Yes, me too, Franbern
One DC has narrow feet so had to have Startrite which were, of course, more expensive 😀

About two weeks ago, a pair of burgundy leather boots. However, I couldn't find the dark red cream so I had to use neutral.
There were several tubes, some a bit dried up, in the shoe-cleaning box.

My Dad used to clean my shoes 🙂

Cabbie21

But suede only needs a brush, no polish?

They come up smarter if you hold them over steam when brushing. My mum taught me that. We were both lovers of black suede stilettos.

MissAdventure

I never clean them like my mum or dad used to clean ours.

All laid out on newspaper in front of the hearth each Sunday.

Yes, MissAdventure - that is exactly what I used to do every Sunday when my children were small. Despite being very hard up (My husband had MS), we managed to get every child only 'Clarks Shoes'. Just one pair each, these had to do for parties, school and play, etc. Every Sunday, I would get them all to bring them to me in the kitchen, on the table which was covered in newspaper (plenty of that back then), and I would put polish on them all and then buff them up beautifully. With seven children that was a lot of work, but so worth it.

I still have a box with brown and black shoe polish in it and brushes. But all my outside shoes get soft wear as I use a mobility scooter or an electric wheelchair when I go out. So, have got into the habit of only polishing my winter shoes when I pack them away in the Spring. Summer sandals get nothing at all.

Quite regularly. My DF was ex army, shoes had to be polished the night before school and set near the kitchen fire.
I do notice unpolished shoes.

I used to do my girl's shoes quite a lot, because a proper polish brings them up, fills in any bald patches, then I could get longer out of her wearing them.

Our ‘box’ is an old Tupperware lunch box. Just bought some new polish. It gets used frequently. When I was at school my siblings and I had a rota for cleaning shoes every morning and my father would send his back if not polished properly.

Reminds me of the frantic phone call from DIL one Monday morning, 8.30am.

“Are GS’s school shoes at your house?”

(GC had been at ours on Friday night, gone home Saturday)

I looked, yes, said shoes on shoe rack, had obv gone home in his trainers.

Granny hot footed it to their house with school shoes.

When I told DH about this, I said that would never have happened with our own children, did he know why?

He thought about it, and said “You would have been cleaning their shoes at the weekend and would have realised they were missing”.

Don’t think the GC’s shoes were cleaned very often.

I’m fussy on my shoes and boots, I still use Kiwi parade gloss which is a traditional polish, to keep them clean as that gives the best shine I think. I’m lazy though, I’ve got three pairs of black leather boots of various heights and ages,, and when they are dirty I put them on the shoe rack in the utility room, and only clean them when all three pairs need doing.

We still have a shoe-cleaning kit with some ancient brushes that were used by my Dad. I use it for my knee length boots and one pair of walking boots. My sister has a similar kit, complete with a piece of soft brown corduroy for final polishing which is from the leg of my Mum's Land Army uniform!

Oops, apologies to Babs03, just saw your post !

Sometimes I chuck my sneakers in the washing machine and then hang them out on the line to dry. Mostly sketchers, they wash well.

I have several ankle boots of different colours and polish them as needed..