Advice from the experts!

We asked Auckland shoe repair experts Gemmell's a few questions about basic shoe care, leather assessment when purchasing a shoe, and some other factoids we have always wanted to know.

Q: What is the best way to protect leather?
A: Just to keep the leather fed with a leather conditioner or polish will certainly prolong its life. If you do not do this, the leather will go dry and start to crack.

Q: How often should you clean leather shoes? And with what product?
A: You don’t have to necessarily clean your shoes frequently just keep them polished as in the above answer. Should you need to clean them, we recommend a product called Coxy Universal Cleaner.

Q:.How do I clean and protect suede and nubuck?
A: Cleaning suede is a little more difficult and you generally have to clean the whole shoe/boot. If you try to clean specific areas you will leave watermarks. Try using a suede brush first as this will remove a build up of dirt and grit then if needed you could use Coxy Universal Cleaner or Movi Drycleaner. After cleaning you would then spray evenly with Coxy Super Protector.

Q:When buying a pair of shoes or a handbag, what is best way to evaluate that you are paying for quality leather and not just buying into the cache of a brand?
A: Unless you have some sort of knowledge of or work with leather it is rather hard to determine what sort of quality you are paying for. Remember that just because the product is more expensive it doesn’t mean that it is necessarily of a higher quality.

Q:How often should I get my shoes resoled?
A: It depends how often you wear your shoes. If you wear them every day for work you will require resoling more frequently. We recommend having at least two pairs of shoes and alternating as you will get more wear and also allows the shoes to air out every couple of days and dry naturally.