This afternoon, I noticed that several days of trudging through slush laced with rock salt had left my leather boots in sad shape. The leather around the toes felt dry and was creasing more than usual, and crusty dried-on salt was everywhere. It would be hours before I could get home and clean the boots properly and rub mink oil into them. In the meantime...hmm...would hand lotion work?! I eyed the Vaseline hand moisturizer on my desk.
Success!
I worked dabs of lotion into the creased leather with my hands, rubbing it in until I couldn't feel the residue. Within 5 minutes, the traces of salt disappeared. The leather uncreased and looked smooth and shiny. I felt so proud of my makeshift shoe-care prowess that I couldn't resist sharing this tip with you.
I don't recommend this for all types of leather, of course. My boots are made of the tough sort that looks shiny and feels smooth to the touch--definitely treated. Don't try this with untreated leather or suede. But if you're out and about and the leather on your shoes looks like it might be on the verge of cracking before you can tackle it with oil, hand lotion is an excellent improvisational solution.
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Ooo great tip, Lisa! Though we don't even have salt trucks in Atlanta. About every 5 years we get an ice storm and the city shuts down for a week. We're warm weather weenies down here ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks AsianCajuns! Truth be told, I'm a warm weather weenie, too; Vancouver doesn't usually get snow this bad.
ReplyDeleteHahaha that's a hilarious tip! MacGyver indeed Lisa. Oh be sure that your readers guard their mink oil - it's a precious commodity that often gets stolen by covetous siblings.
ReplyDeleteExcellent tip - I would never have thought of that. Nice MacGyver reference too - reminds me of those awesome WWMD tees.
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