How well do you know your SAS shoes – or shoes in general for that matter? If you feel like you’ve been replacing your shoes too regularly, it might be time to study up on shoe care. With a little TLC, your shoes should last a significant time, even if worn daily. That being said, different shoe types have different care instructions. Taking care of your boots will look different than your everyday errand shoes, sandals will differ from dress shoes, and so on.
Let’s break down this guide by shoe style so that your shoes start to last a little longer.
SAS Boot Care
When it comes to boots, the material matters. When paired with precipitous climates, certain boot materials may require a good waterproofing spray to ensure longevity. Many SAS boots are made of soft and supple genuine leather, which requires regular moisturizing and conditioning to keep it fresh and lively. Beyond that, if you live somewhere salty (the sidewalks and roads, we mean), it’s important to rinse off that salt ASAP to prevent deterioration. Finally, it’s vital to keep an eye on the boot heel’s status; instead of waiting for a boot to completely wear out, take them to get fixed up before it’s too late.
When shopping for high-quality, low-maintenance boots, look for things with supportive and protective rubber soles, especially in winter climates where your boots will see some mileage.
SAS Sandal Care
Who doesn’t love a good pair of slip-on sandals? By default, SAS sandals are better than anything you’d find on a whim since they’re literally built to protect your foot and provide comfort and style simultaneously. There’s only one thing we want to stress regarding sandals: Since you likely don’t wear socks with your slip-ons, prep the insole with baking soda to prevent odor and moisture retention. We do this seasonally at SAS HQ.
SAS Dress Shoe Care
Due to the vast range of SAS dress shoes, we can’t pool all our care tips together. For instance, you might look into shoehorns and shoe trees with high-quality, formal footwear. Shoehorns help you slip in and out of your dress shoe without straining against the back part of your shoe. A shoehorn can preserve a shoe’s longevity and prevent the edges and heel from deteriorating prematurely. Shoe trees, on the other hand, maintain the shape of your dress shoe, regardless of where it’s stored. Use a shoe tree to prevent collapse and potential moisture from lingering inside a shoe.
As always, it’s good to get in the routine of waterproofing your shoes, regardless of formality (or lack thereof). If your SAS dress shoes are made of leather (which many, if not most, are!), get in the habit of using leather conditioners to maintain their natural luster – just like you would with your SAS boots.
SAS Tennis Shoe Care
SAS comfort shoes are where it’s at! Since these are the kicks that see your day-to-day world, they need more hands-on TLC. If we’re talking cotton-mesh uppers, you should be brushing your tennis shoes to clean all the nooks and crannies. When it comes to laces, keeping it simple with your upkeep is better. Simply soak them in warm water, use a bit of cleaner (several exist on the market), swirl them around, rinse, and repeat. You may have noticed that using bleach or heavy-duty cleaner causes them to lose their original feel – you can avoid this if you keep the cleaning simple.
Most tennis shoes are machine-washable, which makes everything from caked-on mud to random stains a relatively stress-free cleaning process. Toss them in and you’re on your way. If you come home at the end of the day and your shoes smell...well, bad, invest in shoe deodorizer balls to get the stench out.
Lucky for you, most SAS shoes have unique footbeds that are:
- antimicrobial,
- machine-washable, and/or
- contain moisture-wicking and cooling technology
General SAS Shoe Care
Unfortunately, it’s not one size fits all when it comes to shoe care – even when you’re staying within a specific brand like SAS. Providing some care tips for our different shoe styles is the best we can do, and finding the most comfortable shoe brand is what you can do. From there, you simply have to learn what your shoes are made of so you can care for them properly. This will vary by style and brand, which is why we wanted to create a little SAS shoe care guide. Let us know if you have additional questions!