Getting marks off of Easter shoes

Here's how Rachel keeps the Easter shoes bright and shiny:

My two year old daughter wore her new Easter shoes to church yesterday. They are adorable white leather Mary Janes that cost a pretty penny and are supposed to last us through the summer season. Anyway, as can be expected, by the time we got home (she'd had them on for all of three hours), the new shoes looked rather scuffed and marked.

This brought to mind a hack my mother used on us when we wreaked havoc on our own church shoes-- a little bit of nail polish remover on a cotton swab (test on an inconspicuous area first) will rub most scuffs right off.

I wouldn't use this hack on patent leather-- it may remove the shine, but it works wonders for regular leather. I've even used it on man-made "leather" with no problems. Nail polish remover is definitely cheaper than the shoe care stuff they sell at the stores, and takes no time at all to dry!

More: Best of Parent Hacks: Easter

Comments

[Marnea]

Mr Clean Magic Erase also does a great job.

On regular leather - Saki, Japenese Liquer does the trick too - don't question. :0

[Jezer]

My mom used to use nail polish remover on our shoes, too! We did use it on patent leather with no ill effects. I'd definitely try it out on an inconspicuous area, though.

[Sara in Austin]

I remember hearing that vaseline does a good job polishing patent leather -- might be worth trying.

[Jaime]

I've always just used rubbing alcohol to clean white leather.

[Candace Prosser]

Baking soda is a really mild abrasive that works on patent leather as well.

[adrienne]

Alcohol seems to be a key component, so alcohol-based hand sanitizer and some hair sprays should work too.

Nail polish remover is acetone and may corrode plastics and synthetics ("man-made leathers").