Now that the monsoon is finally here, it’s been raining all over. Umbrellas can keep you from getting soaked but what about your footwear? The streets, the grass, the pavements are not only wet, there are quite a few puddles to jump, pot-holes to avoid and ponds to wade through, given the state of most of our roads. The elements have suddenly lashed out at our shoes, which certainly have to bear the brunt of all the wet weather, while keeping our feet dry and comfortable. This season requires a reciprocation of some sort in giving our shoes some loving care.

Even if you are wearing a reliable brand of leather footwear, a continually wet and dried shoe will not last very long.

Since leather is animal skin, it is made of fat and proteins which after being cured and tanned, can only retain a certain amount of moisture. Without proper care, it can dry up and become cracked.

Pamper your favourite pair of shoes this rainy season, and the care will pay off

Water and persistent moisture not only destroys the suppleness of leather, it can deshape your shoe and cause cracks in the surface.

Here are some tips on keeping your leather nice and shiny in rainy weather:

Shoes need to be broken in slowly so they must be worn a few times before they are ready for the wet weather. Never wear a new pair out in the rain, because it will be damaged far more than a pair that you have worn three or four times.

If your shoes have become wet, wipe them dry with a clean yellow duster. Put newspaper balls in the shoe and keep replacing them with fresh newspaper balls every hour or so until the newspaper stops becoming damp or soggy. Let the shoes air dry at room temperature for at least two days. Depending on how much your shoes were soaked, the drying procedure could take just two hours or two days. Wet sole leather will wear out twice as quickly as dry sole leather.

If you happen to walk through a wet surface, you can save your shoes from a lot more damage if you can manage a quick wipe off as soon as you reach your destination.

It is a good idea to invest in some weather resistant polish and cleaning stuff for your shoes. Good shoes are expensive and your feet deserve nothing less.

People living near the sea might see white stains on their shoes after rain, which indicates the presence of salt and requires instant wipe off as salt can get embedded in leather causing permanent stains.

Drying your shoes near a heater or using a hair dryer is actually not such a good idea because if moisture leaves your shoes too quickly cracks can be left behind. Room temperature is the best for this purpose.

Polishing your shoes regularly and letting them sit with polish for as long as possible is just as good as moisturising lotion for your skin. Which means, overnight treatment is the best. Work polish into the crack between the shoe and the sole, just like you would rub lotion into a dryer patch of skin.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, July 10th, 2016