Care for your suede (nubuck) barefoot shoes
Suede is an ideal material for shoes because its open-pore structure makes it very breathable. However, it also requires a lot of care to remain beautiful and stable for a long time.
Here we give you a few tips on how to best clean and care for your ZAQQ barefoot shoes made of suede.
What is Suede?
The generic term for suede is rough leather. Unlike smooth leather, the surface is roughened, as you can deduce from the name. However, it is not rough, but rather velvety.
Colloquially, rough leather is often referred to as wild leather. But strictly speaking, this is not correct. Wild leather comes from wild animals and is extremely rare in the shoe industry. There are simply far too few animal hides available from wild stocks.
Suede is a subcategory of rough leather. The outer animal skin is smooth (smooth leather), while the inner side facing the flesh is rough (suede).
ZAQQ Barefoot Shoes Made of Suede
We particularly like to use suede because, compared to smooth leather, it is significantly more breathable due to its open-pore structure. Thus, it is perfect for sports and outdoor shoes or summer sneakers.
Can you recognize suede at first glance? Maybe it used to be like that. Nowadays, there are vegan materials that look remarkably similar. So check briefly whether your shoe is actually made of suede to choose the right care. You can see the material specification under the detailed description of the shoe.
Cleaning and Care of Suede
The best way to clean suede is with a soft brush or sponge. It is gentler to clean the shoe completely dry. So if you come home with wet shoes, let them dry thoroughly before cleaning and caring for them.
With the NUBUK Box Classic Sponge or the Dry Cleaning Brush from Collonil you can gently clean your barefoot shoes and lift the suede. This prepares it perfectly for care.
After the shoes have been dry-cleaned, it's time for care. We recommend the biological Bamboo Lotion. It not only provides nutrients and moisture but also removes stubborn dirt. After spraying, you can easily brush off the dirt. The lotion must dry well before you impregnate your barefoot shoe to protect it from water and dirt.
Impregnating your barefoot shoes made of suede
After you have cleaned and cared for your suede shoes, they need to be impregnated in a final step. The highly effective deep and surface impregnation spray Nanopro is particularly suitable for this.
SPARQLE Shine Velours Black
You should always spray your shoes outside or in a well-ventilated room. Make sure to spray the suede evenly from about 20 cm away. Then let the shoe dry in a protected place. But never use heat to speed up the process. First, unsightly stains can occur, and second, the impregnation agent cannot penetrate the innermost part of the leather. The suede is only protected from water and dirt when the nanoparticles can penetrate deep into the pores. It's best to let your ZAQQs dry overnight.
After the impregnation agent has been well absorbed and dried, the suede is treated with a soft brush or a soft sponge. This restores the typical velvety surface.
The soft moss rubber sponge, with which you cleaned the shoes, can also be used for the final treatment of the suede.
Caution: Before the first wear!!!
When you take your ZAQQs out of the box, you don't need to clean them, but they should definitely be impregnated before the first wear. This prevents fine dirt particles from penetrating the suede and makes them water-repellent.
