When buying a new pair of vegetable tanned shoes, avoid wet weather for the shoes during the first few weeks. Exposure to the sun, to the oils in your skin and to wear give the fibers in the leather ample time to become more flexible, resilient and less likely to react to water.

If your shoes do get wet: Pat the surface dry with a lint-free towel, stuff in some loose paper and let dry naturally. Do not expose to heat (like a hair dryer) or to direct sunlight.  

This is the most basic of tips, keep your shoes clean. If the dirt is light, simply take a dry lint-free cloth to rub off any excess dirt or dust on your shoes. If the dirt is deeper, you can slightly moisten the cloth (please, not soaked!) to clean more stubborn dirt on vegetable-tanned leather. It’s a delicate balance between having the cloth too wet and staining the leather vs. too dry that it won’t penetrate and remove dirt, dust, and grime.

If the dirt is even deeper, it has difficult stains, or you want to thoroughly clean the leather, a dedicated leather cleaner can be helpful. Saddle soap is a popular choice, or you can try ours.

Trust us, the best thing you can do to protect, restore, and heal your shoes is to condition them with an all-natural, semi-thick wax or leather dressing. Whether you’d like to use our leather cream or you have a favorite, it’s important to use a cream with natural ingredients like beeswax and natural oils for veg-tanned leather. The oils in it are great for conditioning and restoring tired leather and the beeswax is key to waterproofing the leather. While no amount of beeswax will 100% waterproof your leather shoes, it is important to frequently condition your leather shoes. The more you do so — we’d say maybe once every 2 months depending on how frequently you wear them — the more resistant they become to the elements. Please note that leather cream will darken vegetable-tanned leathers, especially the closer it is to the natural color, to form a beautiful, rich and unique-to-you patina. 

With the right care and conditioning, vegetable tanned leathers have the ability to “heal” scratches and discolorations, which is something that chromed leathers usually cannot do. Just one of many reasons to love it!

This may seem like a no-brainer, but please take care to store your sandals and shoes so that they’re not trampled on or weighed down by other shoes, bags or apparel. And while not absolutely necessary, it’s always a good idea to use shoe blocks or trees to keep the shape fresh! Otherwise, you may want to store them in our Laiik dust bags and boxes when they're not on your feet!