Calfskin sneakers - soaked..

zudecke

/Hi guys,

So splurged recently on a pair of calfskin sneakers only to have got them soaked less than a week afterward in the rain!

My friend put them on the radiator thinking he'd be doing me a favour and now they're gone all crispy/hard and while they don't appear to be visibly distorted, I do fear they may have lost some of their original shape and definitely their feel.

Is there any hope of restoring them? I've done some Googling and found some promising links, but haven't been able to find anything that matches my experience and shoe type completely

What would you do/apply to them in my position?

Here's some pics:





Any help/tips appreciated!

Thanks,

Z

zudecke

Anyone got any ideas?

maninthestreet

Are they leather or suede?

DVardysShadow

zudecke wrote: »

Anyone got any ideas?

Soak them again. This will do no more damage than the original soaking, but should soften them up. Then dry them slowly, in a cool place with scrunched up newspaper inside to slow down the speed of drying.

I have never tried this, so you are into the land of experiment. But this is what I would try in your position, failing any better suggestion here.

zudecke

Calfskin leather

Greenst

Leather should always be dried slowly not over/on a heat source. You may be best going to a tack shop or saddlers or look on line there's loads of products for cleaning, preserving and renovating leather in the horse world and many that are specifically for softening up leather.
Hope that helps!!