Anybody who’s spent half a paycheck on a solid pair of good leather shoes knows the anxiety that comes from keeping them looking nice. There’s no magic to it, although there’s some elbow grease required and maybe a few tears. Forget the rat race of finding the time to drop off your shoes to be cleaned at a store. You can do it a lot more quickly and cheaply at home.

These products are useful for all types of smooth leather boots and shoes, but not for suede, roughout, and nubuck leather. These three types of fuzzy leather should use the shoe trees and edge dressing, but none of the other products. They require a special suede-cleaning kit, such as this one from Kiwi.

_{Prices are accurate as of May 23, 2025. Subject to change.}

Bickmore Saddle Soap Plus

This is what I use to clean New York City’s filth off my shoes when it’s time to yank my tired kicks in for service. Saddle Soap goes on first to strip off the gunk, junk, dirt, and grime before you set about polishing them to a renewed sheen. You need only a strip of cotton and a bit of water to get started. I save old cotton undershirts to strip into pieces. Of all the leather cleaners I’ve used, I like Bickmore’s Saddle Soap because it’s aggressive enough to remove the contaminants without being so aggressive that it strips off color or dries out the leather. One tin goes a long way.

Saphir Renovator

Saphir Renovator is an occasional-use product not to be used every time you clean and polish your shoes — you only need it if your leather shoes are very dried out. Whereas the saddle soap is a gentler cleaner that can be used each time, Renovator is a more aggressive cleaning product that removes old, built-up layers of wax and deeply conditions leather that’s been dried out over a period of time due to harsh weather or long periods of very dry air.

Because of that, you can skip this product if your shoes are relatively new or in decent shape, but keep it in mind for the future. Renovator has been known to darken light-colored leather, so be sure to test it out first and let it dry on an inconspicuous part of your shoe, such as inside the shoe’s tongue, before committing the whole pair to it.

Saphir Pommadier Cream

You’ll use this to polish your shoes, restoring a shine to them. It’ll also be your regular maintenance item for making sure the leather is moisturized and conditioned (but not too moisturized). I’ve experimented over the years, but I’ve settled on using the neutral version that doesn’t contain any dyes. It saves me money, too, because I can use one jar on all my leather shoes, from black to all shades of brown. Only when I notice color rubbing off do I buy another jar with dyes matching the shoe’s color.

Saphir brags that it contains seven waxes, including beeswax, carnauba, and shea butter. That gives it enough of a water-resistant finish that I avoid the final step of waterproofing spray after using it. While I wouldn’t wear my fine leather boots out in the wildest rainstorm on purpose, no matter which product I’ve used, I haven’t had any problems from the rain by relying upon Pommadier Cream for rain protection.

The downside is that it can feel tacky if you fail to brush it sufficiently as your final step in the polishing process, so it takes a bit of elbow grease to make it work. But when it works, it’s a beautiful result. Expensive for a polishing cream, it’s a small price to pay to keep your far more expensive shoes looking good for years. I have boots nine and 10 years old that I’ve treated with Saphir Pommadier, and they look barely broken in.

I haven’t had issues with Pommadier darkening my lighter shades of brown leather shoes, but occasionally, there’s a report by somebody or another that it’s happened to them. In my experience, it’s more likely to happen with leathers that have a surface that treads in the middle ground of smooth leather and roughout, such as Red Wing’s Copper Rough & Tough leather.

Bick 4 Leather Conditioner and Cleaner

Used instead of the polishing cream, not in addition to it, Bick 4 is a thick liquid rather than a very thick cream. It’s easier to polish and takes fewer passes than Saphir Pommadier Cream. It’s also widely celebrated for not darkening leather of any shade or color. Compared to Pommadier Cream, it doesn’t get tacky if you’re lazy with the brushing. But while the water resistance is perfectly adequate, it’s not as strong as the waxier Saphir.

Bick 4 is colorless, so it works on any color of leather. That’s a plus if you just want to spring for one bottle and save money, but you’ll have to find a new product if you want to re-color your shoes with a dyed polish.

Allen Edmonds Heel and Sole Edge Dressing

Scuffing the edge of your shoe is a painful moment. Not so much for your feet, but for your ego. Those scuffs on the layer of material sandwiched between your sole and the body of the shoe are highly visible. It, too, can lose pigment when you inadvertently scuff it against a step or a stone.

Luckily for you, there’s an easy fix. Just spread on some edge dressing, matched to the shade of the section you’re fixing. Lots of shoe brands sell their own branded edge dressing. Black is pretty much black across the board, but if you want to nail a specific shade of brown, you may want to see that shoe’s brand has a more exact match. It’s not crucial, though, so don’t panic if there’s not, or if you just want to save money and use a more general-use brown edge dressing.

Kiwi 100% Horsehair Shine Brush

You’ll need a brush during the polishing process, and it helps to have one handy to brush away dust between polish jobs. There are more expensive brands of brushes, but as long as they feature natural horsehair bristles (such as this one), I’ve never been able to tell a difference in performance. The more you brush, the shinier your boots become. That gives you a measure of control over whether you want a gentle sheen or a mirror-like finish that can dazzle oncoming traffic.

Woodlore Shoe Tree

Vital for maintaining the shape of your leather boots and shoes, including suede, cedar shoe trees maintain tension that prevents prominent wrinkles and creases from forming in the leather. Just put them in every time you take off your shoes at home, and leave the shoe trees in there until it’s time to wear them again.

Woodlore also makes them for Allen Edmonds, and they are functionally the same. If you’re having trouble finding the Woodlore pair, or if the Allen Edmonds pair is more affordable, go with those. Amazon marks separate versions for men and women, but they’re the same. Just make sure you get the right size to match your shoes.

Feature Image Credit: Pablo Merchán Montes/ Unsplash+