Suede & Nubuck 4-Way Leather Brush Cleaner

OK, so you made the same mistake I made. You tried "conditioning" your light colored Sperry Top Siders to bring them back to life, and the leather conditioner you used to treat and soften the leather darkened your beloved shoes' color and never lighted up after drying. DO NOT TRASH YOUR SHOES. You can fix the problem and restore them to LIKE NEW CONDITION.I went through several products and processes. This is what I found that works.The problem with treating Sperry Top Siders in the wonderful color "Sahara" is the type of leather the shoe is made of. The leather is nubuck, which is very porous like suede. Nubuck has a soft velvety feel, not shaggy like suede. Nubuck is unique because it's tricky to treat---that's the problem you're having.So you've got Sperry Saharas but now they're chocolate BROWN forever because they're saturated with conditioner. FIRST, you need to clean that old conditioner out of the shoes. I used Fiebings Saddle Soap with a toothbrush and bowl of water. After scrubbing, rinse outside of shoes with warm water under sink faucet. Stuff paper towels in the toes of the shoes to shape the shoes. Allow 2 days to dry.Here's a big TIP: You want these shoes to look like new, right? Then you have to scrub the white stitching until they're WHITE again. A small detail that makes ALL the difference, believe me. I used dish soap along with the saddle soap on the stitching when I was saddle soaping the whole shoe. And buy new shoes laces (with a boat shoe threading needle). Save the new shoes laces for the very end of the process of course.Shoes are dry. Nice light sandy tan color, right? But dry, spotty, and brittle. Good!Now you need a special cleaner WITH conditioner, sold by Sperry on Amazon "Sperry Top-Sider Cleaner and Conditioner" (go to Wolverine World Wide's Amazon store or Sperry's website). Soak a toothbrush with cleaner and scrub, wiping lather off the shoes' stitching and the toothbrush as you go. No bowl of water needed---the cleaner has water in it. Scrub around whole shoe. Stuff paper towels back in shoes and allow shoes to dry one day.Shoes are now clean. Any remaining blotchy-looking spots appear as dirt because the nap (surface) of the leather has worn flat with wear in those spots (it's not dirt, it's flat spots). We're going to raise and even out the shoes' surface with a suede/nubuck brush (Shacke Suede & Nubuck 4-Way Leather Brush on Amazon). Use the nylon/brass bristles to lift the leather's spotty flat surfaces. BE GENTLE and go slow. Then use the rubbery nubuck bristles for the rest of the shoe. Use a soft shoe brush or clothing brush to remove the tiny leather particles left on shoes. Now you have a beautifully clean and finished VERY light sandy tan Top Sider.If you like the light sandy tan color (actually is LIGHTER than the official Sahara color) you can STOP here. Rub your thumb over the surface of the upper leather where laces go around---it's nubuck also but Sperry treated the leather different. The oil from your thumb is all that's needed. Lace your shoes and go.To restore your shoes to that wonderful rich cognac color everyone loves about Sperry "Saharas" then keep reading.To restore that factory-fresh Sahara color and subtle satin shine, you'll need a bottle of Bickmore Bick 4 Leather Conditioner and Bickmore Gard-More Water & Stain Repellent. I've tried LOTS of conditioners. Bick 4 is the only conditioner that dries sufficiently light enough on nubuck. Use a soft cloth and apply Bick 4 to surface of shoes. Stuff shoe again with paper towels and let dry TWO days.See? They lightened, leaving that wonder cognac color. To lighten them further, run your fingers along the inside of the shoe's leather gently pushing outward to stretch the leather.Now lightly spray Gard-More Water & Stain Repellent on shoes. Let dry. Lace those new shoe laces and SMILE. You just saved yourself from spending $70-140 on new Sperry Saharas! What do you do with that extra cash? Buy cedar shoe trees, you dummy. I buy Stratton split-toe cedar shoe trees. Awesome. Shoes trees will DOUBLE the life of your Top Siders and dress shoes, saving you even MORE money!THANKS SHACKE FOR A WONDER PRODUCT. You saved my Saharas!See pic. I don't have a "before" photo because, like I said, I thought I was throwing them in the trash. The pic provided shows the light colored shoe AFTER saddle soap, Sperry cleaner/conditioner, and brushing the nap. See the light sandy color? Nice. Pictured with the light shoe is the FINISHED shoe. Better!

Works well for daily Michigan winter maintenance on my Steger muckluks, the warmest winter boot I've ever owned. I do not get a kickback, I just love their boots so much I want everyone to know. I have raynaud's disease and I wear these boots for 5 months straight every day and my toes are even warm! I wear my darn tough wool socks and the 9mm thick wool liner of the boots. I am normally a size 7.5 and wear the 8 wide for extra room to trap warm air.

Nice suede brush. Fits nicely in hands. Use the eraser side a lot more. The eraser does a good job of cleaning. The brass brush side does work good on brushing the suede, but I started to notice the brush would leave a blueish stain on light color suede. Which I am not sure why it does that. The brass brush really does a good job and I would say be careful while using that on light color material. The rubber side does a good job of lifting extra material lint. It does hold up pretty well. Easy to use. Decent value for your money. I just wish the bristles didn’t leave a stain. Maybe I am doing something wrong, but I stopped using the brass bristle side on light colors suede.

Great brush. Does an excellent job cleaning suede without damaging the material or the color like many heavy duty brushes do.

Cleaned my suede shoes amazingly!

I’ve been trying several suede cleaners lately, and this one is pretty standard and reliable.It doesn’t wow me, but it’s easy to use and good for everyday cleaning.A solid choice for beginners or anyone looking for a simple go-to suede cleaner.

For all the sneakers with suede toe trim, these are a must. The eraser part is very durable and will take off most marks without shredding into bits. The wire brush will rough up the top layer to take the remaining scuff mark off. Makes light colored shoes with suede trim keep looking new.

Great brush for cleaning my suede shoes and clothes shoes as well. Gets the job done! It has hard and soft bristles that will be gentle on your shoes.