Black marks on light leather, how to fix?

[JinxieKat]

Hey all, I just got a lovely pair of camel colored leather sling backs. Unfortunately the first day I wore them I got a thin black line on the leather. It looks like I might have brushed the bottom sole or the heel against the side of the opposite shoe. I tried saddle soap since the shoes were leather to no avail. Any help getting rid of this mark would be appreciated! Thank you! JinxieKat

[Firefox]

A suede cleaning block, which is a very light abrasive, may help if a thin layer of the surface is irreperably stained. You might also try various grades of pencil eraser or typing erasers. Start with the smoothest ones. Then build up the surface with scuff coat if necessary and waxing products followed by a shine. The repair should be more or less invisible if you do it correctly.

[hart88]

I am re-replying to this because the old posts evaporated with the new pages. This is a usual problem that seems to surface in the summertimes, maybe because we see more of the shoe because of less clothes, etc. A trick I always use first in the shoe shop is to dip my finger into the Wax shoe polish(neutral first) and rub my finger with the wax across the black spot. Many times this erases the black mark. Then all you do now is use some new neutral polish and polish the shoe, and you are ready. The next step if the wax attempt doesn't work, is to use my spot remover product. I am careful, because it could erase existing shoe color, but that is what happens when you scuff the leather, sometimes the color comes off. The reason I didn't mention saddle soap, because those marks are not dirt, they are residue from the edge of the sole or heel that rubs off onto the shoe. It is some kind of sole edge dressing, so saddle soap won't touch it. When applying a spot remover, sometimes I end up wiping the entire shoe with it, and then after it dries, I repolish the shoe. If the shoe polish isn't enough, you maybe have to find some leather dye, or take them to the shoemaker and have them refinish them for you. Of course, these instructions are for smooth leather, suede leather is different. The suede cleaning block mentioned previously would be the weapon I would use first. Make sure the edge of the suede cleaning block itself is clean, otherwise you will be spreading dirty particles onto the shoe with it. I use my knife to cut off dirty edges of the block so I have a fresh piece of the block to use against the stain... Some people think this next idea is herrisy, voodo, whatever, but I sometimes use real smooth sandpaper. (the higher the number of the sandpaper, the smoother it is- I would suggest a number over 100) I use a brushing motion, or combing motion, always rotating the sandpaper so I don't use just one spot, because that part of the sandpaper could start getting dirty, and spreading the dirt around... Don't set in one spot and dig away, you will have problems. The Idea is to use equal pressure on all the edges of the stain and beyond to kind of blend in the clean area with the rest of the shoe. In rare cases with suede, I take a clean straight edge knife and carefully brush the knife with the cutting edge 90* to the surface and use a cleaning, brushing motion. As with the suede block, or suede brush, don't focus too much on just the spot, always go past it, blending in the fresh cleaned area with the other areas. Many times just cleaning the light colored shoes makes them look better. The biggest mistake is to try to cover it over.

[Dr. Shoe]

I agree, but don't try the sandpaper on patent or Glace Kid though.

[hart88]

thank you, I didn't think of going there, ...Patent leather has its own problems, however. It is funny, White shoes get black marks, and Black patent leather get white marks. Weird! huh? The wax polish method seems to work with patent leather, also. I have heard some people say they use petroleum jelly to clean them but I don't like to promote that idea, because it seems to attract more dirt again.