How to care for your Edward Green shoes

EDWARD GREEN shoes are made with the finest calfskin they can find.  With proper care, your shoes will only improve with age, feeling ever more comfortable and developing this wonderful patina.

Check them regularly to ensure they are not becoming over-worn and always use a shoehorn to avoid damaging the backs.  After wear, insert the appropriate trees to ensure the shoes regain their original shape (as shown above).  Always alternate during the course of the week.  Allow any humidity to evaporate.  If really wet, do not use trees immediately but stuff with absorbent paper and leave to dry on their sides naturally away from any source of heat.  Then store on trees.

soles, heel and toes

Edward Green shoes are exceptionally hard wearing but if you enjoy wearing them as they hope, inevitably they will need at some stage to be refurbished.  The sole should be replaced when the centre becomes soft and worn.  Toes should not be worn into the welt.  If necessary, a metal toe tip can be counter sunk into the tip.  Heels need to be replaced when the back of the rubber top piece becomes worn and thin.  We do not advise the fitting of forepart rubber soles on top of the original leather sole.  The interior components may become damaged thus involving a considerably more onerous repair because moisture from the foot is unable to evaporate through the sole.

Edward Green shoes should always be returned to the factory for refurbishment on the original last to ensure they retain their original shape and comfort.  They will replace as much as is necessary returning them to you looking even more beautiful than they were originally but please understand: they cannot be responsible for repairing shoes which have been repaired previously 'outside'.

storing your shoes

Always store each shoe on its own shoe tree, separately in a bag to prevent damage and protect from dust.  Edward Green shoe trees are made to the shape of each individual last: it is as if you were packing the last back inside the shoe.  Storing on different trees can create distortion.

caring for your shoes

If the shoes have been worn in icy weather, rinse liberally with fresh water to remove street salt.  Otherwise, simply remove all trces of dust and dirt by using a dry or slightly damp cloth.  A soft brush can be used to remove dry mud from the welt.  Apply a good quality polish, such as Edward Green's fine polish which has little pigment and no silicone.  Using an applicator brush apply wax between the welt and the upper.  Leave to be absorbed and then use a normal soft shoe brush to remove any excess, brushing until the desired finishe is achieved.

To maintain the original colour, choose a polish slightly lighter than the original colour.  To darken or to maintain an antique finish, choose a slighly darker polish.

A high shine on the toe cap is achieved by a traditional 'spit and polish' and using a good quality non-fluffy cloth with a little polish and some water.  With the cloth stretched over your forefinger, apply a minimum amount of polish in a small circular motion, occassionally dipping  the cloth into water to 'break up' the polish.  With patience a high shine will gradulally be achieved.  Care must be taken to use neither too much polish nor too much water.  Once the desired level of shine is achieved, this can be maintained by buffing with a soft clean cloth and lightly waxing occassionally.

Always use separate brushes for different colours of polish plus a separate soft brush for suede.  A mix-up could be calamitous!

Edward Green calfskin is tanned especially for them - twice.  Initially it is but a pale shade of the ultimate translucent colour: polishin is the final step.  Once the shoes have been made, skilled craftsmen and women clean the skin and then begin the slow polishing and antiquing process unique to Edward Green until eventually the unmistakeable patina develops.

However, Edward Green must acknowledge that however carefully the skins are reviewed prior to 'clicking' or cutting, because of the 'natural' state of the calfskin, occassionally marks are highlighted during the polishing process.  These should not be rejected as flaws but accepted as being natural - for example, like a small freckle.

We trust this guide will be of help to you.

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Tassels Hong Kong