Show your shoes some love by taking good care of them, and they’ll last longer and look better! Here are three easy steps to ensure your shoes will be protected, clean, and long-lasting.

Protect your shoes – I always recommend that you protect a new pair of shoes before wearing them, especially if you’re planning on wearing them in wet weather.  For leather and suede shoes, there are many very good brands of protective “rain and stain” treatments specific to those materials.  For non-leather and fabric shoes, there are fabric-specific spray treatments that offer excellent protection against water and staining.  Suede, especially, needs to be treated so that water will not discolor it.

Clean your shoes – I never recommend machine washing shoes.  Sure, it might get them clean, but the spin cycle and the dryer can damage the shoe and shorten its life.  Instead, there are lots of great…