Shoe Cleaning & Repair Services | Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune, Bangalore

The Leather Laundry has set up exemplary benchmarks when it comes to shoe care concerns.  They extend best-in-class and industry-leading cleaning, repair, and conditioning for long life and durability all over India. Be it shoe repair, shoe cleaning, shoe dry cleaning, or numerous kinds of shoe heel repair and shoe sole repair, the leather laundry has got it all covered. Spanning across several major cities like Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune, and Bangalore, this specialized and dedicated shoe laundry has garnered the attention and patronage of a varied clientele. To say that shoe cleaning services are the leather laundry’s forte won’t be an overstatement.

To create a great ecosystem of uniform and similar services all over the major cities they have resorted to great standards and reproducibility across all facilities.  The innovative and superior standards they maintain in performing shoes cleaning repair and customizing is a spectacle in itself. These are the reasons for their rise to prominence within a decade of their establishment. So, if you are asking for shoe cleaning services near me, then you probably needn’t look far from the leather laundry.

Shoes & their implications in the modern world

Shoes have been an integral part of human beings starting from just an instinctive need of protecting their feet. Subsequently, they have become a quintessential part of their wardrobe. Imaging and contemplating the era devoid of shoes or footwear is a difficult proposition. The footwear industry itself has evolved magnificently attaining immense recognition as a work of craft. Shoes have witnessed their fair share of fascinating transformations over a course of thousands of years. These transformations have affected their basic characteristics, coloring, fabrics and design intricacies, etc. 

A contrast between fashion sense and functionality has made many designers opt for practicality to that of bare aesthetics. Thanks to celebrities and eminent personalities shoes have been trending in several ways and continue to change. Irrespective of the intended purpose of the shoes, they deserve our attention to look great and clean. An ideal cleaning and maintenance regime cares for the well-being of the shoes and the user equally.

So, without any further ado, let’s dive deeper into the world of shoes to learn and understand different shoe materials. Materials determine cleaning and repairing procedures to help them look plush and clean. Shoes come in numerous fabrics like leather, canvas, textile, synthetic, etc. Each of these fabrics has specific cleaning and repairing method that makes them look great and provides longevity.

Shoe Cleaning, Repair & Restoration Process

The initial steps are all about the removal of faulty and wobbly heels and soles from the shoes. These defective elements are responsible for wearing discomfort and a lackluster look. This process is a balanced combination of steady and crafty handwork with the precision and finishing touch of machines. In this excerpt, the focus would be on shoe cleaning services concerning leather fabric.

Shoe cleaning preparatory steps

• Leather fabric shoe cleaning and repair is a simple yet elaborate process. The process requires a lot of care and attention to small details due to the fabric washability limitations.

• An anvil over a raised platform helps in holding the shoes firmly. Removing the shoelaces helps in easier access of the entire shoe. This ensures easy access and a firm placement for repair. Cleaning the shoes before the repair isn’t wise as you need to redo the whole cleaning process after repairing. 

• Be gentle while removing the soles and interface sole material in a rolling pattern using a special rolled clipper tool. It is important in keeping the rest of the shoe in good shape.

• Cautious removal of the individual nails that bind the sole and heel base together is very important. Scalping the heel block closest to the sole out leaves the sole completely clean for rework. Brute force usage may cause permanent degenerative damage to the insole. Hence, moderating force application is vital.   

• A sharp knife helps to cut through the outsole and welt stitching with ease. The knife movement shouldn’t meddle the upper base leather material.  Any kind of bend and disturbance to the shape while stitching can hamper the stitching integrity. It is vital in holding the outsole and the base leather together.

• At this point the cork stuffing is visible which needs to be removed and stuffed while putting a new sole back on the base.

Shoe cork bed, sole material preparation & adhesion

The next few steps concern the replacement of the torn and worn parts with new and on-demand custom material. It is as per the request of the customer before ending up as a finished product. 

• Firstly, lay a new cork bed on the leather base. An adhesive paste is of premium grade and good quality is always preferable. It is necessary to deburr and remove all the extra and unnecessary material to obtain a smooth finish. Generally, these steps involve smoothening with soft grinding machine tools for a hassle-free operation.

• Next, the cork bed is firmly and evenly laid on the welt. After ensuring firm positioning, it is time for gluing the sole on top of it. A well-laid cork bed provides a cushiony and moldy feeling upon wearing the shoes and is important to wearing comfort.

• Alternatively, to obtain a spongy feel while wearing, a rubber sheet is a good alternative for cork beds.

• Next up, pick a specialized glue adhesive and apply it evenly on the leather base and the sole. Allow the glue to dry for a duration of about 15 minutes. A superior quality glue is free of toluene, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), and latex which are harmful and toxic. These ingredients may act as allergens for few people.

• On the positive side, these high-grade adhesives are good enough to not need stitching sometimes. The outsole material requires special attention and should be an aged leather fabric. Its specialty is its resistance to disintegration on exposure to water or rain.

• Next up, the sole and the leatherback are aligned appropriately and hand-pressed initially for a good feel and then pressed by a helping machine. The machine utilizes a sponge stamp that applies essential optimal pressure without deforming the shoe. The stamping action takes 5-10 seconds for effectuating. 

• Trim off the extra sole material is to match the periphery of the shoe welt. As a finishing touch, use a lip knife to remove the bur out of the sole.

Toe plate attachment

The following steps will go through fitting toe plates which help extend the longevity of the toe which get a lot of impact in daily use.

• Genuine natural leather has inbuilt water resistance which makes it difficult to soften.  A stretching fluid with substantial alcohol content assist in penetration and softening effect on the outsole. making it easier to cut and trim.

• Trace the shape of the toe plate on the shoe outsole and trim it carefully with a sharp one-sided razor. Make sure that your tracing outline properly matches the periphery of the toe plate. Fit the toe plate properly without any wobbling movement or extra and unnecessary protrusion.

• Keeping the toe plate aside, it is then time for stitching the outsole into the shoe welt. It is vital to match the stitching to the existing original welt holes. This is where the skill and the experience of a professional matter the most. The stitching is neat takes place without cutting through and weakening the welt.

• To restore the beauty and elegance of the shoe, it is important to perform a concealed welt channel stitching. This stitching improves the overall look and feel of the outsole. Hand rolling the stitch area with a cylindrical tool helps to hide any protruding stitches.

Shoe heel cleaning, polishing & coloring

The shoe outsole is then trimmed to obtain a great finish and is then made ready for further operations.

• Screw the toe plates into the holes created in the shoe outsole. Ensure that the toe plate forms a snug fit over it. Smoothen out the heels out for a better finish free of burrs.

• Smear adequate adhesive to the inner heel block and glue it to the outsole heel portion. Apply enough pressure through stamping to ensure sufficient adhesion between them. Select a suitable nail length and hammer it through the heel. The nails have threads for proper fit and are long enough to penetrate the heel block and a portion of the outsole.

• The outer heel is then glued and attached to the inner heel block and undergoes a stamping process for pressurized adhesion. After an initial manual cut with a lip knife to match the heel to the shoe periphery, which is followed by a smoothening and deburring process in the grinding machine with a silica tool. This finally results in forming a silhouette to match all the shapes and layers of the shoe.

• Indentations are made on the heel of the shoe to accommodate brass nails. The  Brass being softer than steel wears down at a rate similar to that of leather which makes them suitable for use in shoes and they are resistant to rust.

• Nails are then hammered into the indentations with their heads clipped out and smoothened out to seamlessly merge with the level of the heel.

• The sole and heel are then cleaned, conditioned, and polished with wax, and buffed with a soft cloth. It imparts a rich and elegant luster and surface finish.

• Ink the edge of the sole to match the color of the shoe, let it dry, and thoroughly buff it up in the finishing machine. This concludes the repair and cleaning process.

Shoe polishing & waxing

Once, the cleaning, repair, and polishing of the freshly put sole and heel are done, it is time for the body of the shoe to express itself and truly be definitive as a whole.

• The shoe is first cleaned and conditioned using a nice condition by buffing it up with a clean cloth. Polishing with a soft bristle shoe brush imparts a natural glaze and shine making the color pop out naturally

• Waxing the bottom of the shoe assists in the removal of the existing ink smudge. It also enhances the shine and glossiness of the sole.

• A polish is then taken and is rubbed with a clean cloth to give it a mirror finish all around the shoe.

• Lastly, a premium quality shoelace can add a distinguishing wow factor and adds an appeal through innovative lace windings.

This is just the beginning of the goodies as we at leather laundry also offer a plethora of cleaning, repair, and deep conditioning services for a varied range of shoe materials and fabrics. Now that we have decoded our take on shoe cleaning services, your question about the best shoe cleaning services near me shouldn’t pose any more problems. All of this goodness can follow you around even though you keep shuffling between major cities like Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune, and Bangalore. Our elaborate shoe cleaning services are always looking out for our valued patrons.