Furniture

Looking after leather in a Cape winter

Wet leather is not the problem. Heat is. If you come in soaked, stuff the shoes with newspaper and leave them somewhere with moving air, well away from a heater or a sunny windowsill. Forced drying pulls the oils out and the leather goes stiff and cracks along the flex line.

Once they are dry, a thin coat of cream puts back what the rain took out. Two pairs in rotation will outlast one pair worn every day.