Marla Off-White Shoe Polish Tin 003 – 50ml Beeswax Cream for Smooth Leather

Description

Marla Off-White Shoe Polish Tin 003 — 50ml of beeswax for pale leather

Off-white shoes are the ones people are most afraid of, and they need not be. Cream leather trainers, ivory wedding shoes and the pale summer loafers that come out for three months a year all suffer from the same thing: they do not so much fade as pick up grey. Scuffs, bag straps and the odd unhelpful doorframe all leave their mark, and on a pale shoe every one of them shows.

This off-white shoe polish tin from Marla is the everyday answer. It is a 50ml screw-top tin of beeswax maintenance cream that feeds the leather, protects it and puts colour back into the marked areas. It is not a heavy dye, so it will not make a cream shoe look painted; it evens out the tone and leaves a soft, natural sheen.

Marla make this in fifty shades, which is why I keep the range in stock, but 003 is quietly one of the most useful. Almost nobody makes a decent off-white, and a pale shoe with nothing to feed it goes stiff and dirty far faster than a dark one.

Why choose the Marla off-white shoe polish?

• A properly pale shade. Off-white is genuinely hard to find. Most ranges stop at cream or jump straight to white, and neither one sits right on ivory leather. Shade 003 is pitched exactly where it should be.
• Beeswax, so it feeds as well as covers. The wax content is what keeps the leather supple. Pale shoes are usually thin, soft leathers, and thin leather that is allowed to dry out creases badly and permanently.
• Hides grey marks and scuffs. There is enough pigment to blend a scuff back into the upper, which on an off-white shoe is exactly the difference between wearable and retired.
• Protects against the next mark. The wax layer means dirt sits on the surface rather than sinking into the grain, so the next clean is far quicker.
• Soft natural sheen, not a hard gloss. Pale leathers look wrong under a mirror shine. This buffs to a gentle lustre that suits cream and ivory much better.
• Very little money. A 50ml tin at under six pounds will keep a pair of pale shoes respectable for years, and pale shoes are precisely the ones people replace too early.

How to use the Marla shoe polish

Clean, apply thinly, rest, buff. On pale leather the cleaning stage matters even more than the polishing one, so do not rush it.

1. Brush the shoes down and take the laces out so you can reach the tongue and the eyelet facings.
2. Wipe the uppers with a barely damp cloth to lift surface dirt, and let them dry completely.
3. Take a small amount of cream on a clean cloth and work it in with small circular movements.
4. Keep the layer thin and even, and pay particular attention to scuffed areas and the toe.
5. Let the cream rest for about fifteen minutes so the wax can settle into the grain.
6. Buff with a soft brush or cloth until you have an even, gentle sheen.

My tip from behind the counter

Use a genuinely clean cloth on pale shoes. An old polishing rag that has seen black and brown will hand every bit of that colour straight back to an off-white upper, and grey smears on ivory leather are far harder to remove than the scuff you were trying to hide. I keep one cloth for pale shades and another for everything else, and it costs nothing to do the same at home.

Specifications

• Volume: 50ml screw-top tin
• Type: Beeswax maintenance cream that feeds, protects and recolours
• Shade: 003 Off-White
• Suitable for: Smooth leather shoes, boots and bags
• Not suitable for: Suede, nubuck and patent leather
• Brand: Marla, available in fifty shades

Frequently asked questions

Will it turn my cream shoes white?

No. This is a maintenance cream rather than a covering paint, so it evens out the tone and blends marks instead of laying a solid white film over the leather. If your shoes are closer to bright white, the white shade in the Marla range is the better match.

Can I use it on white leather trainers?

On the smooth leather panels, yes, and it works nicely. Keep it off the rubber midsole and the mesh, and use a cloth rather than a brush so you do not push cream into the stitching.

How often should I use it?

Less often than you might think, but do brush and wipe pale shoes after every few wears. Cream them when the leather starts looking dry or the scuffs have built up, which for most people is every month or two. Pale summer shoes are the exception worth planning for: give them a coat before they go away for the winter, and they come out in April supple rather than stiff.

Where can I buy the Marla off-white shoe polish in the UK?

You can order the Marla off-white shoe polish directly from Shoespecialist.co.uk. We offer free delivery on orders over £50, same-day dispatch when you order before 5pm, and a 60-day return policy.