Sweater Pills and Water Marks

Nicole

Does anyone have any product recommendations for sweater shavers and some kind of leather soap? I have a fairly new BR sweater that is just pilling away and my boots could all use a good cleaning. I try to wash off the salt lines regularly, but I think a more specific cleaning is in order.

17 years ago

General

11 replies

Latest reply was from marianne

marianne

Active Member

I am very old-school and use a regular men's disposable razor. Obviously you have to be careful, and it doesn't work so well with ribs or cables. What is the sweater content?
Don't know anything about boot cleaning, sorry!

17 years ago

Anonymous

Nicole do you put some kind of protectant on the leather boots? Maybe something with silicone in it would help prevent the water and salt marks. Do your red LC patent boots get water marks?
I bought a sweater shaver a few years ago at a yarn/knitting shop. It was a hand held simple thing with no batteries or other power, but I never did use it. You might try a shop like that to find one though.

17 years ago

Nicole

Veteran

Thanks Marianne and San. I'll ask my MIL if her favorite yarn shop sells a manual shaver. I'll have to check what the content of the sweater is--I think it's some sythetic combined with wool.

San, my LC boots get watermarks, but since they are patent, they wipe right off with a dry towel. However, there are two tiny spots on the toe on each shoe, where a little bit of the patent finish has worn off. Almost like something gouged the shoe and peeled it back. Unfortunately, the color of the boot prevents me from doing any kind of polish repair. I was thinking of bringing them to a cobbler after the winter (if I can still find one). Not sure if they can do anything either though. The boots that are getting the salt marks are the chestnut Steve Madden boots. I don't mind if they get a little worn looking--I think that will compliment their appearance--like a worn soft leather bomber. But the salt marks are what concerns me most.

17 years ago

Alecia

Veteran

The forum ladies suggested a battery-powered shaver to me. It works well enough that I feel comfortable in my formerly pilling stuff.

I can wholeheartedly recommend finding a cobbler. I LOVE mine. They have worked miracles. I bet a good one could help you fix those boots and ideas for how to prep them (or others) in the future to avoid stains. (We don't get snow so I have no idea about the salt issue.) One idea about finding a cobller, mine (the best in town - ok I'm certainly biased) does all the shoe repair work for the local dance company. Perhaps you could call your local dance company and see who they use. I tell you, my cobbler has revived shoes that I thought for sure were goners.

17 years ago

shiny

Veteran

This would make a good blog post (hint hint).

I was thinking about the salt topic the other day myself. First, when I noticed my DD's new boots are covered in salt stains already. Then, when I read in the news that Seattle has lifted their ban on using salt on the roads; it got me wondering if Angie and our other Seattleites were prepared to deal with the salt issue!

My boots have survived okay so far, but we use sand around our house and driveway, I don't commute to work (which I'm sure helps a lot), and during and after a snowstorm when the salt is the worst, I wear my uggs instead, or a pair of booties I have that are pleather (and have survived almost 5 years now). Otherwise, I am just ultra-careful to wipe any salt off my leather boots immediately. (And it goes without saying, I never wear my suede boots out if there's any risk of getting salt or water on them! Which means I don't wear them very often

Nicole, did you waterproof the boots yet? I think you can also use leather moisturizer to work out any stains, provided they haven't sat too long. I'm not sure if it's called "moisturizer" or what.... maybe it's leather oil? Same stuff you might use on a leather purse or coat. That would be worth a shot. I'd go to a leather store if you can't get to a cobbler right away. Otherwise, I am not sure - salt is so incredibly damaging to boots. Wipe them off as soon as possible?

As for the red LC's, that is such a shame! I had that happen to more than a few pair of boots. It's usually at the toe. I have had luck using a permanent marker to color in the tips, but the boots were either black or brown. It's not the best solution but it makes the chipped areas a lot less noticeable.

17 years ago

Ana

(website)

Veteran

I'm not sure about Leather soap, I've never cleaned boots before (mainly because I never had any nice enough to wash). It's a good question, and I'm interested in all the responses.

As far a sweater shaver goes, I'd recommend a battery powered one for ease of use and quickness. I have one that is really simple. It's small and has a little compartment that collects the shavings and a little mesh head with a razor underneath. It's pretty idiot proof, which I need. I haven't ruined a sweater yet by making a hole or anything. I think it cost about $7.00 and Brendan got it for me at Macys a couple of years ago. They would probably have one at someplace like Target or The Container Store though.

17 years ago

Nicole

Veteran

Well I did a little research this morning and read several suggestions of equal parts white vinegar and water and a dry clean cotton cloth. I tried it and it did seem to work pretty well. The water probably isn't great for the boots, but as I've said, they are the kind of boots that will still look good if they look aged and beat up a little bit.

But I did notice that the heel (it's a very low wedge heel) is starting to pull away from the boot. And the little piece that sits on the sole at the heel--like a little plastic protector piece--is wearing down unevenly. I'm rather disappointed since these boots are one of 3 pair I have in rotation--along with my other shoes, so it's not like they are being worn daily. Maybe once a week, if that.

Anyway, I also googled cobblers in my area and found two. I'm going to drop the brown and red boots off and see what they suggest.

17 years ago

Ana

(website)

Veteran

That's great Nicole. You'd be surprised what cobblers can do to fix up shoes.

17 years ago

Anonymous

Good Nicole I hope the cobbler has some great ideas and fixes. It's heartbreaking to have your new boots get ruined so quickly.
Snow and ice are very hard we noticed recently here in the Puget Sound area. Our car fog light got knocked out somehow from driving in the snow. Since that happened, we noticed other cars with the fog lights knocked out.

17 years ago

BLB

(website)

Active Member

I did a bunch of research on sweater shavers recently and ended up ordering this: http://www.sweaterstone.com/

I got mine from eBay Canada but if you're in the US, you can try it for free (just click on the 'free' link) plus the cost of shipping. Mine hasn't arrived yet but when it does, I'll report back. The Laundress also makes one, but I like that this original version supports a good cause.

I did try a small battery-operated shaver, and it did absolutely nothing. The store down the road from me has stopped carrying them at all because they get so many returns.

17 years ago

marianne

Active Member

Nicole, I had exactly the same problem in a couple of tiny spots with my LC boots, which is a shame, considering their price. I am not sure what caused it, because I haven't been treating them very rough at all. I wonder if a cobbler can put something over those spots.

17 years ago

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