Caring for my Shoes and Wearing them in

Ethnic Spirit shoes are made with 100% natural materials and being made with both cotton and leather, all types of our shoes will stretch with time. We always suggest for our face-to face customers to try on a pair and walk around for awhile to see just how quickly the heat of your skin will already make a difference to the comfort of the shoes. With online customers we suggest to measure correctly your feet using the International Shoe Size Converter, by tracing around your foot to understand which exact size you should purchase and if you have any worries, to contact us immediately for a quick response before purchasing your shoes.

All Ethnic Spirit shoes that have fabric around the toe area of the shoe will stretch up to 1cm on either side of the foot which is why we assure you to not be worried if on the first try they feel quite tight around the foot. It takes from one hour to a few weeks depending on your foot and how often you wear them, to find the perfect fit.

All of our leather toed shoes, especially our Convertible and Traditional Cowboy boots need some some wearing in to soften the leather and shape it exactly to your individual shape. This was always known in the past, that good quality leather shoes needed time to wear in. Do you remember buying school shoes a month before school went back and wearing them around in the holidays to wear them in?
Recently this knowledge of having to wear in leather shoes has gone out of fashion because most shoes that are bought and made today are made with synthetic materials and are mass-produced, making for a quick and comfortable fit but not lasting the years and decades that a good quality pair of hand-made cowboy boots can last!

Remember with Ethnic Spirit cowboy boots, the more you wear them the better they look; rain, hail or shine!

All Ethnic Spirit fabric shoes can be sprayed with any type of water proofing product if desired but being fabric they will not be ruined in the slightest if they get wet. In fact Ethnic Spirit fabric shoes are washable. Don't use any soapy products, simply place the shoes in a bucket of cold water with a drop or two of lavender or eucalyptus oil to remove any odours, leave to soak for ten minutes, scrub off any dust or festival mud with your hand or a soft sponge, place in the washing machine for a quick 1 min spin and position in a shady warm area with the tongue out and laces undone. The shoes should dry within a few hours.

All Ethnic Spirit Cowboy boots or leather shoes after some time may need a leather product applied to keep the leather soft and not left too dry. The leather should be wiped over with a cloth before the product is applied. We like to suggest a natural product called "Leatherworx" which is a mix of beeswax and coconut oil but any leather wax product like "Dubbin" used for leather saddlery can be used freely. The shoes can also be permanently changed to any colour darker than the original by using a "Suede-nubuck sponge top roller" found at any Mister Minit shoe store.
The fabric parts of the shoes can be wiped over with a wet cloth to remove dust or mud.

Links for shoe care:

https://misterminit.co/shoe-repair-care/shoe-care/suede-nubuck/

http://leatherseal.com.au/

https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/57350/kiwi-dubbin-leather-cleaner-neutral