When you get your shoes

Packaging: Since all our products do not have hard elements, i.e. they are with soft toe box; some of the models can be slightly squashed during transportation. The shoes will take the shape of the feet after you put them on and wear them for a while.

Kids shoes, boots and models for women and men are shipped in Zeazoo boxes, thus can be stored shoes properly when out of season.

Leather's Natural Markings

Even the best leather has natural markings which are analogous to fingerprints. They distinguish genuine leather from man-made materials. Some marks that can appear on the surface of leather are healed scratches, barbed wire marks, wrinkles and insect bites. Any of these markings may be present on your shoes and is your assurance that you have a true top grain leather. Leather is a natural product and you may notice areas with different texture, grain pattern and color as they may vary from hide to hide and within the hide. When we manufacture our shoes, we do our best to choose leather parts that look and feel the same - however, this is not always possible.

How to keep the shoes clean 

You can use leather care products to keep the shoes clean and in a good condition. Still, some of them contain chemicals, and it is not recommended to use them on a daily basis.
If you want to be as friendly to the shoes as possible, you can use a rubber eraser to remove the stains. You can also use specialized brushes for natural leather. 

For everyday care and maintenance of
- Full-grain leather – use a wet towel or a rubber eraser to remove the stains. If the leather is damaged, usually the surface of the leather can be worn out from traction, mud, snow or rain -> use either shoe paint in the same colour or a colorless finish.
- Suede and nubuck* – first, use a brush with stiff hairs for suede or brush with a soft bristle for nubuck. Then, clean the shoes with a damp cloth to refresh their color. If necessary, use a rubber eraser. Finally, use suede and nubuck care products (not for daily use).

* Nubuck is a top grain leather that has a brushed finish with an almost velvety feel to it. This type of leather is extremely luxurious, but also extremely delicate. Most cleaning is done by brushing off the dirt on the surface. Stains, ink, and discolorations are permanent and will not clean out.

How to clean the soft suede soles?
With time, the suede on the sole gets dirty and sticky and the shoes may become slippery. Clean the suede sole with a brush for suede materials, so that it becomes ruffled again. If necessary, wet the surface to clean the dirt off.

How to make the leather shoes waterproof?
Natural leather has pores, thus it has an excellent air circulation and is not naturally water-resitant. In order to make the leather water resistant you can use special "protector" sprays for waterproofing.

Some leathers have a special coating that makes them waterproof and these materials are marked as "water resistant". We use such leathers for some colors in Fox, Pelican and all Yeti boots  - there is information indicating that the leather is waterprof in these models. 

How to avoid color abrassion and bleeding?

All slippers are made of natural leather, and they do not have leather lining on the inside. This way, the inner side of the natural leather faces the feet (it is the suede part of the leather, known as the flesh side) . That is why it is possible that the material may leave color marks on the skin or on the socks several times you put the slippers on. These marks are easily removed. The shoes should not leave marks after they have been used for some time, until the excess leather dye is naturally worn away. 

Not all colors would leave such marks, but the stronger colors (red, green, and black) do.
Shoes with leather lining will not leave color marks, because we use neutral colours for the lining – white, beige or light brown.

Avoid water with leather products - it removes the excess leather dye and the natural oil in the leather. If the shoes get wet, then unexpected color bleeding can occur.
The fact is that the dye is wearing off when the leather gets wet. This is a natural process because dye dissolves in water.

The wearing off can be mitigated if the leather producer use chemicals to fixate the color. When they use fixers, the dyeing effect is mitigated, depending on what and how much of the fixer they use.
Some color agents are more aggressive and leave stains when the feet perspire. They are: red, dark blue, black.
The dye has chemicals, but they are nontoxic.
Products with vegetable tanned leather tend to have a greater degree of color bleeding, because no chemicals to fix the color are used in the dyeing process.

=> In order to prevent bleeding you can use a color fixer spray - it is nontoxic, it can be in a contact with the feet and does not affect the air circulation at all. If your shoes have leather lining (inner leather layer), then you do not need to use a color fixer spray. We use off-white and/or non-colored lining only.

Should we wash the natural leather shoes?

It is not advisable to wash shoes made of natural leather, because water removes part of the natural oil in the leather and part of its color. This way, the leather becomes stiffer and less flexible. However, with time, the leather will almost return to its original state. Washing the shoes can change their color and the fact is that the dye is wearing off when the leather gets wet. This is a natural process because dye dissolves in water.

If you decide to wash the shoes or if they become wet, stick to the following rules:

• Do not do this often – once a season is more than enough.
• Wash them with lukewarm water, and if possible – by hand.
• Do not clean with soaps and detergents - they can cause the leather surface to break down and in some cases, will remove the color.
• Do not use washing machine, because you will not be glad with the result and probably the shoes will not fit your kid/you any more.
• Leave them to dry at a room temperature, away from a direct sunlight and heat. Do not put them in a dryer!