In this video we show you the process of cleaning suede roller skate boots, like the Moxi Lolly.
WARNING
Hi, this is Lisa from RollerGirl.ca and today we're going to talk about cleaning Moxi skates and other suede skates.
These are my moxie skates and they are pretty grimy and dirty and in need of cleaning, but luckily they can be cleaned. They're not gonna be as pretty as they were when they were new but they're gonna be so much better, so let's do it.
So I wanted to start just by showing the condition of the skates before and after washing, so the
skate over here is dirty you can see some of the really gross parts like the sweat stains around
the moxie logo here, and on the inside of the boots the tongue which has absorbed a lot of sweat
and moisture over the years.
Also just the overall dirtiness of the boots from sort of the toe all the way back here, you can
just see all the dirty marks.
This boot over here has already gone through the cleaning process and you can see that I've been
able to lift a lot of that dirt out of the boots, and not only do they look cleaner but they
actually have better color than the dirty boots do ,they're greener less gray than the dirty
boots.
So here we have the before and the after of our cleaning process.
These are the products that you're going to need to clean your skates. We have a suede eraser, a
suede brush, and suede cleaner or shampoo. These products are available at shoe repair shops,
shoe stores, or you can buy them direct at rollergirl.ca
A sponge, any sponge will do, we're using a piece of a helmet liner because that's what we had
handy.
Water, and paper towel.
The first step is to use the suede eraser. This is a fabulous tool if you have suede shoes or
suede skates I highly recommend you pick up one of these, they're fantastic for removing spots
and stains.
In this case we're going to use it on the entire boot, these skates are dirty enough to justify
that.
So we're going to start in the dirtiest areas where you can use them in little tiny circles but
in other places that's not possible.
And don't worry that you're going to damage them you can be pretty aggressive with the suede
eraser it sort of just picks up the dirt off the surface of the skates.
Make sure to do all the surfaces, don't forget the tongue and the back stay.
We'll actually be using this eraser at several points during the cleaning process.
It's okay if there's really dirty spots, you're going to go over them a couple of times each
time just because it's really where you need to focus your work.
Alright I'm gonna flip the boots.
It's a little workout too.
Like I said, don't forget the tongue.
It's a little hard to access.
It's kind of a messy job so make sure to do this somewhere where you don't have carpet, or some
place where it's easy to clean.
Alright, once you've done one pass on the entire boot with the suede eraser, you are going to
take your suede brush and you are going to brush off all of the suede eraser remnants off the
boots.
And this not only removes the suede eraser from the boot it actually lifts dirt and dust, so
we're doing the first step of the cleaning here.
So already you can see that the boot actually looks cleaner, and we've been able to pick up some
of those marks.
And that is step one.
For the next step we're going to moisten the skate, and I know that it seems a little scary to
wet your Moxis, but trust me, this works really really well.
So you take your sponge, you're just going to dip it in the water and we want the boot to be wet
but not soaking wet.
So you're just going to lightly dab at the boot until it darkens, and you can see that the
surface is wet.
You may want to remove your wheels for this step so that you don't get any water on your wheels
and bearings.
I'll be careful.
So we're just going to go along and moisten the surface, dab it if you get any sort of super wet
spots but you do want it fully saturated.
And actually you'll see that, during the process of doing this, your water tends to get a little
bit disgusting.
You can see all of the dirt that you're pulling out of the boots.
And then you can actually, especially in the dirty areas, scrub it a little bit as you go, just
to lift a little bit more.
This is actually a good trick, too, if you have taken your skates out and gone through a puddle
and got water stains, or spots on your boots.
It seems a little funny, but if you do this process when there's spotting on your boots, it will
remove water spots.
So even if your boots are new and clean otherwise, and they just have a couple spots from going
through a puddle, if you wet the whole boot you'll find the spots are gone when they dry.
It also applies, obviously, to suede boots.
Make sure to get in and around all those little eyelets, and I do find that this is one of the
dirtiest spots on my skates.
It's right beside those dirty little eyelets, and around the Moxi logo.
So I'm going to give that a good scrubbing.
Too much water there.
Alright, so I'm going to turn it and do the other side.
Don't forget to do all the surfaces, including the tongue and the backstay.
I actually like to wipe the cloth areas too, because they're just as dirty.
You can't see it but they do have as much dirt and grime, sweat, on them.
Take your time.
It can be a little bit difficult to get the surface to absorb the water at first but don't apply
too much.
But you see it sits on the surface, like that, I'm being a little rushed, you want to be slow
and let the water slowly work in.
And, as I said before, if there are spots where you're seeing extra staining and marking now is a
good time to do a little bit of rubbing.
See if you can rub those out just a little bit.
This is looking good.
As I said, on these I always find that my tongues really do pick up a lot of dirt, moisture,
sweat.
Kind of the grossest part.
A little more scrubbing, same trick I did before, helps you get a little pressure when you're
scrubbing on the tongue.
Because, as I said, it does seem to be one of the dirtiest parts of my skate and they tend to be
stiff, and if you work them out with the water and with the shampoo you'll find they soften and
sit better on your ankles they're just more comfortable.
Pick up that excess water.
You see, already it's looking better.
It's wet, but you can see that it's softer.
Also don't forget to wash the inside of the tongue.
This tongue is pretty dirty but, at the shampoo stage when we clean it afterwards, we'll pick up
even more of that dirt.
Just getting it started here now.
Alright so we've completed the wetting stage, the whole boot is damp now and the next thing we're
going to do is just stuff it full of bunched up paper.
You can use any kind of paper you just don't really want to use say newspaper because that can
leave ink on the inside of your boots.
And we're doing this so that, when the boots dry, that they hold their shape nicely, because
they're wet.
So I'm using a craft paper here but you can use any paper that you have handy.
Perfect, so now we just simply let the skates dry, overnight usually does the trick, and we'll
come back and we'll clean them with the suede cleaner.
So it's the next day and our skates have fully dried as you can see.
I have also taken the brush and just brushed them lightly to bring the nap up a little bit.
Just the water wash that we did yesterday has done a good job cleaning them, and that a lot of
the dirt has been lifted.
They look so much better than yesterday.
So now it's time to move on to the shampoo, or the cleaner, you can use any suede cleaner that
you have just make sure to read the instructions and test it out on maybe a piece of the tongue
some place where it's not super visible.
Just to see if there's any color change.
So let's get started
For this product we use our sponge, and you're going to once again apply enough to dampen the boot without making it soaking wet and we're going to work our way over the entire surface of the boot.
Alright so we have applied the shampoo to all the surfaces of the boot we're going to let it dry completely and come back for a final brush and eraser treatment.
Alright it's the next day and our skate has fully dried and it looks great.
It looks nice and clean, a lot better than it did a couple of days ago.
I'm going to do a last pass with the eraser and the brush just to pick up any last marks that I
want to take off.
So I'm going to take the eraser and just do some spot work where there's some marks left.
Another thing is you might see on your skates that you have areas that are really dark where the
suede has been really compacted, dirtied, and compressed.
If you use the sharp edge of the brush, you can dig at it and raise up the nap where it has been
compresse.
Mine isn't really like that but you see this with a lot of skates.
If the knife isn't working, just use your nail and kind of pick at it and lift it.
You'll find that you can pick up that nap.
Once you've done your pass with the eraser you're just going to brush your suede, removing the dust from the eraser and just sort of waking up the nap again.
And that is that!
As I said, it's not perfect.
There still are some marks on these boots, but they seem so much fresher, and nicer, and less
grungy than they did, and it really has brought back the color, and the life to the boot.
Another step, that is not mandatory, that you might choose to do, is that you can use a suede
protector at this point.
You're gonna follow the instructions on your bottle and spray down the boots.
This will protect them from water spotting later on, make them easier to clean, and it kind of
conditions the leather a little bit too.
For this particular case I'm not going to, I think my boots are just fine the way they are.
Although... they could use some new laces!
So here's the final result, here are my pretty Moxies, all fresh and clean.
And you can see just how much better they look from all the nice angles.
I hope that you enjoyed this video, this is Lisa from RollerGirl.ca
Happy skating!