Removing a mans foot print from a Satin Shoe

[zimbabwean]

Has anyone got any Ideas of how this can be done without damaging the shoe, and for your info it was not my foot that stood on said shoe

[johnthehappyguy]

Hi,

First of all I would try hoovering any loose material off.

If you get no better answers you could try meths ( methylated spirits about £1.50 for half a pint from chemist ) on a cloth, do not rub in, just dab.

Make sure you use a white cloth, as you do not want colour from the cloth going onto the shoe.

Advice is often give to try on a hidden part first for colour fastedness. Do that if you can.

If that does not work you could try - trichloroethylene. (sp?) It is "dry cleaning fluid", and is easiest to get hold of in small bottles as tippex thinners or liquid paper thinners.

Or nail varnish remover might work if you are desperate, but i think it would be too severe.

Also try google search

Good luck,

John

[Chef]

Hi,

First of all I would try hoovering any loose material off.

The vast majority of the foot print is likely to be just dried dust and dirt and hoovering it off will do the majority of the work.

If you get no better answers you could try meths ( methylated spirits about £1.50 for half a pint from chemist ) on a cloth, do not rub in, just dab.

Please don't try methylated spirit. It is a relatively poor solvent for greases and oils. It also contains a blue dye (which could stain your shoe) and a bitter compound (to stop people drinking it) that smells bad for ages.

If that does not work you could try - trichloroethylene. (sp?) It is "dry cleaning fluid", and is easiest to get hold of in small bottles as tippex thinners or liquid paper thinners.

If you are going to put any solvent near them then this would be the one that I would choose as oils and greases have great solubility in it. As John advises, use a white cloth and test an unobtrusive area first. This solvent can be purchased as the principle component of one of the "stain devil" range. It is used for dry cleaning and often you can get dry cleaning shops to do small stain removal for you as a service.

Tippex thinners is a different solvent (1,1,1, Trichloroethane) but it has very similar properties.

Or nail varnish remover might work if you are desperate, but i think it would be too severe.

Don't be tempted to use nail varnish remover. It is mostly a solvent called acetone (or propanone - different name same stuff) but it also contains a mix of oils and waxes. It removes your nail varnish but leaves a moisturing coating of oil on your finger nails.

Most satin is made from a fibre called cellulose acetate and unfortunately it dissolves in acetone (used in the process for making it into fibres). So if you did use nail polish remover it would at least partly dissolve the fabric and leave an oily patch on it.



Try getting your local dry cleaning shop to get out any stain left after hoovering out the dirt.

Failing that then try one of the dirt devil range or tippex thinners.

If everything fails then you can dye the shoes to match one of your outfits.

[johnthehappyguy]

Thanks very much chef,

It is always good to get a thorough and knowledgeable answer.

Best regards, john