Care that keeps the court clean

Care starts the day the box opens, not the day the shoe starts to look tired. Full-grain leather wants feeding, not coating. Two minutes a week keeps a pair looking right for years, and everything you need fits in a drawer.

The TREAD Care Kit is $28: a horsehair brush, a tin of leather cream and a suede eraser. The cream tin is refillable, so the brush and the tin are a one-off.

The routine

• Before the first wear: a thin coat of cream, worked in with a soft cloth. Cream sparingly; more is not better.
• After every wear: brush dry. Grit settles in the creases and wears the grain, and the horsehair lifts it out.
• Every few weeks: cream again, thinly. Never polish: polish sits on the surface and builds up, cream goes into the leather.
• The suede collar: the eraser on marks, then brush in one direction to lift the nap.
• Scuffs on white or bone: a damp cloth first, before anything cleverer.

When they get wet

Let them dry on their own, away from direct heat. A radiator dries leather too fast and that is where cracks start. Stuff them with paper, leave them overnight, brush them in the morning and cream them once they are fully dry.

Laces, soles and the Runner

When the laces go gray, change them. The Laces Pack is three pairs of 120cm waxed organic cotton for $12, and a fresh pair does more for an old shoe than anything in a tin. When the sole wears through on the Court, the High or the Slip, send them to our workshop for a new one; the upper you broke in keeps going.

The Runner is different. Brush the suede dry, spot clean the mesh, let it air dry, and accept that its foam midsole cannot be replaced.

None of this is fussy. It is the difference between a shoe that looks worn and one that looks worn in. Clean shoes read as intent.