care/cleaning for crepe soles?
I thrifted a pair of like-new Clark’s suede boots yesterday. Not sure the exact model. They have no signs of wear on heel cup, leather upper, laces, eyelets, stitching, etc. But the crepe soles are very dirty. I’ve never had a crepe sole shoe before but read that they are porous and trap dirt. I’m assuming these picked up tons of dust/dirt from being moved to/from the thrift store and sitting on a dusty shelf.
Is trying to clean these a fool’s errand? Any recommended ways to clean? It seems like the original sole was intended to be a color contrast with the suede.
8 Replies
They're meant to look like that. Eventually they turn dark gray / black
Untreated crepe rubber becomes like that. You could get Clark's bushacres which use a different coloured rubber outsole
Thanks! So are you able to ID these pair from the pics? It’s not clear to me even from your picture
Would assume these https://www.clarks.com/en-gb/desert-boot/26155485-p for the upper leather, but the sole would be untreated crepe rubber. The discolouration isn't uniform, which is odd. It's unlikely they'd be worn away to a "clean" later unless they used grit paper or something
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Looks like it was untreated plain crepe to begin with
Thanks for the thoughts! I’m gonna leave them as-is.
Bonus pic
