3 great things you can do with shoe polish besides shining your shoes

Everyone knows that shoe polish is great for covering up scuff marks and giving leather shoes a makeover, with a waterproof finish and some shine.

But there are a few extra things you can do with your shoe polish you may not have realised.

If you have any old shoe polish that you are not using because of the shade or consistency, consider using it for some of these fixes instead.

Shining up your furniture

Wax shoe polish is great for restoring your wooden furniture. Use the polish to shine your furniture and cover-up nicks and scratches on the wood.

To do this, use a soft cloth and buff the wax into your wooden furniture just as you would with a pair of shoes. A clear wax can also shine up any leather furniture, just make sure you rub it until there’s no residue left so you don’t mark your clothes when you sit on the chair.

Nourishing your leather handbags

Just like leather shoes, shoe polish will restore the look of your leather handbags and wallets.

Simply use the polish as you would on shoes, by using a bit of polish on a cloth and rubbing it in a circular motion into your leather goods.

Once you have a good coverage leave the bag or wallet out overnight so the polish can do its work before buffing it all off.

Staining your furniture

On top of shining up your furniture, shoe polish can also work as an effective wood stain. Simply choose which polish you would like to stain your wood with and buff it into the furniture.

You may need to give the furniture a few coats so this can be quite time-consuming. For reference, a brown shoe polish has a walnut-like finish, a tan polish gives a light maple hue and a cordovan polish has a mahogany stain.

Now that you know what else you can do with shoe polish, use up those old tins and make the most of them!  Just make sure you wait until the shoe polish has dried completely before using any of the items you have polished.

Do you have any interesting uses for shoe polish? Would you try out any of these tips?