Are you going to throw out your old and faded suede shoes? Wait here, read the article and how you can make them make look like a new one.
Suede shoes are super stylish and add some unique collections to your shoe collection. Still, you might be giving it a second thought before spending any money while buying them. The reason behind the dilemma is, Suede shoes get ruined and faded quickly. I have experienced this hassle by myself for a long time.

But then, something came up to me as the most excellent advice and saved all my old suede shoes. The trick is nothing but painting them with some good-quality dye.
Here you’ll know: how to paint suede shoes and what things you would need to know while painting them.
How to Paint Suede Shoes Step by Step Easily!!
The easiest way of applying Suede paint is using ‘spray paint’. Spray painting requires some basic and easy-go-to steps for getting professional like finishing.
Especially when you’re a first-timer and don’t have any experience with hand painting, go for spray paint. This would be super easy to apply.
For painting, you only need to follow three easy steps: Clean, mark, and paint. Just grab a good spray paint, mark your shoes according to the design you want, and start spraying it out calmly.
You should do this entire procedure lightly and slowly. Once you’re done with the first coating on the shoes, let them dry for 12 hours. More than that will make it over dry and cracky. Ten, you need to do the regular steps for giving it a shiner finish. You can spray the shoes a second time for deeper color too. That will depend on your design and need only.
First of everything you will need to choose a good quality spray paint. Spray paints are more reliable and seem to be long-lasting than any other shoe paint on the market. However, you only have to choose the best brand in your budget for better performance.
Spray paints allow you to design your shoes in minutes. This will not only save time while painting but also will provide mess-free finishing. If you’re using angelus, acrylic, or fabric dye, they might hold a reasonable possibility of creating a mess.
Also, spray paint can keep your suede shoes safe from muds, rust, water threat, and all other possible damages.
So, you should choose to spray paint and make your old, faded suede shoes turn into new ones quickly.
Paint Your Suede Shoes Easily- Step by Step
Now that you’ve decided to paint your suede shoes let’s jump into the main topic here. Whether you’re a beginner or professional, these steps would undoubtedly get you the best finishing with every shot.
First, of everything, you need to collect these materials Here:
- Paintbrush
- Sponge
- Warm water
- Soap
- Old rag
- Old jar
- Gloves ( Rubber)
- Newspaper
Once you’ve collected all the required materials, Let’s move on with the steps here. The first step would be preparing. The second step would be Applying, and the last one is Finishing.
You don’t need to be any professional to do this job. Hold some patience and follow the direction here:
Step 1: Prepare The Shoe Surface for Painting:
- Get your shoes and untie the laces.
- Take a brush and start cleaning lightly over the shoes. This will get your shoes to get rid of extra dust and debris quickly.
- Take some warm water and a good-quality sponge. You need to mix the warm water with Soap here. Then soak the sponge properly in the soapy water for cleaning your shoes.
- Get the sponge and squeeze it properly to get extra water out. Then, wipe it thoroughly over your dirty suede shoes.
- Grab the newspaper and warm the wrack up. You need to stuff the newspaper into the shoes where you put your feet in. This will keep the inner side of the shoe protected from paints. You can refer to this one as the safety step too.
Step 2: Get Started with the Painting Here:
First of all, get some good quality paint here. You can find different types of colors to use on suede shoes. There are angelus, acrylic, and spray paints. But over everything, try to get pigments that are specially made for suede shoes.
Now you need to grab a small amount of paint into the jar you got before. Applying directly from the actual paint jar can make things messier. Besides, in that way, you’ll hold the probability of wasting paints.
Grab the right kind of brush for the professional painting of your suede shoes. Make sure the brush you’re using is good enough to reach every tiny corner of the shoe. For this work, small scrubbing brushes will be the perfect ones. For the alternative way, you can grab a clean toothbrush also.
Here, you would need to grab the small paintbrush and start with the painting procedure. It would work best if you start from the edge of the shoe. If you want to do some unique design, you can always go for design and marking here. Try to dip the brush into the paint jar and start painting. But don’t forget to drip off the excess paints there into the jar to avoid all kinds of messes.
If you’re planning to go for some essential color shoe, just spread the paint all over the shoe lightly. Then you can take the brush and wipe all over this for a quick result. But here, you need to be careful and stay away from spreading too much paint.
You should not be worried if the color at the first look doesn’t come out as expected. That’s just the first coating here. Once you are done with the painting thing, leave the shoes overnight for drying out. Once you’re done with the drying process, you can go for the other layer. But don’t do the layering if you are not looking for any deepest color on your shoes.
Step 3: Give Some Good Finishing Touch Here:
This is the ultimate and crucial step of the entire procedure. Buff the shoes and get a good shine over the shoes. Then, it would help if you took a hairdryer or fan to dry the shoes entirely.
Now, you should spray some good waterproofing spray to prevent the color here. While spraying, keep your hand away from the shoes for 15 to 20 inches. This step will keep your shoes away from mud, dust, and debris.
Now, you need to dry the shoes before wearing them completely.
Tips:
Well, these are some tips and suggestions that you must follow throughout the entire painting procedure. They are going to keep your shoes safer and shiner for a longer time. Let’s give a quick check here:
- Store the shoes in some good ventilated ambiance. This will keep it safe from drying out or ruining.
- Please stay away from using the same brush for painting and buffing without cleaning it properly. You can take some warm soapy water to clean out the paintbrush before buffing.
- You should never wear the suede shoes when it is dry. This will make potential damages easy.
- Don’t let the shoes dry out after coloring for more than 12 hours.
- Avoid second coating if you want your shoes in a light color.
- While coloring the shoes, always use smooth, light, and circular motions all over the surface.
What Type of Paint Should You Use on Suede Shoes?
Well, you can use different types of paints to dye your suede shoes. Here you’ll get spray paint, fabric & textile paint and others too. But all of them, the specially formulated suede due will be the best and wisest choice.
The first reason for choosing suede dye would be its texture. This unique texture is made of natural leather. Also, this doesn’t hold any possibility of making your old suede more ruined with harsh chemicals.
Also, you’ll find various reputed brands offering suede due on a pretty affordable budget. They also offer a good range of color varieties with reliability.
For better performance and brand guarantee, you should spend some bucks and go for special suede dye. After the last step is done, you will understand the worthiness of using special paint by yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Question: Can you change the color of the suede shoes?
Answer: Yes, it’s possible to change the color of your suede shoes. The previous faded color won’t make any difference. For better and darker finishing, you can apply two coatings on the shoes if you want.
Question: Is Suede Dye waterproof?
Answer: No, suede dye is not waterproof at all. It would help if you used extra waterproof spray here to save your shoes from dust, muds of rain.
Conclusion
You should never throw out your old and faded shoes just because of things they are not worthy of wearing. Just a few steps and some patience can make these stylish but old shoes go back as they were before. This article has explained everything about painting suede shoes. You must try this trick out for making some good try here.