Caring for Your Shoes with Tangent GC

At Coclico, we put timeless design first. We honour tenets of slow fashion and best design practices by avoiding micro-trends and creating objects that will remain relevant in your wardrobe for as many years as you bestow love and care on them. With that said, and due to customer demand, we've decided to shift gears and not only focus on telling stories around the women in our shoes but rather, how to care for and protect the shoes themselves.

If you've recently visited our Nolita shop, you may have seen the introduction of Tangent GC products. We spent a full year testing different products, even going as far as making our own at home! We take so much care in making our shoes we really wanted to get this right, and we'll admit that for years we have been relying on the advice of professional cobblers for the particular needs of individual styles and haven't had a set maintenance routine in our own homes. In the end, we landed on this line from Sweeden that we all agree does a fantastic job, naturally, of course. From shoe polish to shoe grease, we consider these items to be tools that every Coclico woman should have in their arsenal. To learn more, read on for our exclusive interview with Tangent GC founder David Samuelsson.

Meet Tangent GC

We are Tangent GC working under the motto “Care for the precious” since 2012. We are a Stockholm based company offering organic laundry, shoe, and skin care. We set out to provide sustainable garment care products given the rising interest in environmental issues and shopping for quality.

Tangent GC's Most Popular Products

TGC031 shoe grease and TGC032 neutral polish are the most popular products. They contain no color and work well with all tints.

Material Maintenance

Suede – Number one for suede is the brush, it should be somewhat stiffer than our shoe brushes. Our clothes brush works very well here.

Leather – Remember that polish is for appearance, you need to grease your shoes once in a while or they will inevitably crack. So, always use a natural grease if you care for your footwear.

Cork – Since the material is rough, it gets soiled easily. Clean your cork footwear with natural soap, rinse properly, dry slowly. The TGC041 stain remover works wonders. Afterwards, grease the cork to prevent drying and cracking.

Protecting Leather Shoes from Wet Weather

The beeswax is a natural wonder-sealant. It lets the air out and hinders water from getting in. Cheap and very refined, synthetic products – like silicone and petroleum jelly, blocks the air causing perspiration, that ruins your shoes.

Thinking Sustainably

World first, consumption comes lower on the list. The best way to think sustainably is going natural. Invest in few pieces of high quality and care for them properly. If the shoes last – the world lasts.

Products to Polish Colors Other Than Black or Brown

You can come a long way with neutral polish and shoe grease. It keeps your footwear the way the producer intended (the way the shoes were dyed specifically). And with wear comes both comfort and beautiful patina.

Step by Step

Brush your shoes using a horsehair brush. If they are very dirty, clean them with water and natural soap using a piece of cloth. Dry them at room temperature, never close to a heat source. Apply grease with a rag or an applicator brush, never use the shoe brush for this purpose, the bristles will clump together. Wait a day or two for the fats and waxes to set. Polish with a natural product containing carnauba wax and buff using the shoe brush. If you aspire to have a mirror gloss, polish them off with laid-off nylon stockings!

Shoe Grease vs. Shoe Wax

All soft leathers should be greased. We recommend grease for functional wear and everyday shoes. Dress shoes need more of the polish and less grease; they are light, a lot of surfaces and seldom worn in wet weather. Opt for galoshes if it pours. Remember that almost all of your factory fresh shoes are given a surface-polish for appearance only, always start out with grease.

Tangent GC's Forever Items

The grease is the product you really need. Sure, our polish with carnauba wax gives you a mirror sheen, but without the grease, the leather will disintegrate slowly. It contains natural fats and waxes only: Beeswax, wool wax and rosemary oil. No petroleum products, silicone or water.

Shop online and in-store at our Mott Street shop.

Photos by Bridget Badore for Coclico