Best Waterproof Spray To Protect Tieks, Leather Flats, Boots, and Bags

When you invest in a good pair of shoes or a fine leather handbag, you want to take precautions to protect them from the elements. I'm showing you how to use a waterproof spray to protect your leather goods and repel dirt and water.

When I splurged on a pair of Starstruck Tieks, I knew I wanted to protect them before I wore them. The Tieks website lists the foil finish as delicate so I wanted to try something to protect the beautiful gold glitter finish from the elements. After a lot of debate and research, I decided against sealing them with a finisher and I went with a waterproof spray for shoes instead.

I'm going to use my Tieks as an example for this post, but you can also use this waterproof spray for leather boots, leather bags, and various leather shoes. I'm planning on trying this spray on a Louis Vuitton handbag soon, so I'll be sure to update as soon as I have results.

Within the Tieks community (specifically the Tieks B/S/T group on Facebook), there has been a lot of talk about how to protect the "struck" Tieks. That means, Lovestruck Tieks, Starstruck Tieks, and Moonstruck Tieks. You can see photos of all of these in my post with side by side comparisons of Tieks shoes.  These shoes are created using fine Italian leather that is pressed with a foil, then tumbled to give them a crackled appearance. They are very unique and each pair is a little different since they're handmade.

This pair of Starstruck has just the right amount of Peacocking (or iridescent color shift) and I was afraid I'd lose the brilliance of the finish when I tried to protect them. That's the main reason I decided against using a satin finisher. I wasn't sure how that would hold up over the long haul.

Waterproof Spray for Shoes

Since the finish is on the delicate side, people often want to protect or "seal" them prior to wearing them. At the recommendation of Tracy from Legends Costumes and Leather, I tried a new-to-me product called Collonil Carbon Pro Spray. This waterproof spray is made in Germany and is formulated for designer leather shoes, bags, and pretty much anything else you need to waterproof. It will repel dirt and water from ruining your important items. You can use this spray for any pair of Tieks (except the patent leather Tieks; you don't need to do anything to care for the patent except wipe them with a damp cloth if they get dirty).

I simply laid a napkin over the insole of the shoe and then sprayed the Collonil Carbon Pro waterproof spray according to the packaging. The smell is a bit potent, so be sure to use in a well-ventilated room or outdoors.

As you can see in these before and after waterproof spray photos, there is no discoloration or loss of brilliance. In fact, I think the finish is even more vibrant.

Overall, I'm very happy with the results of using the Carbon Pro Spray. According to Collonil, after the waterproof spray has dried completely you can use other care products if you wish. So, if you wanted to dab another conditioner on, you could for a bit of extra protection (just be careful not to rub or buff the foil finish; be very gentle). It also states that protection should be renewed regularly, so I imagine I'll treat them a few times of year since I have quite a few pairs of Tieks that I rotate.

Here's a video to show how I applied the waterproof spray:

I'm actually considering spraying this waterproof spray on the insoles of my Tieks to see if it protects them from forming a patina over time. I'll be sure to update if I decide to do that.

If you're looking for more information about caring for your fine leather shoes, I've got a lot of articles to help! Read about how to stretch leather shoes, how to polish Tieks (with color matches for the polish), how to take care of your Tieks, how to condition with Chamberlains Milk Leather, and how to add moleskin to Tieks and why you might want to prevent a Tieks toe bump.