UGG Sheepskin Care Kit

UGG Byron Slippers
$130
www.uggaustralia.com

Last year, my husband bought a pair of UGG Byron slippers because he wanted to keep his toes warm :) Well, he loved them so much that he actually wore his year round. Yup, even during the hot Florida summers. As a result, they became so worn that he decided to purchase another pair. I'm all for buying two of the same thing if you love it that much, but UGG slippers don't come cheap. The Byrons were $130, so I thought if I could somehow restore his old shoes, then he could save himself some money. I purchased the UGG Sheepskin Care Kit to clean our UGGs. The problem with these kits is that there are really no specific instructions on technique or any detailed information on the included brush. So I decided to write this post as a way to clarify any questions that any of you out there may have regarding this kit. I hope it helps and that your UGGs can have a second chance!

Here is what the UGG Sheepskin Care Kit includes: 

From left: 

Brush

Sheepskin Cleaner & Conditioner

Sheepskin Protector

Sheepskin Freshener

The cleaning kit is $20 and is available at uggaustralia.com or Dillards. Don't bother trying to buy it for cheaper at an UGG outlet - it's the same price (at least it was when I bought it).

Here are John's worn UGG slippers. The shoes were dirty overall but most notable is the unsightly stain on the left shoe. Being able to remove this stain was going to be the real test to the cleaning kit.

I started by dampening a small dish towel  and then blotting the slippers until the entire shoe was wet. The directions state to "apply a small amount" to the cloth. Well, how much is a small amount exactly? Here's where the directions are somewhat vague. So of course I had to resort to trial and error. I decided to pour maybe about a teaspoon of the Sheepskin Cleaner & Conditioner onto the damp dish towel and rubbed it in with my fingers to dilute it. This seemed to be the right amount. The directions state NOT to apply the cleaner directly to the shoes (I believe this ruins the texture of the sheepskin) so pouring it onto the towel first is very important. I then gently scrubbed the entire shoe using small, circular motions (similar to shining shoes with wax). About halfway through, I poured more cleaner on the towel and scrubbed again.

Here is what my towel looked like when I was done. I'm not sure if the brown spots were from the dirt I scrubbed off or the brown color from the suede or what.

Afterwards, I held the slippers under cold running water to wash off any of the cleaner residue. And lastly, I let them dry for at least 24 hours.

Here are the final results:

Before

After

Above are the before and after shots just so you can compare them easily. Although they are not a hundred percent clean, there's still a great improvement. And hey, the stain is gone!

Below are some more detailed before and after shots.

Before 

After

Before

After

Before 

After

After letting the slippers dry, they were a bit stiff and had lost a lot of its original softness. So I used this side of the included brush to try to bring the sheepskin back to its original texture. I'm not even sure if this is the side I was supposed to use (again, there are no included instructions for the brush), but it seemed to work. You're only supposed to brush in one direction. I spent maybe a minute brushing each shoe. They are softer to the touch, but I don't think they feel brand new. I then used the Sheepskin Protector and sprayed the entire outer shoe "until the surface appeared wet" according to the instructions. This apparently helps prevent stains such as the one shown in the before pictures.

I also used the Sheepskin Freshener to spray the inside of the shoe and then this side of the brush to try to "fluff" up of the fur. The brush didn't really help much. The fur is still worn and matted down, and that's the main reason why John wanted new shoes. So in the end, John kept his new UGGs and decided to wear his old UGGs around the house.

Lastly, I wanted to include pictures of John's new shoes and old cleaned shoes for comparison. What do you think? Pretty close?

New shoes

Old cleaned shoes