Repair Damaged Clothing and Accessories

Soiled Shoes

Leather shoes: These are the easiest and least expensive to clean. Take them to a cobbler; prices start at about $7. Polish, dirt, and debris need to be removed before the shoes can be hand cleaned and reconditioned.

Suede shoes: Suede can be tricky, requiring two to three applications of a cleaning solution, a process that can take a week and cost at least $20 at a shoe-repair shop.

Fabric shoes: A cobbler can hand clean fabric shoes using a dry-cleaning solution, but this is only about 50 percent effective, says Jim McFarland, a spokesperson for the Shoe Service Institute of America. As a last resort, have the shoes dyed black to cover up the issue (cost: $25 and up). "Don't have too high expectations," says Meghan Cleary, author of The Perfect Fit: What Your Shoes Say About You. "You have to be willing to let the shoes go if you don't get the desired results."

Odds of revival: Fair.