The Studio Manual
How to care for your hand-painted sneakers
Every pair leaving our Mumbai studio is freehand-painted with Angelus leather paint and sealed with a professional finisher. This guide is the same one we hand to every owner — written so your edition stays gallery-fresh for years.
Start here
Why care matters: a quick word on paint chemistry
A hand-painted sneaker is not a printed sneaker. There is no film, no sticker, no factory coating doing the work. What sits on the leather is layer after layer of Angelus acrylic leather paint — built up by hand, often across fifteen or more sessions — then sealed with multiple coats of Angelus Acrylic Finisher.
Acrylic leather paint bonds chemically to the prepared leather surface, which is why we deglaze the shoe before the first brushstroke. Once cured, it is flexible, vibrant, and durable. But it is still paint. It does not love standing water, harsh solvents, sharp creasing, or sustained heat. The finisher buys you margin — the care habits in this guide buy you years.
Think of your edition the way you would think of a watch or a leather jacket: built to be worn, rewarded by being looked after.
Day 1 to 7
The first seven days after delivery
The finisher continues to cure for several days after the studio ships your pair. Treating the first week with a little extra patience is the single highest-impact thing you can do.
- Unbox and air out. Remove the stuffing, open the box, and let the sneakers sit at room temperature for at least 24 hours. This helps any residual solvent in the finisher flash off completely.
- Skip rain, mud, and beach trips. For the first week, wear them in dry conditions. The seal is functional from day one but reaches peak hardness around day seven.
- No deep flexing. Avoid squatting, kneeling, or aggressive bending in week one. Walk, stand, drive — normal everyday movement is fine.
- Photograph the unboxing. Not for the algorithm — for your records. If anything ever needs a touch-up, a clean reference photo helps the studio match colours precisely.
- Read the card. A short care card ships in every box. The numbers in this guide are the long version of what is on that card.
Wear & rotation
Daily wear guidelines
Hand-painted editions are made to be worn — that is the entire point. They are not display pieces. The trick is wearing them with a little awareness of where the paint is, and where the leather is going to flex hardest.
- Lace gently. Pull laces with your fingers, not by yanking the tongue. Painted tongues and eyestays appreciate the courtesy.
- Wear with care, not fear. Walking, standing, dancing, casual sports — all fine. Pickup basketball, trekking, and football are not. The paint cannot keep up with that level of repeated stress.
- Rotate your pairs. Wearing the same pair every day compresses the foam and exhausts the leather. Rotating gives the painted areas time to relax between wears.
- Mind the heel slip-on. Untie or loosen the laces before sliding your foot in or out. Crushing the heel counter is the fastest way to crack paint at the back of the shoe.
- Watch the cuffs. Stiff selvedge denim and cargo pants can rub paint at the ankle collar over time. A slightly shorter hem extends the life of the artwork.
When paint hits dirt
Cleaning, step by step
Eventually a pair will pick up dust, a coffee splash, or a scuff from the curb. The cleaning routine below is the same one our artists use in the studio. Six steps, around thirty minutes, nothing exotic in the toolkit.
- 1
Brush off loose dirt
With the sneakers fully dry, use a soft horsehair brush to lift dust and surface debris from the painted areas. Work in light, short strokes — never scrub.
- 2
Mix a gentle cleaning solution
In a small bowl, combine roughly 250 ml of lukewarm water with a single drop of pH-neutral soap (a baby shampoo or Angelus Easy Cleaner works). Skip detergent, dish soap, and any cleaner with solvents.
- 3
Spot clean with a microfibre cloth
Dip a microfibre cloth in the solution, wring it out so it is barely damp, and dab the soiled area. Move from the outside of the mark inward to avoid spreading the dirt.
- 4
Clean the midsole separately
Use a slightly stiffer brush and the same solution on the rubber midsole only. Keep the brush off the painted upper — bristle edges can scuff the finisher.
- 5
Pat dry and air out
Pat the painted areas dry with a fresh microfibre cloth. Stuff the shoes loosely with paper to hold their shape and air dry at room temperature for at least 12 hours. Never use a hairdryer or radiator.
- 6
Inspect and store
Once fully dry, inspect under good light for any tackiness or lifted edges. If everything looks sealed, return them to a breathable dust bag for storage. If anything feels off, photograph it and contact the studio before wearing again.
One important rule: do this whole routine on dry shoes. Trying to spot-clean a wet pair pushes water and dirt deeper under the finisher.
Rain, sun, monsoon
Weather and rain protection
India is generous with weather. The Angelus finisher gives you a real, measurable layer of water resistance — enough to handle a light drizzle on the walk from a cab to a door. It is not, however, a Gore-Tex membrane.
- Light drizzle, brief exposure. Generally safe. Wipe down with a microfibre cloth as soon as you arrive and let them air dry.
- Heavy rain, monsoon, puddles. Avoid. Standing water finds the seam between the paint and the leather and lifts it from below.
- Direct, sustained sunlight. Avoid storing them on a sunlit shelf. UV will gradually fade even premium acrylic pigments — reds and purples are the most vulnerable.
- A hot car. Do not leave them on a parcel shelf in summer. The finisher softens past around 50°C and can take an impression from anything pressed against it.
- Sneaker protector sprays. We do not recommend most over-the-counter protectant sprays on painted areas — many contain solvents that interact poorly with the finisher. The seal already does this job.
The off-season
Long-term storage
Sneakers spend more of their life off-foot than on. How you store a painted pair is, over a multi-year horizon, more important than how you wear them.
- Hold the shape. Use cedar shoe trees or stuff with acid-free tissue paper. Newspaper works in a pinch but the ink can transfer over months — not ideal next to white panels.
- Breathe. Store in a cotton dust bag or the original studio bag. Sealed plastic traps humidity and accelerates yellowing on midsoles.
- Cool, dry, dark. A wardrobe shelf in an air-conditioned room is ideal. Avoid lofts that swing between extreme heat and cold across the year.
- Do not stack. Boxes can stack; painted shoes inside them should not have anything heavy resting on the upper. Pressure marks transfer through the finisher.
- Refresh quarterly. Every three months, take stored pairs out, air them for a few hours, and rotate the trees. It keeps the leather supple and the paint flexible.
Sneak Peek studio offering
Touch-up policy
Hand-painted work is repairable in a way printed sneakers will never be. If a chip appears, a corner lifts, or a colour dulls in a single area, the studio can almost always restore it without stripping the rest of the artwork.
- First 30 days, manufacturing defect — free. Send photos within 30 days of delivery. If the issue is on us (lift, chip, finisher failure that did not come from impact or moisture), we cover the touch-up and return shipping in India.
- Beyond 30 days — paid touch-up. We offer a touch-up service for normal wear. Pricing depends on the size of the area and the colours involved. Most spot touch-ups are quoted within a working day on WhatsApp.
- Full re-seal service. Every couple of years, you can ship your pair back for a fresh coat of Angelus Finisher. It is the closest thing to a factory reset for hand-painted sneakers.
- Re-design. Want a new artwork on the same base shoe? The studio can strip and repaint. This is one of the quiet superpowers of working with real paint instead of prints.
For any of the above, message the studio on WhatsApp with your order number and clear photos in natural light.
The paint, explained
A short Angelus paint primer
We use Angelus paints because they are, candidly, the standard. Founded in 1907, Angelus makes acrylic leather paints and finishers that are formulated specifically for footwear. Every major hand-painted sneaker artist in the world uses them.
What makes Angelus different? The pigment load is high, so colours stay saturated through years of flex. The acrylic binder is engineered to bond to leather rather than sit on top of it. And the finisher range — matte, satin, gloss, and high gloss — is designed to flex with the shoe instead of cracking.
Why does the studio still need to deglaze? Most factory leather ships with a thin protective coating that stops paint from bonding. Deglazing strips that coating chemically without harming the leather underneath. It is the unglamorous step that separates artwork that lasts from artwork that flakes.
Can Angelus paint be repaired in colour? Yes. Because the binder is consistent across the range, a touch-up painted in the same colour will blend cleanly. This is why we keep colour records on every commission.
Avoid these
Common mistakes that ruin hand-painted sneakers
We have seen every one of these. Most are honest — done with good intent, like trying to clean a pair properly. The shortlist below is what to skip.
Throwing painted sneakers in the washing machine
The agitation flexes the shoe in directions the paint cannot follow. Hot water and detergent strip the finisher within one cycle.
Using magic erasers or alcohol wipes on the upper
Both physically abrade the Angelus finisher, leaving a dull patch that no longer protects the colour beneath.
Storing them in a humid bathroom or near a window
Sustained humidity softens the seal; direct sunlight fades pigments — even premium acrylic ones — over months.
Folding the shoe to fit into a bag
Sharp creases at unpainted toe-box flex points crack the finisher. Always pack with shoe trees or stuffing.
Wearing them through monsoon or heavy rain
The seal is splash-resistant, not waterproof. Standing water will eventually find a path under the paint.
Trying to touch up chips with hardware-store acrylic paint
Generic acrylics do not bond to leather. They sit on top, peel quickly, and complicate any future studio touch-up.
When in doubt
When to contact the studio
We would rather hear from you early than fix something serious later. Reach out on WhatsApp or email if any of the following happen:
- Paint lifts, bubbles, or chips within the first 30 days of delivery.
- The finisher feels tacky or sticky to the touch after the initial cure week.
- The sneakers were caught in heavy rain and you are unsure whether the seal is intact.
- You spilled a solvent (perfume, nail polish remover, sanitiser) on the painted area — speed of response matters.
- You are planning to travel and want packing advice.
- You want to commission a re-paint or refresh on an existing edition.
The studio replies within working hours, typically the same day. Photos in natural light, taken from straight on, help us help you faster.
Quick answers
Care guide FAQ
- Are hand-painted sneakers waterproof?
- Not fully waterproof — water-resistant. Every pair leaves the studio sealed with multiple coats of Angelus Acrylic Finisher, which repels light rain and splashes. Heavy rain, puddles, or full submersion will eventually work moisture under the seal and lift the paint, so we treat them as art pieces, not weather boots.
- Will the Angelus paint crack or peel?
- With reasonable care, no. Angelus leather paint is the industry standard for custom sneakers — it is acrylic, flexible, and bonds chemically to leather once the surface is deglazed. Cracking happens when the shoe is bent sharply at unpainted creases or stored compressed. Peeling happens when the paint is exposed to constant moisture or solvents. Avoid both and the artwork lasts for years.
- Can I clean hand-painted sneakers with regular sneaker cleaner?
- No. Most sneaker cleaners contain solvents that strip the Angelus finisher and dull the artwork. Use only lukewarm water, a tiny amount of pH-neutral soap, and a soft brush or microfibre cloth. Never use acetone, nail polish remover, alcohol wipes, or magic erasers on painted areas.
- Can I machine wash my custom sneakers?
- Never. The agitation, hot water, and detergents will destroy the artwork in a single cycle. All cleaning is by hand, on the surface only.
- What happens if my sneakers get caught in the rain?
- Stay calm. Get to shelter, blot — do not rub — the surface with a microfibre cloth, and let them air dry at room temperature away from direct heat. Stuff them loosely with paper to hold their shape. Once fully dry, inspect for any soft spots in the finish. If something feels tacky or the colour has lifted, message the studio with photos.
- How long do hand-painted sneakers last?
- The artwork itself is built to outlast the shoe. With normal wear and the care steps in this guide, you should expect three to five years of vibrant paint on a pair worn one to two times a week. The base shoe — sole, foam, lining — wears at the same pace as any premium sneaker.
- Can you touch up my sneakers if the paint chips?
- Yes. Sneak Peek offers complimentary touch-ups for the first 30 days from delivery on any manufacturing defect — paint that lifts, chips, or fails through no fault of the wearer. Beyond 30 days we offer paid touch-ups for normal wear. Send the studio a photo on WhatsApp and we will quote turnaround and shipping.
- How should I store my hand-painted sneakers when I'm not wearing them?
- Stuff them with acid-free tissue or shoe trees to hold the shape, keep them in a breathable dust bag, and store them upright in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight. Do not stack heavy items on top — pressure marks can transfer through the finisher into the paint.
- Is it safe to wear them in winter or summer extremes?
- Comfortable wear conditions are fine — anywhere from roughly 5°C to 35°C. Avoid leaving them in a parked car in peak summer, near heaters in winter, or in luggage holds for long-haul flights. Extreme heat softens the finisher and extreme cold makes the paint brittle.
- Can I get them re-painted later if I want a new design?
- Yes — this is one of the quiet advantages of hand-painted over printed work. The studio can strip the existing artwork and repaint a new design on the same base shoe. Reach out on WhatsApp with the original order number and your new concept.
Ready to commission yours?
One pair. One owner. No reruns.
Every Sneak Peek edition is freehand-painted in Angelus, sealed in our Mumbai studio, and made to last — when looked after the way this guide describes.