Compositions for treating shoes and methods and articles employing same

A treating composition for treating one or more shoes, said treating composition comprising one or more benefit agents that imparts one or more desired benefits to the one or more shoes when the treating composition is applied to the one or more shoes prior to and/or during and/or after washing the one or more treated shoes, wherein the treating composition is essentially free of phosphates selected from the group consisting of sodium pyrophosphate, sodium tripolyphosphate, and mixtures thereof.

A method for treating one or more shoes comprising contacting the one or more shoes directly or indirectly with one or more treating compositions, each of which comprises one or more benefit agents that imparts one or more desired benefits to the one or more shoes when the treating composition is applied directly or indirectly to the one or more shoes prior to and/or during and/or after washing the one or more treated shoes with or in an aqueous medium, wherein said treating composition is formulated so that any damage as a result of washing the one or more shoes with or in an aqueous medium containing the treating composition is reduced compared to washing the one or more shoes with or in an aqueous medium free of the treating composition.

A method of treating athletic shoes and other shoes with white painted natural leather surfaces before, during, or after manufacture, said method comprising applying a treating composition to at least a portion of the leather surfaces of the shoes and/or the midsoles of said shoes, wherein said treating composition comprises a brightening agent which is deposited on leather and/or the midsoles of shoes via solution depletion of about 1% or greater without visible brightener staining, and said brightening agent is selected from the group consisting of:

• coumarin derivative brighteners;
• oxazole brighteners;
• and benzoxazolyl brighteners.