Home Care Topics

The Home Care department within IKW provides competent answers to questions concerning hygiene, washing and cleaning.

Information for manufacturers

Joint Press Release of PFI and IKW: Compatibility of Shoe Uppers with Care Products (2014)

In 2013 the manufacturers of shoe care products registered a significantly higher number of consumer complaints after the use of shoe care products compared to previous years. This concerned shoes of only a few manufacturers, both made of synthetic materials and of leather. The cause for the complaints was in most cases that the shoe uppers had no compatibility with care products. This applied to care products based on water and solvent-based products.

The joint press release by the Test and Research Institute Pirmasens e.V. (PFI) and IKW on the compatibility of shoe uppers to care products can be downloaded here as pdf-file. A hard copy can be ordered free-of-charge over our German website (menu item "

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Then visit our Extranet! For IKW members only.