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What does one do with an afternoon off and only one tin of neutral shoe polish?

Sterling Gillette

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The answer is quite simple: Take a pair of NOS shoes in what would be dismissed by most men as "dull black" calf. Clean, soak, rub, brush, air dry. Then last your shoes and work into the leather a generous amount of your favourite neutral shoe polish (I used Eduard Meier EM2 because it was the only spit polishable wax I had at hand). Let it dry for a few hours (at this point, a glass of wine, cigar and a good book might come in handy). Then, for the most fun part of the afternoon, take a damp piece of cloth, the wax you had used before and a glass of cold water. Polish. Finished? Polish again. And again. Etc. At the end, you should see that black is far from boring in a shoe as long as it is polished properly.

polish-1.jpg

polish-2.jpg

polish-3.jpg

polish-4.jpg

polish-5.jpg

polish-6.jpg
polish-7.jpg

polish-8.jpg

I applied about four to five layers of wax, depending on the section of the shoe and polished each shoe about six times. I also polished the sole edges, heel and waist (which does not photograph that well, actually). The shoe lay unused in a hungarian workshop for at least ten years. A new/clean shoe might have taken on a shine faster "” but equally variated? I don't think so. Overall, I am very happy with the results and can't wait to break in the shine a little and then repolish. I think, the finish will become better and better with time.

Why do I tell you this? Well, first of all, I love seeing pictures of beautiful shoes and therefore felt the urge to fix others with the same passion. Then, we all know that shoes of austro-hungarian origin are blobby, waist- and shapeless, inelegant monsters "” as we can see above. I think, in its current state, you could put the shoe right into the front window at Materna, Vienna, without having anyone notice it doesn't belong there.
 

glowell222

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They look good, although I think neutral was the wrong choice.
 

Insight

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How is the shine different between neutral and black polish?
 

Sterling Gillette

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Originally Posted by glowell222
They look good, although I think neutral was the wrong choice.
Thank you. Although it was not a matter of choice as I had only this one tin of wax here (I am currently travelling). Had I had access to my polishing equipment, I would have used an emulsion first, then applied some layers of black, then neutral polish.

Originally Posted by Insight
How is the shine different between neutral and black polish?
The shine itself is similar. I prefer using a natural or non-coloured wax for the last layer at least as I feel this gives greater depth to the finish.
 

patrickBOOTH

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They look good now, but then once you walk in them and get all that gunk in the creases and the 5 layers of caked on wax slowly dries out the leather and they start getting brittle and cracked they won't look good...
 

lee_44106

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Maybe you can find yourself some living/breathing friends who can hang out and do something fun.

"Friends" on SF don't count.
 

Insight

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Originally Posted by lee_44106
"Friends" on SF don't count.

Where does one find Real Life friends who appreciate the finer nuances of shoe polishing?
 

T4phage

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that is a nice restoration job on the shoe, and polish on the toe is striking.
have you tried using saphir's leather restorer on the upper to try to eliminate the excessive creasing?
i like the peg work on the sole, where did you find the shoe?
 

fritzl

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...
 

fritzl

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Originally Posted by T4phage
i like the peg work on the sole, where did you find the shoe?

operation paprika - part II
 

T4phage

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o_O
those were new shoes?? what happened to the leather??

anyway nice pegs
 

fritzl

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Originally Posted by T4phage
what happened to the leather??

elaborate

i'll ask my personal leather expert and get back to you...
 

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