**The Official Shoe Care Thread: Tutorials, Photos, etc.**



patrick_b said:

Thanks. In person they look pretty good, it's just much harder to see it in images compared to these for instance:

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yeah THOSE look really good. Perhaps better natural lighting condition.....

do i need to use a horsehair brush to create a mirror shine? I have been using an old rag, however the result is not a mirror shine, will getting a brush help? or should I stick with the cloth?

i just saw this vid and the guy didnt use a brush to get a good shine


[VIDEO][/VIDEO]


so that is why i am sceptical about spending extra money on horsehair shoe brush that wont be as effective as a simple cloth

You should not use a brush on the areas that you are trying to mirror.

You SHOULD use a brush over the shoe everytime you take it off to remove little pieces of dirt and girt. You also should brush before polishing for the same reason.

These little pieces of mineral grit are quite sharp, like tiny little knives, and if you polish them into your shoes they will cause the leather fibers to prematurely degrade.

This is the conventional wisdom anyway.



unbelragazzo said:

Definitely - once I get my new iPhone. To preview, 1 pair of Cheaney FS029 boots, 1 pair of DC Lewis in the #2 color. Also arriving in a month or so, 1 pair of G&G Grants.

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As promised, here are pics of Cheaney boots:





And the DC Lewis:



I love these shoes, but I ordered them with antiquing, which I'm considering undoing if possible. Here are a couple of pics of the antiquing:



Gdot said:

You should not use a brush on the areas that you are trying to mirror.
You SHOULD use a brush over the shoe everytime you take it off to remove little pieces of dirt and girt. You also should brush before polishing for the same reason.
These little pieces of mineral grit are quite sharp, like tiny little knives, and if you polish them into your shoes they will cause the leather fibers to prematurely degrade.
This is the conventional wisdom anyway.

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You CAN use a brush on polished areas, provided that your brush is intended for that purpose ONLY and not used for removing dust. A fine hairbrush may buff a shine even further, much like a lambswool mit.

But of course, I personally think cloth is sufficient to build up an awesome shine.

Nutcracker,

To be 100% you are suggesting using a brush on areas that one is attempting to bring up to a mirror? I've always heard otherwise.

Yes, a brush is great for shining in general. It creates a lovely shine. But for mirror toes it's a no no isn't it?



Gdot said:

Nutcracker,
To be 100% you are suggesting using a brush on areas that one is attempting to bring up to a mirror? I've always heard otherwise.

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Gdot, do you mean no brush while trying to polish up to a mirror, or no brush ever used on that area, for instance to clean or brush after applying reno? side question: you still reno the mirror area?

well, of course someone else may say differently. I say no brush while building up the mirror - this advice came from Lear and I've always used it.

I do use a brush to clean the whole shoe after wearing. But bear in mind this is after the wax has had time to harden since they were polished.

I do sometimes reno over the mirror toe, but to be honest I often don't, as I can't imagine it would get through that 'candy coated' shell of wax anyway. So I just reno the toes when I'm intending to wax over it anyway. In either case the reno doesn't seem to have much effect on the mirror and if it does look a little dull a buff with a drop of water brings it right back up.

The mirror effect is actually pretty easy to maintain once you have it. The wax hardens up and it only requires an occasional top coat and polish to maintain.

Separate question - is it possible to undo antiquing, as shown in the pics above? If so, how, and is there any risk of damaging the shoe if done incorrectly?



unbelragazzo said:

Separate question - is it possible to undo antiquing, as shown in the pics above? If so, how, and is there any risk of damaging the shoe if done incorrectly?

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It is possible. But if the antiquing was done properly (meaning with dye and not just polish) it would require pretty much stripping the shoe, removing all the color, and starting again. Which is not a process I would recommend.

If they were mine I would leave them be.

If you feel you must try, then strip the polish off with Renomat and take a picture for further advise.



Gdot said:

It is possible. But if the antiquing was done properly (meaning with dye and not just polish) it would require pretty much stripping the shoe, removing all the color, and starting again. Which is not a process I would recommend.
If they were mine I would leave them be.
If you feel you must try, then strip the polish off with Renomat and take a picture for further advise.

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Hmm...sounds difficult. I think I will wear them for a while and see how I feel about it in a couple of months.

So I picked up a pair of herring shoes in burgundy, but the color was a bit blah and lifeless, as well as being just a bit too uniform.

A few minutes with some black polish really brought out a great color:

Quad, They look swell. Amazing what a little polish can do.

this thread has shown me that even lower priced shoes when polished properly can look as good as a pair of the most expensive gaziano & girling shoes.

there is no need to spend $1000 for a pair of shoes now, if i had told people i was considering paying $1000 for a pair of shoes they would have thought i was mad. goes to show a high quality $200 pair of allen edmonds will look better than a $2000 pair of bespoke shoes when polished up.

save your money folks, and the embarrassment, spending more money doesn't always mean more better in the end. sometimes we can all get caught up in the marketing hype and forget that a shoe is really just some pieces of leather stitched and dyed with color and we are giving thousands of dollars to these shoe companies and not asking if it makes sense. the next time you drop a thousand dollars for a pair of shoes ask yourself do you want to put a couple hundred dollars of pure profit into the pockets of the man who they named the shoe after?



iroh said:

this thread has shown me that even lower priced shoes when polished properly can look as good as a pair of the most expensive gaziano & girling shoes.
there is no need to spend $1000 for a pair of shoes now, if i had told people i was considering paying $1000 for a pair of shoes they would have thought i was mad. goes to show a high quality $200 pair of allen edmonds will look better than a $2000 pair of bespoke shoes when polished up.
save your money folks, and the embarrassment, spending more money doesn't always mean more better in the end.

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ok, thats it, whose troll account is this?