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kentyman

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Kentyman, sorry to say, but the renovateur is probably contributing to the dryness that you see there. There is a lot of turpentine in that stuff, and it should only be used sparingly. I personally only use about a half a q-tip tip amount on the toe and heels of my shoes to raise a shine in them again. You need to condition the vamps and use a good quality cream polish. I would use Lexol, Bick 4, and a good cream, better yet a Glenkaren shoe cream, which is a perfect one stop product for the vamp, imo. Reno, is more of a cleaner/polish than a real conditioner. I have only had bad experiences with it using it solely as a conditioner.

Huh, I hadn't considered that but that makes a lot of sense. Perhaps that's why I'm seeing the cracking along the entire vamp instead of just where it was stretched. I was thinking of it as more of a conditioner than cleaner but it sounds like I have that backwards. I don't have Lexol or Bick 4, so I'll start by giving it a good dose of AE Leather Lotion. I'll also see if my AE Walnut Premium Polish looks like a good enough match to fill in the light spots. If that doesn't work, I may by the products you suggested.

Thank you for chiming in.

Kentyman,
I got my local cobbler to stretch my Loake's Chester brogues. He used a fairly heavy duty, aluminium affair, which looked a bit like a last. He charged me £2 and with the agreement that, if they still didn't fit, he would do them without further charge. Sounded like a bargain to me! He made a very good job of them and the stretching can only be seen if you look very closely at the shoes. The leather shows no marks or creases in the area he worked on. With the addition of an arch support, they are now very comfortable. Previously, I had used Saphir leather Softener on them but this seemed to do nothing.

I'd like to pick his brain on how to do it in the least harsh way. My guess is I was too aggressive with the placement of the (too small) shoe stretcher, the amount of shoe stretch spray I used, and the actual tightness of the stretcher. That, and the aforementioned Reno bath I gave it!
 

blue collar

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1066249

->
1066250




[/img]


WOW!!!

What a recovery!

Mind blowing to be honest.

well done Mr. Crat
 

bandini

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Hi folks, I picked up a pair of Church's black captoes on Ebay and the left toe area is pretty wrinkled (this wasn't apparent on the auction pictures, to me at least...). Will polishing/waxing do much to help this? Is this just bad leather? They are the 'Henry' style from the now defunct Royal Collection which I gather was the top of the range line at the time, so I would expect good leather...
Hopefully you can see what I mean from this crappy picture, just can't get any good light here.

700
 

bandini

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How's this? Can't get a good natural light shot here (UK) now until tomorrow...
The affected area is noticeably different to the touch. The rest of the shoe is very smooth.

400

400
 

jungleroller

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Yeah those have some great war wounds!!
 

Crat

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Yeah, try wax polishing it. No two bits of leather are the same. Still, pretty big difference imo.
 

bandini

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Yeah, try wax polishing it. No two bits of leather are the same. Still, pretty big difference imo.


OK thanks, I will give it a go and see what happens. For shoes that apparently retailed for around £430 at the time I wouldn't really expect this, unless something untoward happened to that toe.
Maybe the seller can shed some light on it.

Some impressive work from yourself I have to say.
 

Crat

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Could it be a sub, since you got it from e-bay?
 

bandini

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I did think that, but most of the subs I have seen on eBay have flaws so minor you can barely notice them! Can't see any markings either.
I'll see if the seller can give me any more info.
 

DWFII

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Hi folks, I picked up a pair of Church's black captoes on Ebay and the left toe area is pretty wrinkled (this wasn't apparent on the auction pictures, to me at least...). Will polishing/waxing do much to help this? Is this just bad leather? They are the 'Henry' style from the now defunct Royal Collection which I gather was the top of the range line at the time, so I would expect good leather...
Hopefully you can see what I mean from this crappy picture, just can't get any good light here.


Here's a possible solution...no guarantees:

You'll need a small (pint?) empty spray bottle; a bottle of Bick4; and a polished bone smoother.

The area needs to be supported so this will work best with a lasted shoe tree or over a toe stiffener.

Fill spray bottle with warm water, add one drop of dishwashing liquid such as Dawn. Gently invert several times to mix.

Spray/wet affected area. Let sit for a few minutes.

Apply Bick4 liberally.

Bone wrinkles toward welt. This will either move the wrinkles or it won't.

Either way, apply another light coat of Bick4 and allow to dry.

Wipe off excess dry Bick4 and polish.
 
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