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

[cbfn]



No actually I am here. If you have a question please ask and I'll try to answer to the best of my ability.
I can see why you'd ask dwf about this but don't see where in his post he mentioned over conditioning. I mentioned that in my post.

I'm done having my rant now.

This was before my AM-coffee, misplaced the question mark.

As you might expect, it depends on the conditioner.

Currently, I like Bick4. Aside from a thin, dry, almost paraffin-like (?) residue that results from excess being left on the leather, I don't see how you could over-condition with it. And in normal use, it never darkens the leather...any colour leather.

But I said "currently," because these products change. A respected member of SF recently told me that Lexol had recently decided to add more water to its formula. Sometimes such changes are as a result of EPA regs., sometimes just economies of scale.

I don't know. I'm not a chemist...I'm just going on my experience with lots of different products and leathers and environmental conditions over the years.

Naturally, any conditioner with heavy un-homgenozed oils or fats will leave a residue in/on the leather...and in the leather. And yes, it is possible to so overwhelm the fiber mat with oil that it becomes a rag. I've seen logger's boots that had no more body or resilience than chamois despite the boots beginning life with a firm 8-10 ounce cow hide. Beyond that, as the leather loosens and oils build up, yes, dirt and other fines accumulate and even work their way into the corium. And yes, that contributes to the breakdown of the leather structure and cracking.

If you don't care about darkening the leather then I don't suppose it makes much difference how much of an oil based conditioner you apply. But the darkening is a sure tell-tale that the leather is becoming overloaded. If you think about it...when a leather darkens like that what you're seeing is the oil, not the leather.

--

Thank you for your time, DW. This surely gave me some more insight in how the conditioner works on the leather. I have been less adamant with regards to conditioning over the years as some of mye earlier footwear shows signs of overconditioning, my shoes and boots are now only subject to conditioner sparingly and when in need. I would love to try Bick4, but I still have about half a gallon of Lexol in my closet as the shipping from the U.S. to Norway is often the major cost; I'll have to order some next time.

 

[laufer]

Guys,

a few weeks ago Kirby made an offer to SF members of receiving a full sample of Saphir Chromexcel Greasy Leather Cream in exchange for a review. This was a generous offer of which I took an advantage. Initially I wanted to wait until the end of the winter to post my review but it looks like this will be a long winter where are live.

My test subject are Carmina boots on Forest last made in Horween dark brown CXL leather. First I want to say CXL leather is amazing. It is very durable on its own, it's almost as if it has a self repairing properties because scratches I tend to accumulate throughout the day disappear overnight.

I beat up these shoes severely thought, I purposely kicked sidewalks, ice, snow etc. While small scratched disappear on their own, the real big scratched require a repair cream and Saphir Chromexcel Greasy Leather Cream does the wonderful job of covering up scratches and recoloring the shoes.

See the picture of the cap toe. I hit something big and created a scratch almost a half a inch long.

After a few applications of Saphir Chromexcel Greasy Leather Cream that scratch has nearly disappeared.

I am sorry about the crappy pictures but my camera is away for repair so iPhone is all I have. Also I figured this thread could use a little bit of break from the usual bickering and fighting.

CXL is such a tough leather that you can probably get away without any conditioner but Saphir Chromexcel Greasy Leather Cream is definitely worth it getting in case you need to repair the serious damage. I am impressed with both products that I recently ordered another pair of boots in CXL leather and I will be buying neutral Saphir Chromexcel Greasy Leather Cream soon too.

 

[anrobit]

Guys,

a few weeks ago Kirby made an offer to SF members of receiving a full sample of Saphir Chromexcel Greasy Leather Cream in exchange for a review. This was a generous offer of which I took an advantage. Initially I wanted to wait until the end of the winter to post my review but it looks like this will be a long winter where are live.

My test subject are Carmina boots on Forest last made in Horween dark brown CXL leather. First I want to say CXL leather is amazing. It is very durable on its own, it's almost as if it has a self repairing properties because scratches I tend to accumulate throughout the day disappear overnight.

I beat up these shoes severely thought, I purposely kicked sidewalks, ice, snow etc. While small scratched disappear on their own, the real big scratched require a repair cream and Saphir Chromexcel Greasy Leather Cream does the wonderful job of covering up scratches and recoloring the shoes.

See the picture of the cap toe. I hit something big and created a scratch almost a half a inch long.



After a few applications of Saphir Chromexcel Greasy Leather Cream that scratch has nearly disappeared.


I am sorry about the crappy pictures but my camera is away for repair so iPhone is all I have. Also I figured this thread could use a little bit of break from the usual bickering and fighting.

CXL is such a tough leather that you can probably get away without any conditioner but Saphir Chromexcel Greasy Leather Cream is definitely worth it getting in case you need to repair the serious damage. I am impressed with both products that I recently ordered another pair of boots in CXL leather and I will be buying neutral Saphir Chromexcel Greasy Leather Cream soon too.

Did application darken the toe cap as much as it seems? I imagine you could mostly do this with a brushing and buffing

 

[laufer]



Did application darken the toe cap as much as it seems? I imagine you could mostly do this with a brushing and buffing

No it did not, it just seems that way. I did not try but I suppose you could do it with brushing and buffing however the cream speeds up the process.

 

[DWFII]



No it did not, it just seems that way. I did not try but I suppose you could do it with brushing and buffing however the cream speeds up the process.

It does seem significantly darker than the rest of the shoe...maybe it's the photo, but it looks a little overloaded.

That said, Chromexel is a hot stuffed leather with an opaque finish. It's hard for me to imagine a reason for needing a dedicated greasy cream even for such a repair. A little regular coloured shoe cream and a bone would probably have done just as well esp. considering all the oils and greases already in the leather.

 

[laufer]



It does seem significantly darker than the rest of the shoe...maybe it's the photo, but it looks a little overloaded.

It's probably combination of crappy phone camera and my cramped out apartment. I did not take both pictures under the same lightning conditions either.

That said, Chromexel is a hot stuffed leather with an opaque finish. It's hard for me to imagine a reason for needing a dedicated greasy cream even for such a repair. A little regular coloured shoe cream and a bone would probably have done just as well esp. considering all the oils and greases already in the leather.

You are probably right but than again this is SF, don't you already know you are supposed to cash out your 401k to purchase shoe care supplies

 

[DWFII]



It's probably combination of crappy phone camera and my cramped out apartment. I did not take both pictures under the same lightning conditions either.
You are probably right but than again this is SF, don't you already know you are supposed to cash out your 401k to purchase shoe care supplies

I have had my suspicions but I'm just poor/dumb shoemaker...I'm not even sure what a 401k is.

 

[tifosi]

Hey all, I have a brown calf shoe that has really dark brown or maybe black bulling on the toe from the factory. I'd like to remove this before I polish them for the first time. What would be the best way to remove this polish? I have saddle soap in my care arsenal at the moment. No renomat or anything. Whatever it takes just keep in mind I will be polishing these right after. Thanks.

 

[CalzolaiFeF]

Hey all, I have a brown calf shoe that has really dark brown or maybe black bulling on the toe from the factory. I'd like to remove this before I polish them for the first time. What would be the best way to remove this polish? I have saddle soap in my care arsenal at the moment. No renomat or anything. Whatever it takes just keep in mind I will be polishing these right after. Thanks.

That kind of darkening is usually made by burnishing: the finisher applies a layer of darker wax polish, then uses a fast turning rotary brush to "burn" the wax into the pores of the leather. To eliminate that kind of darkening the only way is to deglaze with a solvent.

 

[tifosi]



That kind of darkening is usually made by burnishing: the finisher applies a layer of darker wax polish, then uses a fast turning rotary brush to "burn" the wax into the pores of the leather. To eliminate that kind of darkening the only way is to deglaze with a solvent.


 

Thanks for the info...that doesn't sound like fun or something I want to take on.

 

[Munky]

Excuse me. I have Lexol leather conditioner. Would you recommend Lexol cleaner? If so, under what circumstances? Choose your words carefully, please, I am a compulsive product buyer.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Lexol is good stuff. It is useful on the vamp of shoes. I generally recommend it to people as a conditioner because it is readily available and cheap. I condition my sofa and briefcase with it as well.

 

[jjl245]

I made my first expensive (for me) purchase of nice boots. They are the reverse chamois boots at the bottom of the page (and pictured below).

They are also on this page: http://www.thesimplyrefined.com/suede-slush-chamois/

My question is, how do I protect, maintain, clean these? I have the Saphir Super Invulner Waterproofing spray, is that sufficient to use then be able to wear right away? Do I need to do any type of initial polish like you do with dress shoes?

What about maintenance. Do I need to use a suede brush on these? Do I need to use Saphier Renovateur or some type of oil/conditioner occasionally? What about spot cleaning?

Lastly - what about big annual "polishing". From everything I read on here and in other forums there is not a lot on reverse chamois...it seems to be somewhere between suede and normal leather? I have searched for reverse chamois care a lot and cant find much. Any help at all is appreciated!

 

[sarteaga]

Hi gentlemen, recently purchased a pair of Carmina Python's what would you suggest to upkeep them? Type of conditioner?

 

[Munky]

Thanks, Patrick. What I was trying do, though, is understand whether or not it is good to use Lexol cleaner as well as Lexol conditioner. I have the latter and was wondering about the former.