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

[Munky]

I would have thought that the objective elements of shoes are in their build. Surely the subjective element is in the wearing of them. From the point of view of wearing, I would imagine that the subjective element is the important one. A pair of shoes that costs thousands of pounds is of no particular use if they don't feel comfortable or wear well. They may have aesthetic qualities but, in my view, achieve little if they are not comfortable.

 

[DWFII]



Because they are better constructed shoes and aren't gemmed? I would say that is pretty objective.

I agree...I don't know how you get more objective than by comparing construction techniques. .

 

[Shiny]

Pros/Cons to attaching some heel pads with Shoe Goo?

The pads I bought were press apply and they eventually loosened. I tried some double sided tape and that didn't work. What about Shoo goo?

Also, I sell shoes once I get bored with them so I don't want to mess up the nice logo on the heel pad area. Thanks.

 

[brooklyn]

These are a pair of factory seconds suede amoks from allen edmonds. It looked like there was a red pen mark that they tried to clean and left a spot. I was able to remove most of the pen mark with a q-tip and some alcohol but made the spot even lighter. Was using alcohol a bad idea?

 

[patrickBOOTH]

In general high alkalinity things will darken leather. Soap, up some castile soap and dab it at your own risk...

 

[Cleav]

 

[Munky]

Sorry, guys, I was wrong on the objectivity issue. All the best, Munky.

 

[fire2368]

I can't seem to find an answer to something, what are the downsides (and upsides) to using shoe trees that have plastic handles heels (but cedar split toe), heels that are wooden "tubes" (not sure what theyre called) and full heel in cedar.

I got a good price on those plastic handle ones, not sure whether i should jump on those.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Joshua Lee]

edit

 

[PCK1]

Objectively...we shall see in a few years which pair has held up better...G&G vs. StC....

 

[Chowkin]



Objectively...we shall see in a few years which pair has held up better...G&G vs. StC....

Unless you have an owner who wears a G&G on one foot and a St Crispin on the other, otherwise there will be too many other factors that affect the longevity of the shoes.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Well, I used to own G&G, besides hurting my feet to the point of me selling them they had a terrible squeak that was never able to be resolved. It wasn't from leather rubbing either. Something strange in the heel. Drove me crazy though.

 

[DWFII]



Well, I used to own G&G, besides hurting my feet to the point of me selling them they had a terrible squeak that was never able to be resolved. It wasn't from leather rubbing either. Something strange in the heel. Drove me crazy though.

pB,

I don't mean to be contrary...I wasn't there...but I can't imagine how it could be anything else.

There are amazing flex and torsional stresses that are generated when a shoe is walked. In places and in ways that we don't immediately see. The whole shoe is subject to flexing from the toe to the heel. Even the heel stacks flex, with each lift wanting to move in relation to the next.

Think of the heel itself...first, you have three layers of leather--the leather (hopefully) heel stiffener sandwiched between the counter and the lining. If the paste that bonds these three layers together fails or is missing at any point the odds of developing a creak are increased.

The heel stack itself is subject to the same issues. A manufacturer will ordinarily nail the layers together with sufficient force and sufficient iron to prevent any movement in the stack. And that often is enough. But manufacturers also use pre-made stacks...so they don't control either the quality or the "tightness" of the stack. If one lift in the stack is of looser temper than the ones adjacent it will move independently and more easily that the others.

Even the way the upper is lasted over the insole and secured--nails, pegs, or thread (or some combination)--will either secure, and more or less create a unit out of the upper and the insole or leave the insole and the upper free to move independently of each other.

Again, I cannot visualize anyway for the shoes to creak short of one piece of leather moving against another. That's why contact cements are so popular with manufacturers and cobblers (who often use it lavishly to ensure that creaking is eliminated)...so much so that the shoe ends up being significantly occlusive and the desirable (for some) characteristics of the leather are obviated to a significant degree.

I suspect that the odds of getting a creak are greater in a bespoke shoe than an RTW or manufactured shoe...simply because the bespoke maker will try to use paste rather than cement.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Interesting. Even after a resole the problem persisted. I guess it was something else. It drove me crazy though, especially at the office where it sounded like I was sloshing through water everywhere I walked.

 

[brooklyn]



In general high alkalinity things will darken leather. Soap, up some castile soap and dab it at your own risk...

Thank you for the response but I have a feeling that I may end up with the reverse problem of a dark spot. My two options that I considered is to wipe the entire shoe with alcohol to lighten the shoe or dye it a darker color. I went to B Nelson the other day to get their opinion. They really did not offer any advice either way. If they were to dye the shoe, which they really dont like to do it would have to be black.