**The Official Shoe Care Thread: Tutorials, Photos, etc.** - Page 17

I'm typically home on Fridays and am often saddled with conference calls. I've gotten in the habit of using this time to multi-task. Here's what I accomplished today over the course of ~2 hrs of conf calls.

L-R
AE 2nds, Manhattan, Chili, ~2 yrs old
AE 2nds, Westchester, Walnut, worn once or twice
J&M from their 'Made in Italy' collection from ~4 yrs ago.
AE 2nds, Tresana, Cabernet Brown, from their ill-fated 'Seven' line, ~1 year old










Trying to emulate King Lear...not there yet.
Edited by patrick_b - 8/26/11 at 2:56pm

How the shite did you do that in 2 hours? Do you have the possibility to ezplain step for step?

It was the Westchesters and J&M's that needed a lot of work, the other two just needed a touch up. I probably spent 75% of the time on those two. There are lots of ways to get a good shine, for me it just takes several (6-7) very thin coats of wax (regular Kiwi brown in this case). After I apply the wax I brush for 30 sec or so and then buff with a microfiber cloth. Then repeat.

The little microfiber towels are sold for waxing/polishing cars.

Very interesting. I've been experimenting with the mirror toe technique as well.

May I ask what colors of polish you used on the lighter colored AEs?

Do you alternate any coats of neutral between the colored layers of polish?

Enquiring minds want to know!

+1. I remember when I first started wearing dress shoes, I thought I was wearing womens heels (not that I know how this feels.. ). Similar sensation here; its strange at first but after the first few wears, it become second (human) nature

Edit - now listening to human nature by MJ

Thanks for your comments and interest.

If you mean the loafers, I used AE's "Premium Shoe Polish" in Walnut. It's a tube of cream polish, not wax based. Note, those shoes are also brand new, I just picked them up this week at the Freeport, ME Allen Edmonds outlet. They're running a decent sale on Factory 2nds through labor day. So they were brand new, I'd only worn them twice for maybe a half day total. Brand new shoes never have much of a shine so they needed the most work.

I started with a coat of the cream polish and a good brushing. Then I apply a thin coat of regular brown kiwi wax on the entire shoe. By the time I'm done applying the wax on the 2nd shoe, the 1st is dry and I brush for a minute or so, then buff with the aforementioned microfiber cloth. After I get a coat of wax on the whole shoe, I start applying thin coats to just the toe, followed by brushing and buffing. By the 3rd or 4th coat, the toe develops a pretty good shine. As Lear mentioned, you can really tell by *feel* when it's getting close. To me it feels like a freshly waxed car. As the wax builds up, I tend to brush and buff for longer periods of time. By coat 5 or 6, I'm using very little wax and buffing with the cloth using different pressures, more pressure initially, then very light pressure.

At that point, I may be reaching the point of diminishing returns...though I haven't tried to continue after 6-7 coats. Given the true mirror results that Lear gets, perhaps I should keep going. I'm clearly not reaching that level of shine yet. There's no magic bullet but the one thing that made a significant difference for me was when I started using those microfiber cloths. That seemed to help a lot.

For shoes that are older, like the other AE's and J&M's, my routine is pretty much the same. I use a cream/paste polish once a month or so, and then apply lots of thin coats of kiwi wax polish to the toe. I use Saphir Renovateur every couple of months on shoes worn regularly.
Edited by patrick_b - 9/3/11 at 5:10am

Hey thanks for the reply, I'm going to post pics soon of what I'm working with here. Got a few light stains and a brown scuff that I need to get rid of, I read the instructions to pre-treat but didn't think I would need it, now I know better.

Thank you,

I'm definitely going to try the micro fiber cloth. I'm getting to the level of mirror that I want - but with quite a few more than 7 very thin applications.

pretreating suede is the equivalent to wearing/not-wearing a condom during intercourse. Unfortunately, many consider preventive measures only after damage has already been done. fortunately, dirty suede is just dirty suede

this is great. next time Im depressingly bored on a Saturday night, i will reach for the polish instead of the bottle

I've been searching for the answer regarding Venetian Shoe Creme. I have a huge tin of it and have been using it on my calfskin/deerskin/croc/gator shoes/belts/wallets. I understand through my searches that it's awesome on shell. I was curious if any of you use it for regular ol' leather. Still learning the ways of shoe care. On another thread, Kauai gave me his Cliff Notes version: brush, conditioner x2, cream x2, wax, brush, wax, brush. I was wondering if 1) Venetian is appropriate for calf leather, deer skin, crocodile, gator (is there anything I should specifically not use it on?) and 2) can Venetian replace the conditioner and cream steps of Kauai's method or if I should invest in a separate conditioner (lexol, leather honey - sparingly, melatonian, etc.) - if so, is Venetian okay to use for the cream? Thanks in advance.

sorry for another newbie question can anyone tell me what are the procedures to polish or clean the shoes? and do you use your fingers to apply the saphir renovateur?

thanks

Anyone ever try or use Dr. Jackson's Hide Rejuvenator?

Here is a list of ingredients and %.


Petrolatum USP 10 - 15
Sulfated animal oils, sodium salts 1 – 5
Sulfated synthetic oil 1 – 5
Fatty acids 1 – 5
Glycerol esters of C14-C18 fatty acids 70 – 87


My understanding of cleaners and conditioners is that Lexol has Lanolin and Saphir has mink oil. I don't see either on here. Just curious if it is worth trying out or better to return.

No reason you can't reach for both...

haaa, true. anyone know how well Bourbon shines after a polish? would vodka be the "clear" equivalent to "natural" shoe polish?