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

[New Shoes1]



Whilst there are no doubt several reasons why they don't post more often, one of them is certainly the reception they receive from a small minority of regulars here. Their experience, knowledge and wisdom is not always appreciated and is in some cases ridiculed and dismissed.

There is little incentive in trying to explain the proper ways and techniques to some of the architects & mba students here who are busy re-inventing the wheel and basking in their own self appointed expert status.

Translated: the other kids don't like me because I'm smarter than them, so I do not bother to suffer those fools.

By the way, any reception you receive is a direct result of how you treat others.

 

[stupendous]

quick question - do you need several brushes for the different shades of brown/burgundy? I have shoes in chestnut, dark, dark brown, caramel(?), dark oak, cherry?

Also, I only have black and neutral polish, using the black for black (duh), and neutral for all other colors. just afraid to get the colors wrong.

Any advice would be welcome.

thanks!

 

[Crat]

Stupendous, I just use one brush for brown and one for black although I hardly use them for polishing. In my experience polish generally won't greatly effect colour of you shoes though it does vary per type of polish used. The (saphir) stuff you find in the little glass jars that has a creamy consistency contains a substantially more pigment than the 'wax' from the tins. Kiwi from tins on the other hand contains more pigment than saphir or LCA. (Are they the same btw?)
Personally I'm not a big fan of neutral polish as in my experience it has a tendency make shoes look a little dull. I'd use light brown or even mid-brown for your lighter non-black shoes and dark brown for your darker ones. Should be fine. If/when you think the cherry pair is loosing too much red, switch to burgundy.

As an example, here is a pair of CJs I coloured using only burgundy kiwi polish from a tin and even then it took ages to get the colour going. I repeatedly polished the same spots dozens of times; notice the 'line' next to the eyelets for instance.
Don't stress out too much about using the right colour polish, you won't ruin your shoes that easily.

Spoiler: Warning: CJs

partick_b, I don't follow this thread well enough to know every member's reputation as this isn't my native forum. Sadly the internet and the anonymity it offers often brings out the worst in people though I've haven't seen that side of Stirling here tbh.

 

[stupendous]



Stupendous, I just use one brush for brown and one for black although I hardly use them for polishing. In my experience polish generally won't greatly effect colour of you shoes though it does vary per type of polish used. The (saphir) stuff you find in the little glass jars that has a creamy consistency contains a substantially more pigment than the 'wax' from the tins. Kiwi from tins on the other hand contains more pigment than saphir or LCA. (Are they the same btw?)
Personally I'm not a big fan of neutral polish as in my experience it has a tendency make shoes look a little dull. I'd use light brown or even mid-brown for your lighter non-black shoes and dark brown for your darker ones. Should be fine. If/when you think the cherry pair is loosing too much red, switch to burgundy.

As an example, here is a pair of CJs I coloured using only burgundy kiwi polish from a tin and even then it took ages to get the colour going. I repeatedly polished the same spots dozens of times; notice the 'line' next to the eyelets for instance.
Don't stress out too much about using the right colour polish, you won't ruin your shoes that easily.

Spoiler: Warning: CJs

partick_b, I don't follow this thread well enough to know every member's reputation as this isn't my native forum. Sadly the internet and the anonymity it offers often brings out the worst in people though I've haven't seen that side of Stirling here tbh.

Thanks Crat. That is appreciated. I now use Saphir tin wax, and will try to use some color in the future.

That is a great shine, by the way. How many coats, and how long, did it take to get that shine?

 

[Crat]

Saphir tin is what I use too. Nice stuff.
It took me a decent amount of practice but once you've mastered the spitshine it generally won't take that long to 'glaze' a toecap; say 30 min for both. In my experience higher quality leathers are more difficult to glaze though and need a little more time. Best time to do it is whilst watching a film that doesn't demand too much attention : )

 

[stupendous]

Saphir tin is what I use too. Nice stuff.
It took me a decent amount of practice but once you've mastered the spitshine it generally won't take that long to 'glaze' a toecap; say 30 min for both. In my experience higher quality leathers are more difficult to glaze though and need a little more time. Best time to do it is whilst watching a film that doesn't demand too much attention : )

That's a great idea! Why didn't I think of that? Just spent an hour and a half on the back stoop looking at the rain, shining a pair of shoes purchased from the forum. It took only 3 coats (I know, I know, 3 coats and it took you an hour and a half! - learning, learning) and I got a pretty decent shine. Mind you, I got the shoes used, and the previous owner took care of them, which is probably why it didn't take me that long. But a while watching a movie.....you learn something new everyday! Thanks, Crat!

 

[dbhdnhdbh]

Winter shoe care.

I had thought that most of the experts recommended against any treatment of soles, saying that the leather is optimally treated for its use, and applications of other substance would be either useless or harmful. Now no less authority than Allen Edmonds says to

Quote:
Granted, they are selling saddle soap, but what do people think of this advice?

 

[Lear]

Simple question before ordering: how many pairs of shoes can I expect to strip with a single bottle of Saphir Renomat?

Cheers

Lear

 

[patrick_b]



Simple question before ordering: how many pairs of shoes can I expect to strip with a single bottle of Saphir Renomat?

Cheers

Lear

Dozens.

 

[Lear]

Cheers Patrick_b

So, that'll be five bottles then

 

[easy_golfing]

Just got my first decent pair of shoes and wondering how to polish. I applied some conditioner from AE but what else should I apply? Wax shoe polish? Shoe cream? Regular shoe polish?

 

[lucidream]

I know the answer, but have you read through this thread at all?

 

[GentlemanJohnny]

Quote:
The first couple of pages of this thread contain a wealth of information...just peruse the first 2 or 3 pages and you'll find your answers.

 

[MoneyWellSpent]

Winter shoe care.

I had thought that most of the experts recommended against any treatment of soles, saying that the leather is optimally treated for its use, and applications of other substance would be either useless or harmful. Now no less authority than Allen Edmonds says to


Granted, they are selling saddle soap, but what do people think of this advice?

Is this advice from somewhere on their website? The only think I ever found on their website was on the Cleaner/Conditioner in the Q & A section (see red text below) where they say not to worry about treating the soles with anything.

• Customer Service

Answer:
Thank you for your interest in Allen Edmonds.

Allen Edmonds Leather soles do not need to be oiled or treated, nor do they require any special care. Over time it is normal that your leather soles will wear which is why we offer Recrafting packages to replace your soles for brand new ones. Learn more about Recrafting under our recrafting link here: http://www.allenedmonds.com/webapp/....

Keep in mind, we do offer Allen Edmonds Heel and Sole Edge Dressing to keep your sole edges looking like new. For the Strand in Walnut Calf, we recommend Allen Edmonds Chili Heel and Sole Edge Dressing.

Please feel free to contact us with any additional questions.
Allen Edmonds Customer Service

 

[lucidream]

Went a little higher with the mirror shine than I normally would. I was trying to follow the advice from the japanese shine thread, about adding wax to the bottom to blend to the back. Hard to know where to stop when there's no toe cap hehe.

Brushed. Used lexol conditioner. Whiped off excess, and brushed some more. Added melatonian shoe cream with my finger (a la japanese thread), and brushed and buffed. Added kiwi neutral wax initially with a dapper brush, and then in small amounts mixed with drops of water (10-15 layers). Whole process took 30 minutes.

You might see there's some light water stains. I was wearing the shoes around the house to break them in when I first got them, washed my hands and got water droplets on the shoes. Light dots showed up instantaneously, I haven't been able to get rid of with pigment. Ah well.