Removing old layers of polish - photo tutorial

Thought this might help some people renovate some old shoes...

I managed to snag some EGs from eBay but when they arrived - they were caked with layers of wax polish.

I tried to use a stiff brush but to no avail so I decided to get serious with some white spirit.

This is the surface of the shoes when I received them:



I used white spirit, a bowl of water and some cotton buds:




I would quickly dab the cotton bud in the water and then up-end the white spirit bottle briefly. Wipe the shoes (not too hard) and the old layers will soon start to come off:



The right shoe has been done:



Once it was done to each shoe I gave them an hour for the white spirit to fully evaporate and then repeated the process. The surface started to look a lot better:



I left them overnight in a well ventilated area and returned in the morning to apply some shoe cream / conditioner:




Next up was some Saphir (two applications):



Followed by a single application of wax polish:




The finished product:

I probably didn't need to. I just thought the white spirit could have been quite harsh on the areas of stitching - especially the apron and so I applied a wax polish to form a little more of a barrier.