Which colour shoe polish for Herring Chamberlain?

Quote:

Originally Posted by teacher2 

Anyone know what colour shoe polish for Herring Chamberlain?

http://www.herringshoes.co.uk/product-info.php?&brandid=6&shoeid=4596

The pictures are not true to colour.... so, probably only help if you've seen them in real life.

The Saphir M'Dor choices are Light, Medium or Dark Brown... I"m thinking medium brown. Anyone thoughts?

If you use Saphir you will find the Brown #4 is going to mismatch and you will lose the red undertones.

You will need to take some of their Hermes red and add medium brown small amounts of dark brown to get the exact color.

Let me ask you this, why do you need to color the shoes?

You should only use color if there are scuffs or bad marks, otherwise just use renovateur.

Look, the first mistake a new shoe enthusiast makes is he loves his shoe death, literally, they tend to want to start feeding the shoes and polishing them and cleaning them and brushing them and then they start all over again and again until they destroy them.

If this is a new pair of shoes, just give them a GENTLE wipe with a slightly damp cloth, remove all dust and dirt.

Then a light quick brushing with a good horsehair brush.

Then use a very small amount of Renovateur (it does not have to be the expensive one either, it can be the Saphir Renovateur which is not the Medaille D'Or)

Another product which you could use is their Baume http://www.valmour.com/cleaning-products/mat-leather-balm-avel,521.

put small amounts of product, nothing excessive. and then when the product has gone tacky and is almost dry, bust brush gently until you get a shine and the surface accumulation of the product has been removed.

If you want the shoe to really shine I would recommend that you do not start a shining program until you have treated the leather well enough to have made it supple and healthy. This takes at least a few days to do, even for brand panking new shoes straight off the shelf.

To get them ready for a good shining you treat the shoes daily with small amounts of a good product, like Renovateur or Baume Cuir from Saphir until the leather feels nice and soft to the touch.

Then take Saphir "Graisse" http://www.valmour.com/cleaning-products/grease-saphir-medaille-dor,54

Give the shoe one or two applications of "Graisse" and wait at least a day for the product to fully penetrate. If necessary repeat once more.

Then start your first shining regime of shining by using the creams and then, lastly, the Pate de Luxe from Saphir.

There should be no reason to use color unless your shoes have been scraped or scuffed or damaged to the extent that the leather has lost some color.

You would use a "incolor" from Saphir in both the cream as well as the Pate de Luxe.

If you only want to buy one product then buy the tin of Baume Cuir, don't even bother with the renovateur in this case. Baume Cuir should be all you need if you just want the shoes to maintain a good healthy appearance.

Too much hype over these polishes and products leaves people with the impression that care of shoes is highly complex when it is really quite a simple and easy process which we enthusiasts tend to complicate too much.

Get on with wearing and enjoying the shoes and don't try to color them just yet, they still look brand new.

When you really do need to color them, you will find you are going to need to decide on a color and might even have to mix your own color to match perfectly or you will need to put up with using a similar color and build up a nice patina.

Some really bad advice here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christian B 

Really bad? Why? I don't agree on everything, but it's much better than using wax on the whole upper.
Two guides to follow:
http://www.hangerproject.com/closet/shoe-care-guide.html?SID=c4cc0a6f500ab72bbf947582b15acf09
http://www.afinepairofshoes.co.uk/pages/using-saphir
The Herring Chamberlain is a beautiful shoe, wear them with good health.

Just because you suffer from a very limited amount of knowledge yourself & have to rely on internet guides - please don't assume everyone is as pathetic as you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christian B 

I was just looking for the reason why you called it a "really bad" advice. If you have such a vast amount of knowledge about caring for delicate leathers, I would love the hear it and get a explanation on your unfounded statement.

Delicate leathers? Do you even know what you are talking about? Shall I find you a guide on 'how to write a post'