Okay to skip stripping polish/reconditioning toe of spit shined dress shoe?

I have 3 pairs of AEs and I have always maintained a high gloss spit shined toe, which takes considerable time to reestablish following stripping of old polish & reconditioning of leather. I love the shoes and am proud of the care I put into my toe shines, but it's gotten to a point where I simply can't keep up with reestablishing a proper spit shined toe (x3) every few weeks. It literally takes several hours just to redo the toes on one pair.

It seems to me that perhaps I can forego stripping and repolishing the parts of the toe where there is no crease, and simply strip/recondition the rest of the shoe on a regular basis. This would allow me to maintain the high shine without wrecking the toe shine it takes me so long to establish/maintain while continuing to reconditio the parts of the shoe that are most stressed, no? Would this practice prove harmful to the toes over time?

DuderMcMerican said:

I have 3 pairs of AEs and I have always maintained a high gloss spit shined toe, which takes considerable time to reestablish following stripping of old polish & reconditioning of leather. I love the shoes and am proud of the care I put into my toe shines, but it's gotten to a point where I simply can't keep up with reestablishing a proper spit shined toe (x3) every few weeks. It literally takes several hours just to redo the toes on one pair.

It seems to me that perhaps I can forego stripping and repolishing the parts of the toe where there is no crease, and simply strip/recondition the rest of the shoe on a regular basis. This would allow me to maintain the high shine without wrecking the toe shine it takes me so long to establish/maintain while continuing to reconditio the parts of the shoe that are most stressed, no? Would this practice prove harmful to the toes over time?

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Your devotion to task is commendable. However, unless you are regularly trapesing through mud while running cross-country in your dress shoes, I suspect you are "stripping/reconditioning" your shoes much more than most folks and, more to the point, much more than needed. If by "stress" you mean walking in your shoes, that's what they are built for. For me, when a shoe should be conditioned is whenever it looks and feels it needs conditioning and never before. Most folks go several, SEVERAL wears before a shoe needs to be conditioned.

Regular brushing and the occasional application of cream where needed to address the odd nick or scrape will leave you a nice "gentleman's glow" on the balance of the shoe and you can devote your attention to making sure the toe cap is to your liking for the shine you covet.

Otherwise, and I suspect you are reaching this conclusion as well, you can become a slave to your shoes rather than your shoes serving you.

Please consider posting your question in the Shoe Care thread and you may get other opinions.