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

[patrickBOOTH]



I thought the shoes losing all that weight was the cause of the stretch marks.

I had them when I was fat, and after losing 100lbs I still got em'. PM me for pics.

 

[JapanAlex01]



THANKS! I have never been able, to get a mirror finish until I tried this method last night--soaking the cloth, as opposed to using a bit of water on the shoe. Appreciate it so much.

No worries! I feel bad--I'm not trying to say my way is the best/only way--for people using the drop technique; it takes hours, to get a great shine. While the soaking technique only takes ten minutes!

 

[TRIALnERROR]

it can be fixed quite easyly! take saphir renovateur and saphir creme universele aplay a generous amount on the creased area and let it soak in the leather!! use the handle of an aplication brush or preferably a bone to push throught that area!! repeat this about 2-3 times and then this stretch marks ll gone!

most of the time these creases at this part of the shoe is the resalt of the dryness at the surface of the leather !

Thanks for the guidance, Ben! That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for.

 

[Liquidus]



As i have seen a lot people say about mirror shine i thought post some pic's !!  my new shoes just arrived so i thought give them a mirror shine!! anjoy gent's!

and not doing the trick to take the picture outside where the sunlight make it easyer to reflect objects on shoes

What's your method? Thanks.

 

[cptjeff]



guys i have a question:

 
I bought 3 loafers a month ago, and one of them i recalled being a little narrow when i bought it, so i assumed the leather would stretch and i'd be alright. 

Fast forward to now, and the leather did stretch and the loafer is super comfortable. However, this is the result:




Due to my wide area in the ball of my foot/pinky toe, the leather has now stretched and the result is what you see in the image (sorry for the angle being a little to the side).

My idea was to expand the toebox, trying to do what the line in red is doing in the image so that it doesn't look as weird with the side of my foot just creeping out there.

My question to you is the following: Should i not worry about this even though it might look weird? 

I went today to a cobbler who said he couldn't do anything but i could buy some products and maybe try to do it myself. In other words, he was pretty useless.

Therefore, if I am to try this, how should i proceed? I've heard about newspaper with alcohol or water, but am not sure.

Thanks a lot.

That's what I expect a loafer to look like. They form to your foot, making them comfortable and casual. More formal shoes have stiffening layers in the toe to keep things like that from happening, which is a big part of what gives different shoes different characters, including different levels of formality.

They do sell loafers with stiffened toes like a nice oxford would have, but I tend to think they're an abomination. Enjoy your shoes as they are, they really look fine.

 

[benhour]

What's your method? Thanks.

First of all there is no way to do a propper mirror shine in 10 minutes from 0 to 100%! (you can make something like glass but it's not a mirror shine!! yes you ll see a bleary reflaction but the surface ll have waves and wont be like crystal! sorry but this is not mirror shine! in the army this would be 5 days do the cleanning

) !

it depends on the surface of the leather on how quick you ll get the mirror shine(you can save up to 2 layers of wax)! my method its something like the one drop of water ! you need a lot more drops and a lot more wax than the tinny dot in the videos before! thats how to build the layers! to do the last 1-2 layers there is some tricks i do that makes the difernce between a good mirror shine and the crystal surface of a great mirror shine! one trick dont do mirror shine where the shoe creases cause it ll crack when u walk even if u use cilicon base wax like parade gloss

Thanks for the guidance, Ben! That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for.

hope i helped you solve the problem!!

 

[Northampton Novice]



First of all there is no way to do a propper mirror shine in 10 minutes from 0 to 100%! (you can make something like glass but it's not a mirror shine!!

You can produce a great mirror shine, that's evidenced by your pic. But I can assure you, it's quite possible to achieve the same result in around 10 minutes per shoe. Years of practice & the right products help of course.

 

[JBMarce21]

hey gents good thread going here... i was curious of the forum's opinion on split-toe shoe trees vs full one-piece shoe trees. i.e. http://cedarville.strongerweb.com/p-107-mens-washburn-shoe-tree.aspx

vs

http://cedarville.strongerweb.com/p-13-mens-ultra-shoe-tree.aspx

is one necessarily better than the other? I am starting to buy more expensive shoes (crockett & jones for the most part) and I don't want them going to sh*t because I don't have good "enough" shoe trees. Thanks!

 

[glenjay]



hey gents good thread going here... i was curious of the forum's opinion on split-toe shoe trees vs full one-piece shoe trees. i.e. http://cedarville.strongerweb.com/p-107-mens-washburn-shoe-tree.aspx

vs

http://cedarville.strongerweb.com/p-13-mens-ultra-shoe-tree.aspx

is one necessarily better than the other? I am starting to buy more expensive shoes (crockett & jones for the most part) and I don't want them going to sh*t because I don't have good "enough" shoe trees. Thanks!

I don't think what type of shoe tree you use makes much of a difference, as long as you are using properly sized shoe trees for your shoes. Personally I prefer the split toe style (as I feel it fills out the shoe better), but have plenty of shoe trees that are not that style as well.

 

[kirbya]

In my experience, the split toe fit a wider variety of shows better. I like the Epic, but it is more prone to sizing problems because there is less "spring" built into the shoe tree. If it works for your shoe, it's a great shoe tree. But it's more likely to not fit great than the Ultra. I use the Ultra's in my closet...

 

[JBMarce21]

OK great thanks fellas. I have been using all split toe, but it looks like I can stick with it! Thanks.

 

[benhour]

end of argument by my side!sorry if i was a little unpolite but i was stressed with some other things so my languange was a little "hard"!

I am thinking doing a comparisson with as mutch as different polish-creams-waxes-leather cleaners i can find!! till now i have :

1 Collonil diamanti black (100ml new)
1 Collonil 1909 wax polish neutral (75ml new used only once)
1 Saphir MDO wax neutral (100ml new used only once) high gloss
1 Saphir renovateur MDO (75ml only a little product left in the jar but i can find one new easyly)
1 Saphir MDO pomadier cream mahogany (100ml new)
1 Saphir creme universal (500ml, used about 30 ml of the product)
1 Saphir pate de lux wax polish black (50ml ) special high gloss
1 Saphir pate de lux wax polish medioum brown(50ml)
6 Saphir creme surfine (50ml) in colors (neutral,black,brown,light brown,grey)
1 Woly black (it doesnt say but its something like wax with cream together, more like cream) (75ml)
1 Woly grease neutral (75 ml)
1 A.Edmonds black wax polish (30ml used once)
1 A.Edmonds neutral wax polish (30ml used once) i am not sure but i think AE is rebranded Collonil
1 Saphir Renomat
1 Camel shoe polish paste black (40ml)
1 Camel shoe polish paste brown (40ml)

i really tried but i **** find here :
lexol leather cleaner(i had one from a trip in usa but i cant find it)
kiwi polish wax and parade gloss (probably not imported in my country, i had some from my trip in the usa but i used all the product while i was in the army)
Cream nubiana(never used it)
Bootblack products, probably not imported here !! (i have used a black one but in my opinion dont worth the money and cant go against Saphir(only natural ingredients) or Collonil diamanti and 1909 series(all natural ingredients))
i try to find a way to have this products for the review!

 

[BigCheese]

Does anyone have a coupon code for free shipping for the hanger project? Want to get some Renovateur but don't want to pay the crazy shipping.

 

[TRIALnERROR]

Does anyone have a coupon code for free shipping for the hanger project? Want to get some Renovateur but don't want to pay the crazy shipping.

I'm also in the market for some Renovateur. These two sites have free shipping:

http://store.asuitablewardrobe.net/shoecare.aspx?page=2

http://www.maxtonmen.com/collections/saphir-renovateur?gclid=CMimt5fv4LECFQOd7QodYBoAqQ

 

[emptym]

Alright guys, let's keep the discussion civil. Several rude and/or OT posts have been deleted. Next step, if needed, are time outs. But let's not go there.