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

[chogall]



These arrived this morning. Herring Holmes 2 made by Alfred Sargent. I normally just use Saphir renovator on new shoes, but i was thinking about using saphir graisse, followed by renovator, any thoughts? Is putting Graisse dubbin on new shoes too much?

Way too ridiculous. Stop reading Hanger Project shoe care. It will do more harm than good.

 

[OREO]

Haha! It was the Hanger Project that put the idea in my head. Maybe i should stop believing everything i read lol

 

[chogall]



Haha! It was the Hanger Project that put the idea in my head. Maybe i should stop believing everything i read lol

I wouldn't trust snake oil peddlers. And I don't trust vender marketing.

That said, I have more than enough shoe care supplies to experiment different methods. Using dubbing is definitely not for brand new shoes or any shoes that's properly cared, with brushing and conditioning.

And according to Saint Crispins, NO dubbin should touch any dress leather. And I completely agree.

 

[benhour]

Cho I disagree on that! If you know how to use it dubbin is a great stuff! For brand new shoe especially with not a long time on storage it s not necessary!

 

[OREO]

Thats a good point, just because the shoes are new doesn't mean the leather is 'fresh'. it could have been in storage for a very long time and need nourishment. I also wonder if Saint Crispin was refering to ordinary dubbin rather then Saphir Graisse dubbin. I'm pretty sure (but could easily be wrong) that they are 2 completely different products.

 

[chogall]

Cho I disagree on that! If you know how to use it dubbin is a great stuff! For brand new shoe especially with not a long time on storage it s not necessary!

Yes dubbin is great if you know how to use it, but its more than ridiculous to use dubbin on brand new shoes or old vintage stock. Or more ludicrous yet, using renomat on brand new shoes.

No one should assume stuffing leather with oil could restore to its original state right out of the tannery. Nothing will help the aging process.

Its much better to just use neutral wax to condition new shoes or vintage old stock, especially along the welt stitching.

 

[wurger]

Good information, guys, I use Chogall's process, no need for extra care for new shoes.

 

[chogall]

Thats a good point, just because the shoes are new doesn't mean the leather is 'fresh'. it could have been in storage for a very long time and need nourishment. I also wonder if Saint Crispin was refering to ordinary dubbin rather then Saphir Graisse dubbin. I'm pretty sure (but could easily be wrong) that they are 2 completely different products.

Don't drink their coolaid. Shoe wax is shoe wax, different brands differs very little in terms of ingredient and composition.

Dubbin is dubbin, its all oil based with a bit of wax. Every dubbin is ordinary.

p.s., Saphir only recommends washing shoes and using shoe creams, wax if a mirror shine is needed. KISS. Don't fall for the arcane methodology like Hanger Project propaganda or Mac Method bullcrap.

 

[vestbash]

Don't drink their coolaid. Shoe wax is shoe wax, different brands differs very little in terms of ingredient and composition.

Dubbin is dubbin, its all oil based with a bit of wax. Every dubbin is ordinary.

p.s., Saphir only recommends washing shoes and using shoe creams, wax if a mirror shine is needed. KISS. Don't fall for the arcane methodology like Hanger Project propaganda or Mac Method bullcrap.

Mac method bullcrap? Genuinely curious on how to care for shell then.

 

[chogall]

Mac method bullcrap? Genuinely curious on how to care for shell then.

Brush for 10 hours straight on any cordovan leather and you will see a shine.

Or just follow Alden's suggestion for Alden cordovan. And use cordovan cream on non-Aldens. Different makers have different finishing on their cordovan shoes.

 

[a recent grad]

The new shoes arrived today , went down half a size as well and they feel like another layer of my feet. The strap is a pain in the butt to buckle especially when I am treating it with the most care.

 

[benhour]

Yes dubbin is great if you know how to use it, but its more than ridiculous to use dubbin on brand new shoes or old vintage stock. Or more ludicrous yet, using renomat on brand new shoes.

No one should assume stuffing leather with oil could restore to its original state right out of the tannery. Nothing will help the aging process.

Its much better to just use neutral wax to condition new shoes or vintage old stock, especially along the welt stitching.

totally agree with that! renomat is a wax-resin-silicon polish stripper and there is no benefit on using it on brand new shoes(even stored for a long time) as there is no polish layers builded up!

now about the second one! if you read about tanning process (especially vegetable tanning process) you ll see that the main purpose of tanning is to make leather proteins resistant to deterioration and decomposition(tanning agents bonds to collagen proteins and other molecular structure of the leather and make it resistant to bacterial etc)!! so if the leather is just stored and just dried out you can make it again being like out of the tannery by adding oils-fats etc !(they are doing it in tannery after tanning process because leather becomes stiff and dry cause of the tannins)! the purpose of using dubbin and conditioning creams on long stored shoes is to condition leather in depth and restore at a significant point the oils added after tanning process that have dried out from time passed and make it supple again and not crack and crease too much after wear!!this cant be done by using only neutral wax or neutral cream polish (chemically and biologically impossible unless you cake shoes in cream polish but this is a huge waste of product(+polish doesnt containing all the oils and ingredients in dubbin and conditioning creams like renovateur-1909 leather cream-lexol)

The new shoes arrived today , went down half a size as well and they feel like another layer of my feet. The strap is a pain in the butt to buckle especially when I am treating it with the most care.

really happy to see that everything turned out well!!! enjoy your new shoes and for sure dont use the same shoe trees!!! hahah

 

[patrickBOOTH]



Mac method bullcrap? Genuinely curious on how to care for shell then.

I feel like I requote this every week... *sigh*

Honestly, I feel that the mac method is only going to work on Alden shoes. Alden puts this kind of high shine dye job on their shell to make it their own. But I mean the "Mac" method is just really wiping your shoes, brushing them, and every now and again using wax polish. It is nothing legendary. Then again he says to wipe them down with a damp cloth. Honestly, this is where I feel it would only work with Aldens. Every bit of shell I have encountered doesn't respond well to water unless there is a very thick wax finish on it. It swells up and leaves marks and such. I think the Alden finish repels moisture to a certain extent were wiping it with a damp cloth literally is just getting dirt off. Another thing about Mac is he seemingly only wears his shoes a couple of times and then flips them on his site. I would be surprised if his alleged "wax every 15 wears" ever gets reached. Also, as noted he takes his pictures outside in natural light. This helps for the camera.

Ultimately, you can treat shell like calf. Also, renovateur used over a wax polish in sparing amounts, swirling it around slowly has a very bulling quality. That is what I use to maintain the bulling on my shell shoes and even toe and heel counters of my calf shoes.

 

[RogerP]

Requote it all you want. The Mac method works very well indeed on my Carmina shell.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Why, brushing your shoes and using wax polish is somebody's legendary "method" is beyond me. However, as stated in other threads the debate isn't over whether it makes your shoes shiny, the debate is weather it is healthy for the shoe for long term use. Mac has such an extensive shoe collection (and flips them often) that you really don't get a sense for how this type of "care" will hold up over time and a lot of shoe use. My guess is not well for people who actually wear their shoes often and not just keep them shiny and display them on their dresser (and post photos of them all over the internet in a billion different places).