Critique my boot darkening job - CT Tan Burnished Chukka Boots

[gamelan]

I purchased these CT boots with the intent of trying to darken them. Well, I'm home sick today so no time like the present. I was going to go the j acetone route a la his CT boots but figured I'd try the lazy way first. My original goal was a dark brown and while the end result is not even close, I do like how they turned out. Thoughts?

Original boots out of the box:



After a coat of black Kiwi then brown Kiwi:



Side-by-side comparison:



-Jeff

 

[zjpj83]

Nice. How did you do it?

 

[dah328]

They look pretty good although you have a little black buildup right above the welt on the left shoe. The proof is in the wearing, though, so post pics after you've worn them for a couple months. Often times, they fade unevenly across flex points and the like.

 

[chorse123]

Nice! Much better than the original.

 

[TIEALIGN]

they look perfect...very nice job.

 

[sho'nuff]

very good job on the darkening. they look richer.

 

[gamelan]

thanks guys! good point though on how they'll look after some wear and tear.

zjpj83: pretty standard application of Kiwi shoe polish to get the look. first i tried Kiwi Brown but it only darkened the leather slightly. then i remembered reading on the SF that black could be used to darken the leather. so i tried Kiwi Black which worked fairly well but there were some areas, especially where the leather was slightly creased, where the black shoe polished stayed. so i put on a second coat of Kiwi Brown and that got rid of the areas of black shoe polish.

-Jeff