Darkened some shoes, light brown to "dark oak" (pics)

[zjpj83]

I basically just covered them with a shoe cream concoction for a few hours, then spent a very long time cleaning that off with wax, buffing, brushing, and getting all the gunk off. I'm happy with the results. My only objection is that this is very messy. I wore rubber surgical gloves and still somehow have stained hands.

Before:

After:

 

[sho'nuff]

nice job. looks a great burgundy to me on the monitor.
you can now add a wax polish for a glossy dark look if you like.
take off the stains from your hands by spraying a little 409 kitchen cleaner between your fingers and rub around for a minute and wash off with hot water.

 

[zjpj83]

Yeah, my goal was to get a nice burgundy glow to them. I have been and will continue to use "cordovan" colored wax on them.

 

[visionology]

Definitely a big improvement. Before the color was very flat and generic. Now it has some depth to it.

 

[dah328]

They look good. I'd be interested to see what they look like after some wear. In my experience, the color wears off the crease points of the shoe.

dan

 

[A Harris]

Now if you resist the urge to wear them for a few weeks the effects will be far more permanent. They will lighten somewhat where they crease though, no matter what.

 

[zjpj83]

Originally Posted by A Harris

Now if you resist the urge to wear them for a few weeks the effects will be far more permanent. They will lighten somewhat where they crease though, no matter what.
I plan to do that. Should I keep wax polishing them every so often or just let them sit?

 

[oscarthewild]

Definately a significant improvement. Are these from CT?

-

 

[von Rothbart]

The before color looked just fine, but the after picture definitely has more depth and character to it. So if I want to keep the color but add more depth and character, I can just use wax and light polish instead of dark polish?

 

[A Harris]

Just let them sit. The darkening effect comes from a thin layer of cream, which doesn't penetrate the leather much. If you wear them right away that layer will lose its bond. If you let them sit it will adhere to the leather something fierce. That's my experience anyways...

 

[zjpj83]

Originally Posted by oscarthewild

Definately a significant improvement. Are these from CT?

-
They are Grenson

 

[tom288]

They look great, definitely adds a lot more character to the shoes

 

[luk-cha]

super, smashing, great! look the BD those do good job!

 

[lutfa]

Nice work ZJPJ83 youve come along way grasshoppa.

 

[Christofuh]

Dude, go pour yourself an adult beverage of your choice