Darkening Shoes

[Ranjeev]

Gents,

I have started to darken a pair of Martegani Lucca shoes purchased from Ron but I am not exactly sure on how to do this. Btw, I love the shoes but I work in a pretty conservative office and I don't think I can get away with the current color. I have read all the posts on the subject but my lack of experience is hurting me on this. For example, how much shoe cream do you use? Let's say I have 1.5 oz. of cream in total, do I use half of it? All of it? Do I need more? Do you use a rag to apply or your fingers? I used a combination. Once I wipe down the original application of the shoe cream, can I add more to darken the shoes further?

Although the original aim was to just darken the shoes to a darker brown, seeing the results others have achieved, I am now hoping to get something like this (maybe not as red):

http://www.styleforum.net/showthread...arkening+shoes

The shoes currently look like this:

http://www.styleforum.net/showthread...ighlight=lucca

I put dark brown shoe cream on the shoes last night and they have darkened a bit but not very much-certainly not as much as I would like. I also realize now that I should probably add another color to give the shoes some more depth. Cordovan? Navy? Maybe black (to help darken the shoes and help add visual interest).

Once I get the shoes darker, I will add polish to remove the cream in certain areas according to Andrew's "Best of..." post and use the freezer trick. Btw, is this stuff wax polish?

http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgur...%3Den%26sa%3DN

It doesn't say wax on it but I am guessing it is. I was thinking of using black polish to darken the shoes even further but I imagine the color of the polish used will depend on how dark the shoes are after the application of the shoe cream. Maybe the black will make the shoes look dull. Not sure.

Any advice would be appreciated and I will post pics upon completion.

Thanks,

Ranj

 

[NorCal_1]

Navy cordovan applied slowly and thoughtfully on the toes and heel counters with a layer of brown shoe polish over it afterward would probably yield the best result.


How to do it: use a small amount on the tip of a cloth rag,,,rub it in, then let it set. After 15 minutes of so, apply a regular brown shoe polish over it and then polish and see how it looks. It may take several iterations of this process to get to where you want it.

Warning: do NOT overdo it. More navy cordovan is not better, do it slowly and use small amounts (no more than you can rub in without any left over) and in layers and you will see a great result, especially on that color shoe. I fyou use too much navy cordovan, it will either turn the spots you applied it green or make it too dark and in both cases you'll have to use rubbing alcohol or acetone to strip it off and start over. The indigo dye in navy cordovan really stains deeply (just get some on your hands and see how hard it is to get off) so less is best. Just as shoes age slowly, so too a proper antiquing process.


p.s. this weekend, I'm going to post a tutorial on how to dye and then polish a pair of shoes of a similar color and turn them into EG 'dark oak' but for your purposes, the instructions above will yield a nice result. Take your time doing it

 

[Ranjeev]

Wow, thanks for the tips. I'm looking forward to your tutorial.

A couple of quick questions: Is navy cordovan the same as just plain navy cream? If I really want to make the shoes a lot darker than the tan color, is it okay to mix a bit of blue with the brown and use just the blue to highlight certain areas?

Thanks again.

 

[DunninLA]

I look forward to the tutorial also. I experimented with a pair of Santoni Brenden moc toe in medium brown/rust two weeks ago.

I simply took Meltonian Black cream, and applied with an old toothbrush sparingly. Buffed it off with a shoe brush five minutes later, and it looks just awesome. A third of the way to EG dark oak in only fifteen minutes total.

 

[NorCal_1]

Originally Posted by Ranjeev

Wow, thanks for the tips. I'm looking forward to your tutorial.

A couple of quick questions: Is navy cordovan the same as just plain navy cream? If I really want to make the shoes a lot darker than the tan color, is it okay to mix a bit of blue with the brown and use just the blue to highlight certain areas?


it should be the same color I would guess. (I use Meltonian creams myself)

to answer the second question, I would not mix navy with other colors. It's a great color to use to darken certain areas if used sparingly, but if you mix it with brown for instance, you'll end up with green shoes. Too much is not a good thing.

Trying to use only polishes to darken a shoe from light to dark will only yield a non-durable finish that will look great for a couple wearings and then start to flake off where ever the shoe creases. Creams and polishes just don't penetrate the leather no matter how hard you rub them in. Dyes, by contrast, do penetrate the leather and the more layers you apply, the deeper the patina in the end. I've achieved Lobb museum-like finishes on several pairs I've done

If you really want to turn a tan colored shoe much darker, I would use the dyeing process I'll detail in the tutorial this weekend. Once you understand how I do it, try it out on a cheap tan belt to get the process down before attempting it on a good pair of shoes.

hope this helps

 

[sidvar]

Hey, i just bought santoni Brendens but they are more brown than rust for me. I need a colour change plan! Mind posting pics of what your pair looks like now that you have treated them? many thanks!

Originally Posted by DunninLA

I look forward to the tutorial also. I experimented with a pair of Santoni Brenden moc toe in medium brown/rust two weeks ago.

I simply took Meltonian Black cream, and applied with an old toothbrush sparingly. Buffed it off with a shoe brush five minutes later, and it looks just awesome. A third of the way to EG dark oak in only fifteen minutes total.

 

[dirk diggler]

buy rubber gloves and I apply by hand.

 

[Bishoy]

Hello im new to this ur forum i want to welcome all
And i have a question , i asked “the boot guy” on youtube about the boot david beckham always wearing and he told me they look like Chippewa service but in custom color or dyed, so please tell me what color to get from chippewa line and how to work on it after usage to get a similar boot look