Does Anyone Have Any Experience In Lightening Shoes

[lutfa]

My question is. Does anyone have any experience in lightening shoes that are dark to lighter shade. I know sysdoc has done it with bleaching.But outside of that.Maybe a shade or two.

 

[well-kept]

Have you tried putting them in the sun?

 

[lutfa]

Funny you mention that .I just put them in the most lit up place in my house. Is there also another option . Something more definate. Thats eczactly what what I saw .When you go into a shoe department you see the shoe on display and when they bring it out it's supposed to be the same color but it's ususlly slightly darker. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[Teacher]

Acetone works wonders. It won't harm the leather and lightens nicely, though it does take a bit of rubbing. I've done this with a pair of Allen Edmonds Sandfords that I lightened from their bourbon burnished (like a darker version of their chestnut) to something close to Edward Green's birch or antique maple.

 

[lawyerdad]

Teach, do you use the acetone straight or dilute it for this?

 

[Teacher]

Originally Posted by lawyerdad

Teach, do you use the acetone straight or dilute it for this?

Not being a chemist, I'll give you the layman's answer: I don't know. I use unscented nail polish remover, which is probably diluted, but I'm not sure. Wish I could give a better answer.

 

[lawyerdad]

Originally Posted by Teacher

Not being a chemist, I'll give you the layman's answer: I don't know. I use unscented nail polish remover, which is probably diluted, but I'm not sure. Wish I could give a better answer.

I struggled through the summer school version of high school chemistry. That's exactly the level of detail I was looking for: straight nail polish remover, or nail polish removal with water?

 

[Teacher]

Originally Posted by lawyerdad

I struggled through the summer school version of high school chemistry. That's exactly the level of detail I was looking for: straight nail polish remover, or nail polish removal with water?

No water. Even at full strength, it took some work.

 

[gordongodwin]

Along the same lines... sort of... does anyone know how I could refinish a pair of shoes myself without completely ruining them?