How to get wrinkles out of shoes (including a guide for discussion)

[dusttruffle]

So have decided to try and renovate an old pair of full grain tan wingtips that have seen better days, are a little dried out (but not too bad) and are fairly wrinkled and curled as a result of (for shame) not using shoe trees.

The initial question would be : is is worth trying to salvage the wrinkles and the curled sole? How would you suggest I proceed?

I have the following in the "shopping basket":

Saphir Renovator
Saphir Medaille D'Or Pommadier Cream Polish - neutral
(decided on cream polish over wax)

Ceder Shoe Trees.

I thought i would initially wear the shoes for a full day and do plenty of walking, so as to (unpleasantly) "moisten them", and pop in the shoe trees.

Using the Saphir products will obviously be the final step. But looking on google i found the following guide to remove wrinkles using an iron (which a quick search of SF shows a mention suggesting this is part of the training of an English Butler!).

Interested in what the shoe people of SF think of the de-wrinkle technique. The other major drawback of the sin of not using shoe trees is that the sole has curled. Should I give the leather sole a bit of a soak with a rag before i put in shoe trees? Is this a terrible idea? Is the idea of using shoe trees in old curled shoes just a bad idea in the first place?

Thought on all of the above appreciated.

 

[ckprax]

I personally would wipe them with a damp cloth, let them dry for a few minutes, thoroughly condition them, put in shoe trees, condition again, let sit for 24hrs and than polish. The wrinkles wont necessarily go away but the shoes will look much better. Good luck and post before and after photos.

 

[MyOtherLife]

I want to see detailed photos of said shoes before commenting.