How to salvage Meccariello shoes?

[PLB2L432]

Hello style aficionados, newbie here with an oopsie.

Recently made my first foray into proper shoes with the Meccariello Roma HW Legate 3 about 1 month ago:

https://www.meccarielloshoes.it/product/roma-legate-3/

I was really excited about the nicest shoes I've ever purchased (entry-level, I know) and decided to give a go at a mirror polish. It turned out ok, but then, while moving the shoes (wrapped in the cloth bag inside the shoe box), I dropped the box and fractured the hard wax on the mirror shine.

So, I used Saphir Reno Mat to strip off the mirror gloss on the toe cap, but the leather didn't take too well to the Reno Mat and appears to have bleached part of it? It ended up with a mottled milky pattern in the middle of the toe cap.
I let the shoe sit for the 15 mins recommended on the Reno Mat packaging, then panicked slightly when the discoloration didn't fade.

In my newbie "do something about it!" nervousness, I started on another mirror gloss application in the hope that it would cover up the discoloration (liberal renovateur, cream polish, pate de luxe wax polish, ~3 layers of neutral mirror gloss). It kind of did, but there are still white patches as pictured below.

Have I just ruined the nicest pair of shoes I've ever owned? Is there anything I can do about this?
To be fair, it's hard to see the discoloration from eye level when the shoes are on the ground, but I'd like to know how to do this properly for when I move up the ladder.

Lastly, the Reno Mat didn't react poorly to the heel when I tested it, only to certain parts of the toe box once I started stripping off the cracked mirror gloss.

 

[JohnMRobie]

Sorry to hear you got sucked down the rabbit hole of unnecessary and harmful shoe care routines.

Step 1: Turn off Kirby’s videos. Don’t watch shoe care videos on YouTube.
Step 2: Throw away that bottle of renomat. Seriously. Throw it away and never buy it again. Throw away your renovateur while you’re at it.
Step 3: Throw away your mirror gloss and stop buying a bunch of products that you don’t need and that ruin your shoes.
Step 4: post in the shoe care thread on here or better yet head to a cobbler and stick to cream polish and a brush in the future.

The good news is they’re black and you (well not actually you but a cobbler or patina artist) can re-dye them black.

 

[TimothyF]

Seconded. It should not take hours and hours to "service" fine leather shoes, no matter how much they cost. Condition/shine every once in a blue moon, brush every wear, keep it simple.

 

[chickene]

Alternative take: mirror shines are pretty cool and totally safe on their own. The mistake here was using Renomat to fix a cracked mirror shine; it strips literally everything (wax, cream, dye) off the shoe. All you needed was a hairdryer to soften the wax again so you could either remove it with a cloth, or re-shine it.

Step 1: Turn off Kirby’s videos.

^^This is great advice nonetheless.

 

[ter1413]

I sit around every month or so with maybe 6 pairs of shoes(that I wear often) and polish and brush while watching TV. I can knock all 6 out in about an hour.

I have NEVER polished a new pair of shoes. I have never polished after 4-5 wears. There is no need.

I agree...throw that junk out...buy a horsehair brush and polish and keep it simple. You can use an old T shirt to apply the polish.

 

[JFWR]

Sorry to hear you got sucked down the rabbit hole of unnecessary and harmful shoe care routines.

Step 1: Turn off Kirby’s videos. Don’t watch shoe care videos on YouTube.
Step 2: Throw away that bottle of renomat. Seriously. Throw it away and never buy it again. Throw away your renovateur while you’re at it.
Step 3: Throw away your mirror gloss and stop buying a bunch of products that you don’t need and that ruin your shoes.
Step 4: post in the shoe care thread on here or better yet head to a cobbler and stick to cream polish and a brush in the future.

The good news is they’re black and you (well not actually you but a cobbler or patina artist) can re-dye them black.

Jmr, you know a crap ton about shoe construction, but this is bad advice for shoecare in the main.

Kirby Allison's videos actually show excellent technique for polishing shoes. He is helpful, informative, and if you can avoid his constant selling of his products, actually good at pointing out in general what you need to complete the task at hand, with some ridiculous luxuries.

No, don't throw out renomat - but don't use it much, either. Renomat is meant for the rare occasion where you need to completely strip all accumulated polish off a shoe or otherwise get down to the factory finish to get out salt stains and other such things. Renomat should not be used unless you have to use it. You're far better off using something lighter, like saddle soap, in most instances - but if you do use saddle soap, use a conditioner afterwards. I will agree that Kirby is to blame for newbies buying Renomat, though. He recommends it for everything and that's really not smart.

Mirror gloss is incredibly useful and your advice here is misguided to the extreme. Mirror gloss makes obtaining a mirror shine a lot, a lot, a lot easier, and frankly, a pair of dress shoes looks far better well shined than dull.

Cream polish and brushing is great if you want just a soft shine, but if you want something that actually looks good, you need some wax.

 

[JFWR]

Hello style aficionados, newbie here with an oopsie.

Recently made my first foray into proper shoes with the Meccariello Roma HW Legate 3 about 1 month ago:

https://www.meccarielloshoes.it/product/roma-legate-3/

I was really excited about the nicest shoes I've ever purchased (entry-level, I know) and decided to give a go at a mirror polish. It turned out ok, but then, while moving the shoes (wrapped in the cloth bag inside the shoe box), I dropped the box and fractured the hard wax on the mirror shine.

So, I used Saphir Reno Mat to strip off the mirror gloss on the toe cap, but the leather didn't take too well to the Reno Mat and appears to have bleached part of it? It ended up with a mottled milky pattern in the middle of the toe cap.
I let the shoe sit for the 15 mins recommended on the Reno Mat packaging, then panicked slightly when the discoloration didn't fade.

In my newbie "do something about it!" nervousness, I started on another mirror gloss application in the hope that it would cover up the discoloration (liberal renovateur, cream polish, pate de luxe wax polish, ~3 layers of neutral mirror gloss). It kind of did, but there are still white patches as pictured below.

Have I just ruined the nicest pair of shoes I've ever owned? Is there anything I can do about this?
To be fair, it's hard to see the discoloration from eye level when the shoes are on the ground, but I'd like to know how to do this properly for when I move up the ladder.

Lastly, the Reno Mat didn't react poorly to the heel when I tested it, only to certain parts of the toe box once I started stripping off the cracked mirror gloss. View attachment 1823350 View attachment 1823351

Chances are you didn't ruin your shoes at all.

The most likely occurrence is that you stripped off some of the dye.

Take your shoes to a cobbler and ask for an expert opinion. Worst case scenario, he will strip the polish off and dye the toe cap again and your shoes will be as good as new.

Your best bet is to go to a professional now to avoid further messing around.

 

[JohnMRobie]

Jmr, you know a crap ton about shoe construction, but this is bad advice for shoecare in the main.

Kirby Allison's videos actually show excellent technique for polishing shoes. He is helpful, informative, and if you can avoid his constant selling of his products, actually good at pointing out in general what you need to complete the task at hand, with some ridiculous luxuries.

No, don't throw out renomat - but don't use it much, either. Renomat is meant for the rare occasion where you need to completely strip all accumulated polish off a shoe or otherwise get down to the factory finish to get out salt stains and other such things. Renomat should not be used unless you have to use it. You're far better off using something lighter, like saddle soap, in most instances - but if you do use saddle soap, use a conditioner afterwards. I will agree that Kirby is to blame for newbies buying Renomat, though. He recommends it for everything and that's really not smart.

Mirror gloss is incredibly useful and your advice here is misguided to the extreme. Mirror gloss makes obtaining a mirror shine a lot, a lot, a lot easier, and frankly, a pair of dress shoes looks far better well shined than dull.

Cream polish and brushing is great if you want just a soft shine, but if you want something that actually looks good, you need some wax.

There’s been like 4 guys who have posted threads this week about destroying their shoes with renomat. It’s a fine product if you know exactly what you’re doing that people hear a guy with a YouTube channel say they need and use all the time and they ruin their shoes. It’s a **** product for a new guy to buy.

Also mirror shines are meh.

 

[JFWR]

There’s been like 4 guys who have posted threads this week about destroying their shoes with renomat. It’s a fine product if you know exactly what you’re doing that people hear a guy with a YouTube channel say they need and use all the time and they ruin their shoes. It’s a **** product for a new guy to buy.

Also mirror shines are meh.

Mirror shines look amazing. It elevates the look of your shoes. Maybe not on a pair of more casual leaning loafers, but on oxfords, derby's, bluchers, non-work boots, it looks great

I agree that renomat is not wise to use and Kirby pushes it to make money, but it does have a limited use.

 

[notdos]

Yes, Thow away anything that starts with “Reno”. You don’t need to “renovate” a new or even lightly worn pair of shoes.
Those products should only be used on heavily worn, poorly cared for or damaged shoes.
Cream polish to add pigment, wax polish to add shine. That’s it.

Phillip

 

[Son Of Saphir]

Shoe care is like an art form.
The key is knowing when to use what products.
Usually a wet rag and shoe paste is all that is needed.
Occasionally a wax is needed.
Sometimes a moisterizer is needed on certain leathers.

The mistake made by PLB2L432 was that he used a heavy stripper.
He should have used a gentle - mild stripper.
Yes throw away the Saphir renovateur,
real connoisseurs do not use those types of things.

Yes Kirby have a good heart and mean well,
but he a shoe care hack.

 

[stuffedsuperdud]

@PLB2L432
Welcome to the club. Pretty much everyone here is a fussy anal weirdo and has probably goofed here and there with their shoeshine, asked their tailor to do something stupid, played around with the regulator on their new Omega, etc. It's too bad in your case it happened to a relatively expensive item.

For future reference:
The next time you crack a mirror shine, just buff over everything with a cloth moistened with the smallest droplet of water to see where you actually stand, and follow wity a solution of about 30% ethanol or isoproanol to buff over the cracked area and smooth it out as best you can. The alcohol will rapidly soften the wax and melt it back together. I don't like using a hair dryer for this part as I can't control the heat as well as I can the cloth. Use your fingers to smear a very thin film of new polish (I generally scoff at expensive #menswear products but Saphir Mirror Gloss is actually quite effective at this and worth every bit of the relatively large amount of money a tin costs). Buff this thin layer with the cloth moistened by a droplet of your alcohol water and repeat.

If anyone tries to tell you to use renomat, never talk to that person again. If anyone tries to sell you renomat, call the police and report an attempted robbery.

Mirror shines look amazing. It elevates the look of your shoes. Maybe not on a pair of more casual leaning loafers, but on oxfords, derby's, bluchers, non-work boots, it looks great

I agree-ish in theory but I tend to be clumsy and trip over things a lot. I also travel a lot for work, and airports, cars, crowds, lines and rolling luggage mean that I will inevitably scuff it up within a matter of minutes or hours into a trip, and then I'll be self-conscious the entire trip of this ugly scuff, made even more obvious by the shiny surroundings. It's not worth the stress, vs. a matte shine that still looks tidy and professional but can also hide the inevitable effects of daily life.

It also tends to work only with worsted trousers and a tailored jacket. Looks kind of jarring with anything with texture, even if it's a dressier item, like a gray flannel suit.

The mistake made by PLB2L432 was that he used a heavy stripper.

Let's not overstep into excessive generalizations. A new pair of shoes isn't the time or place but I can think of several situations I've been in where they provided an essential service.....

 

[JFWR]

@PLB2L432
Welcome to the club. Pretty much everyone here is a fussy anal weirdo and has probably goofed here and there with their shoeshine, asked their tailor to do something stupid, played around with the regulator on their new Omega, etc. It's too bad in your case it happened to a relatively expensive item.

For future reference:
The next time you crack a mirror shine, just buff over everything with a cloth moistened with the smallest droplet of water to see where you actually stand, and follow wity a solution of about 30% ethanol or isoproanol to buff over the cracked area and smooth it out as best you can. The alcohol will rapidly soften the wax and melt it back together. I don't like using a hair dryer for this part as I can't control the heat as well as I can the cloth. Use your fingers to smear a very thin film of new polish (I generally scoff at expensive #menswear products but Saphir Mirror Gloss is actually quite effective at this and worth every bit of the relatively large amount of money a tin costs). Buff this thin layer with the cloth moistened by a droplet of your alcohol water and repeat.

If anyone tries to tell you to use renomat, never talk to that person again. If anyone tries to sell you renomat, call the police and report an attempted robbery.




I agree-ish in theory but I tend to be clumsy and trip over things a lot. I also travel a lot for work, and airports, cars, crowds, lines and rolling luggage mean that I will inevitably scuff it up within a matter of minutes or hours into a trip, and then I'll be self-conscious the entire trip of this ugly scuff, made even more obvious by the shiny surroundings. It's not worth the stress, vs. a matte shine that still looks tidy and professional but can also hide the inevitable effects of daily life.

It also tends to work only with worsted trousers and a tailored jacket. Looks kind of jarring with anything with texture, even if it's a dressier item, like a gray flannel suit.



Let's not overstep into excessive generalizations. A new pair of shoes isn't the time or place but I can think of several situations I've been in where they provided an essential service.....

I don't know. I'm a bit more cautious and keep a mirror shine for several years refreshed with a nylon stocking buff. I also shine most of my shoes to a mirror shine, and see no problem wearing them with cords or chinos

I also do like the hair drier trick, but I usually use regular pate dr luxe after as the turpentine smooths the wax well.

 

[PLB2L432]

Thanks everyone for your guidance and advice. Slightly painful lesson, but one that I'll remember for life!

 

[maxalex]

Jmr, you know a crap ton about shoe construction, but this is bad advice for shoecare in the main.

Kirby Allison's videos actually show excellent technique for polishing shoes. He is helpful, informative, and if you can avoid his constant selling of his products, actually good at pointing out in general what you need to complete the task at hand, with some ridiculous luxuries.

No, don't throw out renomat - but don't use it much, either. Renomat is meant for the rare occasion where you need to completely strip all accumulated polish off a shoe or otherwise get down to the factory finish to get out salt stains and other such things. Renomat should not be used unless you have to use it. You're far better off using something lighter, like saddle soap, in most instances - but if you do use saddle soap, use a conditioner afterwards. I will agree that Kirby is to blame for newbies buying Renomat, though. He recommends it for everything and that's really not smart.

Mirror gloss is incredibly useful and your advice here is misguided to the extreme. Mirror gloss makes obtaining a mirror shine a lot, a lot, a lot easier, and frankly, a pair of dress shoes looks far better well shined than dull.

Cream polish and brushing is great if you want just a soft shine, but if you want something that actually looks good, you need some wax.

Agreed mirror gloss is useful especially on two-tone shoes like spectators. Not that many people wear spectators these days…