Is it a mistake to use neutral shoe polish??

[corskc]

Just got my hands on a pair of new Grenson Epsom Cognac grain calf shoes... Pediwear supplied a tin of neutral polish, and thought I'll do a pre-polish with it.... Man...is there something wrong with my shoes or is the neutral shoe polish turning the shade way darker?! Will applying leather conditioner and applying cognac colored shoe cream restore back the shade, or is it irreversible?

 

[Ich_Dien]

You just used too much. It will return to an even colour in a little bit.

 

[corskc]

I think my main gripe is the large dark, almost black spot on the bottom image on the right shoe.... Hmm..... I'll put it down to antiquing......?

 

[Ich_Dien]

The leather will probably be quite thirsty. Pebble grain leather usually responds to wax like this as it is on my own shoes. The trick is to use less polish, as all that has happened is that it has soaked into the leather a bit too much. You will find it will return to its natural shade in time.

 

[bengal-stripe]

Originally Posted by corskc

I think my main gripe is the large dark, almost black spot on the bottom image on the right shoe....

It will be gone in a couple of hours, just the solvent in the polish. - It will evaporate!

 

[ajv]

I don't want to start a whole long thread on that subject, but one should use neutral/white shoe wax (if that is what you call shoe polish) as very rarely as possible. You normally use it to take stains away and or to clean the shoe from former application of cream and/or wax. You apply some neutral shoe wax with a cloth and then rub with a white cloth until there is no more color coming off on this white cloth.


If you don't need to nourrish the leather of your shoes, i.e. not want to cream them, but only want to shine them, use a wax slighlty lighter colored than your shoes are or to avoid any mistake use what some call neutral shoe wax which has a yellowish look to it.

 

[Avebury]

I've been using brown wax polish on my brogues for the last two years. A lovely patina has developed. Now it seems that there's a 'tipping point' in the life of any shoe. At some point your shoes are going to look as good as they're ever going to look and polishing isn't going to improve or enhance the colour that much. After all, let's not forget that patina is a sign of wear and age. For this reason I've switched to neutral polish for a bit - it seems to 'lift' the colour slightly and give a cleaner finish. There's also the point that you'll gradually get polish build up whatever you do, so neutral wax used sparingly, or alternatively shoe cream, might be beneficial (I like Dasco 2020). In all of this I'm thinking of tan or mid-brown shoes. If your shoes are dark brown or black it doesn't really matter. I think Foster & Son recommend neutral wax, but as everyone knows there is are a multitude of different opinions. The question is, I suppose, where does patina end and tattiness start?

 

[pdial]

Originally Posted by ajv

I don't want to start a whole long thread on that subject, but one should use neutral/white shoe wax as very rarely as possible. You normally use it to take stains away and or to clean the shoe from former application of cream and/or wax. You apply some neutral shoe wax with a cloth and then rub with a white cloth until there is no more color coming off on this white cloth.


If you don't need to nourrish the leather of your shoes, i.e. not want to cream them, but only want to shine them,use a wax slighlty lighter colored than your shoes are or to avoid any mistake use what some call neutral shoe wax which has a yellowish look to it.

Huh?

 

[JLibourel]

My buddy Greg Kramer uses Kiwi Neutral to finish his holsters.

Neutral polish was recommended me by the then-manager at the now-defunct A-E Cabazon outlet for shoes that use white-dyed calfskin (not suede, obviously). He said white shoe polish was just "snake oil."

 

[RileysCat]

Snake oil, huh?

It might be.

I use Neutral Kiwi on my black/white spectators and there is no dulling or yellowing that I can see.

 

[corskc]

Another question...

What is the effect if you polished shoe wax over a spot of shoe that is slightly wet?

 

[furo]

I have no complaints whatsoever with Kiwi neutral polish. I have used them on about 6 different pairs of AEs now, ranging from chestnut to brandy to merlot to brown...

But I make sure that I apply a light coat of conditioner first, let it dry, buff it out with a cotton cloth ... let that dry some more ... and then apply a light coat of Kiwi neutral, ensuring that I keep it moist with just a tad of water here and there on the cloth

After that the shoes look great

 

[ajv]

Originally Posted by pdial

Huh?

There usually are two sort of wax that many consider being neutral :

one that is usually called "neutral" : which looks white when in the box and transparent on the cloth.

one that is usually called "fawn" : which looks yellow, a bit like bee wax.


Is this clearer ?

 

[jhcam8]

Originally Posted by corskc

Another question...

What is the effect if you polished shoe wax over a spot of shoe that is slightly wet?

In effect you'd be working on a spit shine - many threads devoted to this art.

 

[Jesse43]

I'm not sure by all of the above commentaries if using "A Neutral Shoe Polish" is a mistake or not;i've never tried it? I'm leary about doing it on my Black Bostonians and Black Stafford's. One has a high gloss finish and the other does not. My polish that i have now is a black finishing polish from Kell'ys shoe products;and the other polish which i'm leary of using on either shoe pairs is Kelly's "Neutral" Shoe polish. It looks off white with a yellowish tent to it-Kind of like a nasty Cream of Wheat.(LOL). Anyhow, is it safe to use this on any type of dark colored dress leather upper shoe? Clue me in please. Thanks Jesse.