Off-the-shelf shoe care

[sho'nuff]

theres alot of shoe antiquing stuff on search here written by josepidal, norcal, me, and others.
almost a full library.
you dont have to go to the extent of leaving conditioner gunked on for overnight. a good generous rubbing on like hand lotion and a buff after 10 minutes is suffice enough.

shoe cream usually is acrylic based , so leaving it on for more than 15 or 20 minutes in my experience dries it almost permanently. and it is impossible to buff off. even with a rotor wheel. you will have to acetone it off to start over.

 

[Leaveitothexperts]

Originally Posted by diorshoe

you dont have to go to the extent of leaving conditioner gunked on for overnight. a good generous rubbing on like hand lotion and a buff after 10 minutes is suffice enough.

shoe cream usually is acrylic based , so leaving it on for more than 15 or 20 minutes in my experience dries it almost permanently. .

I believe I have gone through the stuff you mention above, but did not seem to come across the issue I have. I did exactly what you are saying with the conditioner. I was not able to get the rag to glide easlily over the Lexol conditioner after about 10 minutes. In fact the rag started to leave fine lint on the shoe. It was pretty stiff/sticky. I was not using cream since I used Lexol. I decided to go with wax polish instead. The rubbing/buffing on the surface is now smoother than it was after I applied the Lexol, but it keeps having the polish haze. Should I just continue for some more with polish and water mixture for some time and the shine should appear?

 

[DocHolliday]

I would guess your problem comes from applying polish before the shoe had dried thoroughly. It may be that the polish can't take a shine because the leather is damp, and the leather can't dry because of the polish. I'd let them rest for several days and then try polishing again. If that doesn't work, you may need to remove the polish.

 

[sho'nuff]

Originally Posted by Leaveitothexperts

I believe I have gone through the stuff you mention above, but did not seem to come across the issue I have. I did exactly what you are saying with the conditioner. I was not able to get the rag to glide easlily over the Lexol conditioner after about 10 minutes. In fact the rag started to leave fine lint on the shoe. It was pretty stiff/sticky. I was not using cream since I used Lexol. I decided to go with wax polish instead. The rubbing/buffing on the surface is now smoother than it was after I applied the Lexol, but it keeps having the polish haze. Should I just continue for some more with polish and water mixture for some time and the shine should appear?
im not really too sure about lexol cleaner, i dont have any experience with it, but i can only speak for the kiwi leather conditioner i have. very sweet smelling and almost like a hand lotion and glides/buffs off easily in 1o minutes. never left it on more than that so i cant say if that could happen as well with kiwi.
hmm. can you have access to kiwi conditioner and r etry? start over with a the kiwi, the conditioner will wipe the lexol and /or polish mix off right off.

 

[Leaveitothexperts]

Originally Posted by diorshoe

im not really too sure about lexol cleaner, i dont have any experience with it, but i can only speak for the kiwi leather conditioner i have. very sweet smelling and almost like a hand lotion and glides/buffs off easily in 1o minutes. never left it on more than that so i cant say if that could happen as well with kiwi.
hmm. can you have access to kiwi conditioner and r etry? start over with a the kiwi, the conditioner will wipe the lexol and /or polish mix off right off.

i'll try and let it dry for 1-2 days and retry. If that doesn't work, I do have access to kiwi conditioner. I guess it is worth a try for $5-6. Thank god I tried this on shoes that I don't really care for first. Thank you very much Dior and Doc for your responses.

If there is more from others please keep it coming. I know there are plenty of people using Lexol on this forum.

 

[dirk diggler]

use real spit for a spit shine. I like to grab a few beers to keep my spit wet, put on some coltrane, and voila = real shine

 

[CBDB]

Just avoid products containing silicone (Kiwi Parade Gloss and the "quick shine" products) QUOTE]

What's wrong with Kiwi Parade Gloss? Didn't have it during my soldiering days and I just picked up a can. Will it damage the leather?

 

[sho'nuff]

dont worry , i use that parade gloss all the time with no bad effects. only nice mirror shines.

'the silicone is bad for leather' is overrated in my belief. use with good results.

 

[grimslade]

I use lexol as well as the creamier leather conditioners. I've never found a problem with lexol "sticking" to the leather. Perhaps I use it more sparingly than the OP did. I usually put a flannel rag over the mouth of the bottle, invert the bottle twice, and rub it on. Perhaps one or two more little tips of the bottle onto a rag held _over_ the opening per shoe is all I use. This seems to soak in without any issues with residue. How much did you use?

 

[Jared]

Originally Posted by Leaveitothexperts

I sprayed a littel water on to a fresh rag and started buffing and then the same with the other shoe. I kept buffing and more buffing, buffing, buffing, buffing . . . . . okay you get the point. I can seem to get the shoes to a high shine. It still seems that there still is haze over the shoes. It doesn't even seem to have gotten to a glow.
I believe your problem may be that the buffing cloth needs to be dry. The "spit shine phase" is misnamed (besides the fact that most of us don't use spit): it produces a (hazy) solid wax coating that is then shined in the buffing phase. I always brush all over between the spit shine phase and the buffing phase, as well, but I don't think it's vital.

 

[retronotmetro]

Originally Posted by CBDB

Originally Posted by retronotmetro

Just avoid products containing silicone (Kiwi Parade Gloss and the "quick shine" products)

What's wrong with Kiwi Parade Gloss? Didn't have it during my soldiering days and I just picked up a can. Will it damage the leather?

I have not personally experienced any ill effect from using silicone products on my shoes. However, knowledgeable shoe repair and retail people have told me not to use it. Moreover, based on my negative experience with silicone polishes on wood and on car finishes, I don't want to use it on my shoes. The way I see it, there are plenty of good products that don't have any silicone content, so why take a chance with it?

 

[Charley]

Originally Posted by Leaveitothexperts

I believe I have gone through the stuff you mention above, but did not seem to come across the issue I have. I did exactly what you are saying with the conditioner. I was not able to get the rag to glide easlily over the Lexol conditioner after about 10 minutes. In fact the rag started to leave fine lint on the shoe. It was pretty stiff/sticky. I was not using cream since I used Lexol. I decided to go with wax polish instead. The rubbing/buffing on the surface is now smoother than it was after I applied the Lexol, but it keeps having the polish haze. Should I just continue for some more with polish and water mixture for some time and the shine should appear?

The sticky effect you are describing could result from using the Lexol product that is the Lexol NF. That is neatsfoot oil and is in a very light colored - beige - plastic bottle. It is a thicker oil prodict used for waterproofing and protection on boots. It will become sticky if applied too generously and allowed to somewhat dry before removal. It will really kill and shine attempt for a long time. The comment of the cobbler that you would have a problem getting a high shine "after Lexol" also leads me to believe you may have used the neatsfoot oil Lexol product.

There are two other Lexol products that I have. One is the cleaner and is in a bright orange bottle. The other is the conditioner and is in a fairly dark brown plastic bottle. I've never had a sticky problem with either of these last two products. And, if I did have your situation, I would use some of the Lexol Cleaner to attempt to clean up whatever was on the shoes that is making them sticky.

My general practice is to apply the Lexol Conditioner very liberally to one shoe. Then do the same to the second shoe. Immediately wipe off the first shoe and brush a bit to make sure all of the softened junk is knocked off. Then wipe off the second shoe and brush it. I really don't worry too much about complete removal of the conditioner. The brushing will get the excess removed from any punching and the seams where it might have built up from the original application.

Following that, I proceed to apply the Meltonian shoe cream in the colors that I want to use. Use the same procedure of applying to one shoe, set that one aside to dry for the couple of minutes it takes to apply cream to the second shoe, brush the first and then brush the second. Ron Rider suggests using conditioner again. That is not my general practice but could be an improvement.

After a couple of weeks of that routine, the shoes should have developed a pretty darned good shine. It does get better as the many applications of the conditioner will cause the cream to be absorbed into the leather. The shine will be just a bit more mellow than with the spit shine and is much easier to maintain. I don't believe that it creates the same wax buildup either.

You may want to search for a recent post by Ron Rider. Within his signature is a link to a blog which he has recently started on shoes and shoe care. A recent post describes his procedure for polishing shoes. I don't disagree in any way with his recommendations. I would probably consider tham a bit of overkill for my purposes though. Mine is generally pretty simple and takes about 10 - 15 minutes. Wipe off the dirt. Apply conditioner as earlier described. Apply shoe cream as earlier described. Brush well and put the trees back into the shoes.

Good luck with your shoe project.

 

[grimslade]

Just for the record, I was referring to the darker-bottled Lexol conditioner, not either the cleaner or the neatsfoot stuff. I thought neatsfoot oil was for baseball mitts. If the OP was using some other product, that could explain the results.

 

[Charley]

Originally Posted by grimslade

Just for the record, I was referring to the darker-bottled Lexol conditioner, not either the cleaner or the neatsfoot stuff. I thought neatsfoot oil was for baseball mitts. If the OP was using some other product, that could explain the results.

I hope you don't believe that I thought you HAD recommended the Lexol nf product. I did not mean to imply that at all.

However, I have used the Lexol nf product to good effect on boots and "open" leathers where it can be absorbed. It will darken the leather but will sure lubricate it. The residual oil on the surface will really hinder any effort to achieve a shine though. Probably could not be considered after application of NF.

Since the leather of the dress shoes has been finished differently than boots, the NF product can sit on the surface as it dries. It gets thicker, thicker, and then sticky. I used it on soccer shoes, not dress shoes. Wash mud off - leave shoes fairly damp. Apply the NF and let absorb some - it seems to work better on the wet leather. Wipe off and apply shoe cream while still damp. It gets the cream mixed with the oil and absorbed better. It kept those Copas looking pretty good. But, again, that was for a work type shoe. Not a dress shoe.

 

[grimslade]

No, I didn't. I was just clarifying for the benefit of the OP that you and I were talking about the same product, which may not have been the one he used.