One Shoe lighter & won’t darken with polish - Yohei Fukuda

[Cartier_Joe]

Hi all,

I can’t seem to fix the lightened color of my right Yohei Fukuda. Lovely shoe, but was a super difficult break in (& I love a tough break in period). During which I had to use a shoe stretcher (which I never do). I put on some Saphir lotion while it was on the stretcher & it seemed to streak some of the leather. I took it off the stretcher & used some Saphir renomat to remove the streaks. Now I cannot get anything to darken the leather. I didn’t shake the Reno at one time, so it may have gotten a high concentrate, however, leather feels great.

anybody ever fixed something like this? I believe this is not crust leather, but aniline. I have tried both Saphir M’Dor Pom (cream) & wax polish - nothing sticks. Used renovator, lotion - picture where it shows dark. Drys to the light shown. Spot seems to get very dark when lotion is applied. Guessing I lightened the factory dye? Just bought some Saphir Mink to try. Not sure how I would match the Parisian color with a Saphir dye (only Parisian color is a Saphir cream). I have some Havana leather dye, but don’t want to screw up the shoe more. I have some Juvacuir on order (every shade of brown) to see if the pigment will catch better.

please let me know if you have any suggestions or advice.

 

[dukenukem4ever]

you used renomat? that's gg my friend. you may need to re-dye them.

 

[Cartier_Joe]

you used renomat? that's gg my friend. you may need to re-dye them.

Why is this POS allowed to make videos with this advice then 😭😭:

 

[TimothyF]

If you aren't too anal about the details (after all they are just shoes), I would just use black cream on both. I think there's a good chance the difference becomes unnoticeable after.

Surprised to hear a famed Japanese maker's shoes not fitting too comfortably, though.

 

[Cartier_Joe]

If you aren't too anal about the details (after all they are just shoes), I would just use black cream on both. I think there's a good chance the difference becomes unnoticeable after.

Surprised to hear a famed Japanese maker's shoes not fitting too comfortably, though.

lol - mannn, this is what I get for coming from cordovan Galways. Yes - you are correct. I learned 2 things today:
1. When in doubt, contact Yohei (he answered my email right after I posted this and confirmed your theory).
2. if you strip off all of the wax & polish, the color will not be there lol. No damage to the lining.

YF uses solid leather shoe stiffeners (like most all Bespoke), so he admittedly mentioned his shoes being stiffer at first, but softer in the the long run when compared to celastic (Edward green, G&G, almost every other RTW - not sure if G&G uses leather in their Besp). Also, for some reason I will never be able to get onboard with the crowd that thinks a tough break-in isn’t the way to a perfect fit.

pictured is a pretty rough cream & wax job to put my mind at ease, however, the closer one was the previously lighter.

 

[JohnMRobie]

Throw away the renomat. Don’t let the juvicur anywhere near those shoes.

Send a message to Greg Park (he goes by Hancore on Instagram) if the color being a little off is going to bug you and have him re-dye.

In the future use cream polish of your choice a shade lighter than the brown color of the shoe like once every 7-10 wears or so and some (read: minimal) brown wax if you want. Just brush them between wears. That’s it. Taking care of shoes is nowhere near as complicated as the guys who want to sell you 50 products want you to believe.

 

[Cartier_Joe]

Throw away the renomat. Don’t let the juvicur anywhere near those shoes.

Send a message to Greg Park (he goes by Hancore on Instagram) if the color being a little off is going to bug you and have him re-dye.

In the future use cream polish of your choice a shade lighter than the brown color of the shoe like once every 7-10 wears or so and some (read: minimal) brown wax if you want. Just brush them between wears. That’s it. Taking care of shoes is nowhere near as complicated as the guys who want to sell you 50 products want you to believe.

Thanks! I think I just was incompetent on how shoe polish buildup works lol. Hopefully all good - however, thank you for Greg’s name. I recall reading an article about him a month or so ago. He was someone who I was trying to recall through google & couldn’t find him on Google because his past G&G affiliation + G&G now doing patina service.

Nevertheless, I’m curious on how much he roughly charges for his services on a pair of shoes. Did you happen to know? Almost makes me want to order something with his services in mind.

 

[Cartier_Joe]

Throw away the renomat. Don’t let the juvicur anywhere near those shoes.

Send a message to Greg Park (he goes by Hancore on Instagram) if the color being a little off is going to bug you and have him re-dye.

In the future use cream polish of your choice a shade lighter than the brown color of the shoe like once every 7-10 wears or so and some (read: minimal) brown wax if you want. Just brush them between wears. That’s it. Taking care of shoes is nowhere near as complicated as the guys who want to sell you 50 products want you to believe.

Also - deff tossing the reno. Saphir (& others) seem like they have a product for every life circumstance lol.

 

[JohnMRobie]

Thanks! I think I just was incompetent on how shoe polish buildup works lol. Hopefully all good - however, thank you for Greg’s name. I recall reading an article about him a month or so ago. He was someone who I was trying to recall through google & couldn’t find him on Google because his past G&G affiliation + G&G now doing patina service.

Nevertheless, I’m curious on how much he roughly charges for his services on a pair of shoes. Did you happen to know? Almost makes me want to order something with his services in mind.

I haven’t been quoted in a couple years but it was reasonable. For a simple re-dye rather than a patina I think like 150 +/- and then shipping both ways unless you’re NYC based.

Also - deff tossing the reno. Saphir (& others) seem like they have a product for every life circumstance lol.

Honestly cream polish and a single layer of wax is pretty much the only thing I use. Enjoy your Fukuda’s - They just keep getting more comfortable and age well with minimal attention.

 

[BlueSteel]

Also - deff tossing the reno. Saphir (& others) seem like they have a product for every life circumstance lol.

Renomat is the nuclear option. Not for normal use. But it can serve a purpose.

I buy some vintage shoes. Renomat is good for removing serious marks on leather...it will even remove Sharpie marker from leather shoe soles (like when thrift/vintage stores write prices on shoe soles with Sharpie). Also removes stubborn marks from shoe uppers (like a black mark on a medium or light brown leather shoe).

But aside from extreme cases like that, there are much safer options for normal shoe care than reaching for Renomat!

 

[willyto]

The first mistake was to use that Saphir Renovateur the shoes. There was no need to do that and it can be harsh on some leather and on some finishes it basically ruins it. You just needed to use your shoe cream which already has conditioning purposes but it's new leather so conditioning wasn't really a need.

I haven’t been quoted in a couple years but it was reasonable. For a simple re-dye rather than a patina I think like 150 +/- and then shipping both ways unless you’re NYC based.

Honestly cream polish and a single layer of wax is pretty much the only thing I use. Enjoy your Fukuda’s - They just keep getting more comfortable and age well with minimal attention.

Spending $150 plus shipping for someone else to dye your shoe seems way overkill to fix a Renomat mistake. If it really bothers him that much then he could just use a thin layer of brown Saphir dye (It's nowhere as opaque as others like Fiebings) on the messed up area. It really is not that difficult. Personally I would leave them alone and just use shoe cream, the more he tries to fix it the worst it will get.

Use shoe cream and never use renomat unless you're willing to dye the shoe after it. If you rub too hard it basically removes the finish of the shoe and shoe cream only goes so far. Not all leather reacts the same way and recommending Renomat that freely leads to disaster.


There's absolutely zero need to use Renomat on your shoes when you polish them. Renomat is made to clean stains on leather, silicone and other harsh products. Not for regular clean up so recommending it as something to use before polishing shoes is a huge mistake and I don't think they're using it right.

This is what Renomat does with shoe finish (I was practicing here stripping this pair on purpose to dye them black because the original finish had rubbed off everywhere, Meermin Linea Maestro I no longer wear because the leather is stiff as a rock)

After Renomat:

After Saphir Tinture Française dye only:

Personally when I feel like stripping everything and starting from scatch(Very old shoes or just beaten up from wear) I just put a bit of Alcohol on a cotton pad and very gently go across the whole shoe once, no rubbing and that's enough to remove any excess wax without removing the finish.

 

[JohnMRobie]

The first mistake was to use that Saphir Renovateur the shoes. There was no need to do that and it can be harsh on some leather and on some finishes it basically ruins it. You just needed to use your shoe cream which already has conditioning purposes but it's new leather so conditioning wasn't really a need.



Spending $150 plus shipping for someone else to dye your shoe seems way overkill to fix a Renomat mistake. If it really bothers him that much then he could just use a thin layer of brown Saphir dye (It's nowhere as opaque as others like Fiebings) on the messed up area. It really is not that difficult. Personally I would leave them alone and just use shoe cream, the more he tries to fix it the worst it will get.

Use shoe cream and never use renomat unless you're willing to dye the shoe after it. If you rub too hard it basically removes the finish of the shoe and shoe cream only goes so far. Not all leather reacts the same way and recommending Renomat that freely leads to disaster.


There's absolutely zero need to use Renomat on your shoes when you polish them. Renomat is made to clean stains on leather, silicone and other harsh products. Not for regular clean up so recommending it as something to use before polishing shoes is a huge mistake and I don't think they're using it right.

This is what Renomat does with shoe finish (I was practicing here stripping this pair on purpose to dye them black because the original finish had rubbed off everywhere, Meermin Linea Maestro I no longer wear because the leather is stiff as a rock)

After Renomat:

After Saphir Tinture Française dye only:

Personally when I feel like stripping everything and starting from scatch(Very old shoes or just beaten up from wear) I just put a bit of Alcohol on a cotton pad and very gently go across the whole shoe once, no rubbing and that's enough to remove any excess wax without removing the finish.

If it were an old pair of Meermins or a vintage pair or something then sure mess around with it. For a pretty much brand new pair of Fukuda's, telling the guy who accidentally stripped a pair during routine maintenance to try and strip the other pair and match them? That's a terrible idea. Just send them off and pay the small fee and be done with it.

 

[Proleet]

If it were an old pair of Meermins or a vintage pair or something then sure mess around with it. For a pretty much brand new pair of Fukuda's, telling the guy who accidentally stripped a pair during routine maintenance to try and strip the other pair and match them? That's a terrible idea. Just send them off and pay the small fee and be done with it.

exactly this. It’s a 2k pair of shoes. Pay the learning fee and have flawless shoes again

 

[FlyingHorker]

There should be a pinned sticky for not using Renovateur or Renomat on shoes.

 

[ter1413]

In the future use cream polish of your choice a shade lighter than the brown color of the shoe like once every 7-10 wears or so and some (read: minimal) brown wax if you want. Just brush them between wears. That’s it. Taking care of shoes is nowhere near as complicated as the guys who want to sell you 50 products want you to believe.

This ^ 100% and especially the highlighted portion!

I see people on SF feeling that they need to polish, treat, etc. shoes even before the initial wear and after each and every wear.

NO!