Repairing deep leather creases?

[WondrousMoose]

Hey all! Long-time reader; first-time poster.

I recently received a pair of hand-me-down Cole Haan chukkas and am having a hell of a time fixing them up to my liking.

Below are two pictures of the creasing, followed by one of the other shoe on that same side. All the other sides look like that last picture; how can I get the bad one a bit closer to them?

I've tried massaging the leather after heating with a blow drier. I've left generous coats of Saphir Renovateur and Medaille d'Ore Pommadier to soak, and I now keep wax on them.

I acknowledge that I'm not working with great-quality material; the leather feels thin and just generally bad.

Do any of you have tricks for nasty creases like this? Do I need to accept that these are just not worth the time and effort? Again, the creasing is on the inner side, and it's not terribly obvious from a distance.

 

[Equus Leather]

Theres no way you'll get rid of that. Keeping boots in boot trees will always help, but the root cause is a poor quality piece of leather on the wrinkled side IMO

 

[Phileas Fogg]

Yeah, that’s pretty much baked in the cake and I agree, it shows what happens when care is not taken in the selection of the hide to be used.

You can treat it all you want, but the problem is structural and not cosmetic. Just wear them and enjoy.