Shoe Dye Job

[Oswald Cornelius]

I have a virtually unused pair of brown Grenson boots, but they are quite old, 10 years. They are a slightly pinkish-brown color and I'd like to make them quite a dark brown. Is there a good method anyone can suggest that I can try myself? Or, better yet, any Chicago-land cobblers who could do this work for me? Thank you.

 

[grimslade]

If it's decent leather, you should be able to darken them up over time just by regularly applying a dark-brown polish. It might even give them a nice "depth," with the lighter leather peaking out from underneath.

Do you have pics?

 

[Roger]

Yes, agree with grimslade. However, you might speed the process up slightly by focusing on shoe creams, rather than wax polishes, since creams tend to color leather more than do the wax-containing shoe polishes like Kiwi, Lincoln, et al. I'd begin by obtaining a good dark-brown cream like Collonil and rub it in thoroughly. Wear the boots with just this for a while, reapplying frequently. I would imagine that they will darken fairly quickly. You could mix in the occasional wax polish in the process--over the cream--and certainly when you have reached the level of darkness you want, you will want to give them a top coat of polish each time you work on them. In short, I wouldn't dye them.

 

[Utah]

Here are the shoes in question, below the color the owner hopes to achieve.

original:

changed to:

 

[grimslade]

I think you can get there with cream polish. It will take a few iterations.