Stripping Finish from Shoes: Help Desperately Needed!

[Roger]

I picked up a pair of C&Js on eBay for a song and decided to try to change the dark brown color. I began the stripping process with rubbing alcohol and was able to strip away the built-up polish and get to the leather, which, of course, was still dark brown. I then began with acetone and succeeded in removing some of the dye (I guess) because the color began to lighten up. However...and here's my problem...the result is very blotchy, with quite light patches, but also some darker ones. They're a very uneven blotchy color now. What can I do now to get the color to an even and light shade? Once there, the plan is to build up a new mid-brown finish. Help!

 

[gordongodwin]

Seek out Dimitri who is a member of this forum under the name meaculpa. Hopefully he is around, he travels alot. He can show you some pics of some great refinishing jobs he has done. You can also look up my post entitled refinishing shoes where he responded and gave good advice. Hope this helps.

 

[thinman]

Seeking out Dimitri is a good suggestion; you've gone beyond my experience. You may have discovered the secret to John Lobb's museum calf!

 

[Roger]

Good suggestion about Dimitri. Actually, I've had him and his father do quite a bit of work for me. He's a great guy and a fellow Canuck. In this case, I thought I could perhaps do it myself, but that might prove to be delusional. I seem to recall some posts in the dim, dark past about bleach baths, although it might take several shots of bourbon to get me to that point.

 

[tiger02]

Are sysdoc's shoe-bleaching posts still around? Essentially, you can soak your shoes in a dilute bleach solution overnight and then dye them whatever color you feel like. Since your shoes are already halfway there, might be a good experiment.

Tom