Taking care of your shoes

[dynabro]

Just bought a nice pair of Johnston & Murphy venetians. This is my first pair of *real* shoes, they have a beautiful leather upper, and leather soles. How do I care for these shoes so they live their life to the fullest? Shoe trees? Wax? Please advise

Here they are:

http://www.zappos.com/n/p/p/7506252/c/5585.html

 

[Cary Grant]

Let me apologize on behalf of SF for the criticism that is about to ensue.

 

[Busa Dave]

 

[dynabro]

 

[Shikar]

Congrats on your first pair of leather shoes. I would use shoe trees after every wearing and use wax every few weeks depending on how ofter you wear them.
You will find a lot of posts on shoe care if you search.

Regards.
PS. I also bought a pair of loafers today, but mine are more for very casual sockless kinda wear for $74 shipped.

 

[glowell222]

Originally Posted by dynabro

Just bought a nice pair of Johnston & Murphy venetians. This is my first pair of *real* shoes, they have a beautiful leather upper, and leather soles. How do I care for these shoes so they live their life to the fullest? Shoe trees? Wax? Please advise

Here they are:

http://www.zappos.com/n/p/p/7506252/c/5585.html

Make sure you don't wear the shoes more often than every 4 days.

 

[Steven Aver]

Originally Posted by Shikar

Congrats on your first pair of leather shoes. I would use shoe trees after every wearing and use wax every few weeks depending on how ofter you wear them.
You will find a lot of posts on shoe care if you search.

Regards.
PS. I also bought a pair of loafers today, but mine are more for very casual sockless kinda wear for $74 shipped.

where di dyo uscoop them for $75 if you dont mind me asking.

 

[Shikar]

Hello Steven,
www.grapevinehill.com has a 25% off RLSPRING going on now. There are the RL Trever by Alden.

Regards.

 

[Nick V.]

Shoe trees, regular polish and, sole guards.

 

[BringingSuitsBack]

Nick,

You mention sole guards -- I assume you mean the rubbers for the bottom of the soles. On higher-end dress shoes (testoni, brioni) do you still reccommend them? I had thought that placing rubbers trapped the moisture between the foot and the outsole and leads to rot in the cork?

I'm not sure if I'm on target on this, but I would certainly love any thoughts -- living here in NYC and with the steady rain we've been having I often think about putting them on but have always held off out of concern for the long-term life of the shoe.

Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[BringingSuitsBack]

Nick,

You mention sole guards -- I assume you mean the rubbers for the bottom of the soles. On higher-end dress shoes (testoni, brioni) do you still reccommend them? I had thought that placing rubbers trapped the moisture between the foot and the outsole and leads to rot in the cork?

I'm not sure if I'm on target on this, but I would certainly love any thoughts -- living here in NYC and with the steady rain we've been having I often think about putting them on but have always held off out of concern for the long-term life of the shoe.

Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[emmanuel]

Use shoe trees to maintain the shape, polish to keep the leather in good condition and keep them in a rotation to keep them from taking a beating. Now, I tell you the truth that miraculously everyone else has avoided telling... your shoes are ugly and Johnston and Murphy is not a respectable brand so the claim that you bought your first pair of "real" shoes is subjective. I am not trying to be mean, just telling it like it is...

 

[dynabro]

Originally Posted by emmanuel

Now, I tell you the truth that miraculously everyone else has avoided telling... your shoes are ugly and Johnston and Murphy is not a respectable brand so the claim that you bought your first pair of "real" shoes is subjective. I am not trying to be mean, just telling it like it is...

Well if you guys would have helped me out in the other thread I started a few days ago, you might have been able to point me in the right direction. Either way, I like them.

Thanks for the advice gents!

 

[furo]

Originally Posted by emmanuel

Use shoe trees to maintain the shape,

I recently bought some cedar shoe trees but I have no idea how they are supposed to fit, i.e. if they are too small, too large or too wide for my shoes.

Is there a "universal shoe tree" for size 8.5D that I can use for any shoe in my size? Or do you need to get a special shoetree for a captoe, which is different than a loafer, etc, etc...?

 

[Nick V.]

Originally Posted by BringingSuitsBack

Nick,

You mention sole guards -- I assume you mean the rubbers for the bottom of the soles. On higher-end dress shoes (testoni, brioni) do you still recommend them? I had thought that placing rubbers trapped the moisture between the foot and the outsole and leads to rot in the cork?

I'm not sure if I'm on target on this, but I would certainly love any thoughts -- living here in NYC and with the steady rain we've been having I often think about putting them on but have always held off out of concern for the long-term life of the shoe.

Thanks for any thoughts.


I have read about this very concern here but I don't subscribe to it. Here's why:

First of all the high-end manufacturers use high quality leather on their soles. Generally speaking higher grade soling leather has a much tighter gain making it less porous. Therefore it is nearly impossible for moisture (I'm assuming you mean perspiration) to escape from the inside of your shoe all the way through the bottom of your sole.

Regarding your concern of rotting the foot-bed:

In most cases the foot-bed is made of a mixture of granular cork and rubber cement weather it be applied hot or room temp. The rubber cement does NOT absorb moisture. Cork needs to be saturated for a long period of time before it even begins to absorb. In addition to protecting your soles from wearing out and, better traction, sole guards will prevent water (from heavy rains and weather elements) from bleeding through the bottom of the soles getting trapped between the sole and foot-bed. That can cause the sole to weaken from the inside. The moisture inside your shoe caused by perspiration is minimal and will be absorbed with the use of cedar trees.

Using sole guards, cedar trees, waterproof and, polish will take care of all your concerns and prolong the life of your shoes.