**The Official Shoe Care Thread: Tutorials, Photos, etc.**

[Luigi_M]

Thanks you for the advice EnglishShoes, but I think It doesn't apply to the case.
I should have told that I dubbed my shoes several weeks ago, let them rest for about two full days and then gave them a long vigorous brush.
Immediately after they were nice and smooth and sported a good glow.
The creasing you may see in the photo appeared in the last days, and before this happened I just had weared them two or three times, only brushing them often.
My guess is that the greasing caused the leather to swell, lightly but enough to crack the finish, over some time.
Anyway I'll report further events.
If your shoes are of good leather and you dubbed them even so sparingly you should not have any bad effect, but again mine is just an amateurish opinion and someone more educated than me might give different advice.
Best wishes, Luigi

 

[Luigi_M]

Another - a margine - correction.
My significant one wants me to state clearly that the term "plump" I used is grossly incorrect.
Instead one has to say, more precisely, "Highly gorgeous and sexually attractive".
Oh well....

 

[Munky]

Luigi, there is a quick test you so to you decide whether or not your shoes are made of correct grain leather. In a part of the shoe that won't show very much, use your fingernail to produce a small scratch. If there is a scratch, the shoes are not made of corrected grain. If no scratch appears, they are made of CG.

There is almost nothing you can put on Correct grain that will be absorbed Whatever you put on will sit on the surface of the shoes. The usual way to clean CG shoes is to wipe them off with a damp cloth. I have a few pairs of Doc Marten shoes, some made of CG. I use Renapur to give them a shine. but you have to use it very, very sparingly. Again, it doesn't get absorbed but sits on the top of the shoes. Truly yours, Munky.

 

[Luigi_M]

Thanks you Munky, I tried - scratch appears.
Now I'm confused, of course my shooz weren't of the finest leather possibile but your test shows they are not CG too.
My only guess now is that they were already gone and the greasing only helped to move further the cracks existing but just being "latent".
Maybe the lesson I might get is that dubbin can prevent cracks but, once they are there, one must call his shoes screwed.
All good and educated gentlemen here stated this from eons ago, but I'm the kind of guy that has to repeatedly bang his head in the wall before accepting the fact that it's hard...
Have a nice Sunday , here it's raining dogs and cats.
Sincerely yours, Luigi

 

[Munky]

Luigi, first of all, I am sorry for the awful construction of my first sentences, in my last post. I should have edited far more carefully. Unforgivable, given that English is my native and only language!

Second, it does sound as though your shoes are not made of corrected grain. From my experience, a sort of 'spider creasing' is not unusual, across the vamp of some shoes. I have also noticed that these get worse if the shoes are left unpolished. My old friend, Renapur, also comes in useful, here. I put a thin coating of it on shoes/boots that I know I won't be wearing for some time. Renapur is made of Beeswax, Carnauba wax, Jojoba oil and Avocado oil and has consistency of a grease (but it is not a grease). It is useful for all sorts of leather products. The company guarantees it for five years, even if you leave the cap off of the container.

I put Renapur on with my finger so that I can control the amount that goes on the shoe. Only a really tiny amount is needed. I sometimes use it across the welt of shoes that I haven't worn recently but which I don't have time to polish, properly. You don't need to brush after using the product. I wouldn't make it a mainstay of my shoe care but it has its uses. I have no commercial, or other, links with the company!

http://www.renapur.com/

With very best wishes,
Munky.

 

[starro]

I think there's a spectrum from full grain crust all the way to heavily corrected grain. Luigi's might not be CG, but still have a thick pigmented topcoat.

 

[Luigi_M]

Thank you Munky and starro for your opinions and advice.
I'll introduce Renapur Balm in my toolbox, as a prevention rather than as a cure.
Now maybe I should find time and guts for entirely strip them with some harsh concoction and look at the outcome - as an experiment in corpore vili.
I'll duly report about the results.
Many thanks and kind greetings, Luigi.

 

[Luigi_M]

BTW, Munky, really fair on your part to point out some improper construction on what you wrote ... since I wouldn't have been able to detect any!
Don't trust me with more confidence with Oscar Wilde's mother language than I actually have.
Greetings, Luigi

 

[Petepan]

Gentlemen, I have some questions about the notorious mirror shine.
Just the other week, I decided I also wanted to slowly start experimenting with wax polish and mirror shines for my shoes, so I got myself a tin of Saphir neutral wax polish (the non-medaille d'or version, with the blue and gold). Given that this is my first time even using wax polish, I've been rather cautious when applying those coats. I read in a thread that if you've never applied wax on your shoe before, then you might have to count a good 10 coatings before you get anywhere close to a mirror shine.

What I did was as follows, based on reading threads on here and watching how to videos:

• After light surface brushing, gave my two pairs of shoes a light coat of cream polish with my applicator
• Let them sit for 5-10 mins, then buffed off with brush
• Applied a coat of Saphir wax polish over both pairs of shoes using a rag and let it all soak in for 5-10 mins
• Now, I applied a new coat of wax polish only on the cap area of the shoes but with a few drops of water (for one pair, I simply let a few water droplets from the faucet touch my fingers and then applied on shoes, and for the second pair, I let a few droplets touch the rag, dipped that in my wax polish and then applied on cap areas).
• Let it sit for a few minutes and then buffed off with a clean part of my rag, as seen on some of the videos by the hangerproject (buffing, not brushing)
• I repeated this process two more times during which I also kept adding a few drops of water to my rag whenever I felt it wasn't running over the leather smoothly enough. So in total, I ended up giving the cap of both pairs of shoes a total of three wax coatings.

The end result I got was this:
View attachment 802735

View attachment 802736
I noticed the cap area of both shoes (especially the right pair) becoming a little bit shinier than before, although not by a whole lot. The cap of both pairs also feel a little smoother than the rest of the leather on the shoe.

Firstly, what I'm curious about here is if it's also necessary that I add as much as 10 layers of wax before I can achieve such a shine? Secondly, is the Saphir wax I'm using enough as is, or should I switch over to the medaille d'or series instead, and also get the Saphir mirror gloss? Lastly, how many layers of wax can one safely apply before the leather starts getting clogged up? The last thing I want is doing just that to my shoes, so I'm treading carefully. Hence why I stopped at three coats on the cap areas.

FYI, neutral wax is not ideal because it contains relatively more solvent than other colored waxes. The job will be easier with say black or navy wax. You can still use the neutral wax for the last two to three coats to give the mirror shine extra depth.

If you are bulling, the layer of solidified wax will naturally cover up all the pores of the leather in that area. It will be clogged up. How that affects the leather I dont know, but I have some shoes going 5 years without any adverse effects.

 

[lullemans72]

FYI, neutral wax is not ideal because it contains relatively more solvent than other colored waxes. The job will be easier with say black or navy wax. You can still use the neutral wax for the last two to three coats to give the mirror shine extra depth.

If you are bulling, the layer of solidified wax will naturally cover up all the pores of the leather in that area. It will be clogged up. How that affects the leather I dont know, but I have some shoes going 5 years without any adverse effects.

Are the solvents harsher on the leather or something?
And about the clogging, I'm guessing this won't be a permanent things since the wax layers slowly dissolve over time as you're wearing and polishing the shoes before and after wears, isn't that right?

 

[Petepan]

Are the solvents harsher on the leather or something?
And about the clogging, I'm guessing this won't be a permanent things since the wax layers slowly dissolve over time as you're wearing and polishing the shoes before and after wears, isn't that right?

No, not harsher, more solvent means less wax and pigment, and the solvent dissolves the previous layer of wax and makes the job harder. If you build a mirror shine, then it is permanent unless you remove the whole layer of wax. Once a mirror shine is build, I dont polish that area other than touching up with wax.

Dont worry too much. Shoes are tough, just enjoy wearing them!

 

[Mr Tewkesbury]

No, not harsher, more solvent means less wax and pigment, and the solvent dissolves the previous layer of wax and makes the job harder. If you build a mirror shine, then it is permanent unless you remove the whole layer of wax. Once a mirror shine is build, I dont polish that area other than touching up with wax.

Dont worry too much. Shoes are tough, just enjoy wearing them!

And hence I use neutral polish to strip old polish without using harsher products, granted I don't often do this. But a quick "wax on, wax off" method quickly demolishes old (years) unwanted polish, while nourishing the leather.

 

[lullemans72]

No, not harsher, more solvent means less wax and pigment, and the solvent dissolves the previous layer of wax and makes the job harder. If you build a mirror shine, then it is permanent unless you remove the whole layer of wax. Once a mirror shine is build, I dont polish that area other than touching up with wax.

Dont worry too much. Shoes are tough, just enjoy wearing them!

So by adding layers of neutral wax polish you're also stripping the shoe off the previous layers? Sounds confusing...

I didn't know a mirror shine was permanent by the way! Uh oh. I only wanted to test it out, not make it irreversible...

Here is a better look at one of the pairs of shoes I took this morning.

 

[Mr Tewkesbury]

By allowing the neutral layer to dry for 10-20 minutes, like you would a coloured wax, you are merely working the polish - no stripping. Should you not allow to dry, and immediately work the wax with a cloth, you are working against the task in-hand. (If curious, test it. Very easy)
Neutral polish is a useful tool, like everything it needs to be used with a purpose in-hand.

Mirrorshine can be neutralised, but would be a shame to do so.

 

[Romeomikehotel]

So by adding layers of neutral wax polish you're also stripping the shoe off the previous layers? Sounds confusing...

I didn't know a mirror shine was permanent by the way! Uh oh. I only wanted to test it out, not make it irreversible...

Here is a better look at one of the pairs of shoes I took this morning.

View attachment 803706

Looks good. All my shoes have a mirror and I've done it with Lincoln Neutral wax, just make sure to let each new coat set for a few minutes before applying the next.