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

[nevaeh]

Hello all,

I hope everyone's having a nice weekend so far. Could I please pick your brains on an issue I recently noticed with a pair of Crockett & Jones shoes I have in brown? As apparent in the attached photos, there appears to be "graining" of the leather on the left toe cap (not sure what the technical term here would be--perhaps it's a form of discoloration).

Here's what I have attempted to correct this issue so far:

1. Renovateur (and buff with brush), followed by MDO tobacco brown shoe cream (and buff with brush), followed by dark brown polish (and buff with with cloth). Does not appear to have worked
2. Cleaning with Reno'Mat (followed by brushing and cleaning with water). Step 1 repeated, except I left the MDO shoe cream on for about an hour before buffing. Seems to have alleviated the issue, but does not appear to have completely fixed the issue

The attached photos are grouped in two sets of four: the first four photos are right after the application of Reno'Mat and the second four are after a full polish.

My questions for you all are:

1. Does anyone know what this is? I'm sure "graining" is not the right term here
   
2. What could cause something like this?
3. Does anyone have suggestions on how to fix this?

I'll appreciate any assistance you can provide! Thank you in advance. Have a nice rest of the weekend.

 

[thatshoeotaku]

Hello all,

I hope everyone's having a nice weekend so far. Could I please pick your brains on an issue I recently noticed with a pair of Crockett & Jones shoes I have in brown? As apparent in the attached photos, there appears to be "graining" of the leather on the left toe cap (not sure what the technical term here would be--perhaps it's a form of discoloration).

Here's what I have attempted to correct this issue so far:

1. Renovateur (and buff with brush), followed by MDO tobacco brown shoe cream (and buff with brush), followed by dark brown polish (and buff with with cloth). Does not appear to have worked
2. Cleaning with Reno'Mat (followed by brushing and cleaning with water). Step 1 repeated, except I left the MDO shoe cream on for about an hour before buffing. Seems to have alleviated the issue, but does not appear to have completely fixed the issue

The attached photos are grouped in two sets of four: the first four photos are right after the application of Reno'Mat and the second four are after a full polish.

My questions for you all are:

1. Does anyone know what this is? I'm sure "graining" is not the right term here
   
2. What could cause something like this?
3. Does anyone have suggestions on how to fix this?

I'll appreciate any assistance you can provide! Thank you in advance. Have a nice rest of the weekend.

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Congrats you have managed to remove the factory finish with renomat!!

If it doesn't bother you, just treat it as patina and polish w darker cream/polish. It'd fade away eventually.

Or else strip the wax, refinish the shoe then polish as usual. Saphir MDO cream alone might be difficult for refinishing, as you have experienced, due to relatively high wax content. Dyeing would be more effective if you know how to work with it.

I'd say just treat it as patina

 

[Reiver]

Congrats you have managed to remove the factory finish with renomat!!

If it doesn't bother you, just treat it as patina and polish w darker cream/polish. It'd fade away eventually.

Or else strip the wax, refinish the shoe then polish as usual. Saphir MDO cream alone might be difficult for refinishing, as you have experienced, due to relatively high wax content. Dyeing would be more effective if you know how to work with it.

I'd say just treat it as patina

I did this to some Church’s oxfords a few years back and tried a similar approach to you. I think renomat was the biggest mistake as it needs to be used with extreme care.

I ended up taking them to a decent local cobbler who said that i’d removed the finish. He managed to get them looking good within minutes using a machine polish.

I think with hindsight just a few light coats of wax polish would have done the job rather than using too many products in quick succession. Even renovateur can remove finish if used too enthusiastically.

 

[benhour]

Benhour, I hope you are feeling a lot better. I thought that Renovateur was water based. Is this not the case.

If I remember correctly it is mink oil based! The aqueous formula I think it is more referring to consistency/state of the product and that it doesn’t leave an oily feeling after use !

Thank you Munky , I am much better now

 

[benhour]

Hello: I have a question. Is the Allen Edmonds Cleaner Conditioner as good, comparable to and as effective as the Saphir Renovateur? I have always used the AE products but now I'm seeing so much written about Renovateur that I'm wondering. Thank you

It’s perfectly fine to use it ! You are not going to see a big difference with renovateur ( it shines a little better especially cause of the beeswax it contains)

Hello all,

I hope everyone's having a nice weekend so far. Could I please pick your brains on an issue I recently noticed with a pair of Crockett & Jones shoes I have in brown? As apparent in the attached photos, there appears to be "graining" of the leather on the left toe cap (not sure what the technical term here would be--perhaps it's a form of discoloration).

Here's what I have attempted to correct this issue so far:

1. Renovateur (and buff with brush), followed by MDO tobacco brown shoe cream (and buff with brush), followed by dark brown polish (and buff with with cloth). Does not appear to have worked
2. Cleaning with Reno'Mat (followed by brushing and cleaning with water). Step 1 repeated, except I left the MDO shoe cream on for about an hour before buffing. Seems to have alleviated the issue, but does not appear to have completely fixed the issue

The attached photos are grouped in two sets of four: the first four photos are right after the application of Reno'Mat and the second four are after a full polish.

My questions for you all are:

1. Does anyone know what this is? I'm sure "graining" is not the right term here
   
2. What could cause something like this?
3. Does anyone have suggestions on how to fix this?

I'll appreciate any assistance you can provide! Thank you in advance. Have a nice rest

You just removed the factory finish ( burnishing) , as the gentlemen already told you ,on the toe and the grain raised a bit cause of the saturation but there is nothing to worry about ! It’s an easy fix ! Let them rest for a while (1-2 days ) and then use a dark brown paste polish and dark brown wax to restore the finish ( only at the toe area )! Don’t use neutral wax cause it ll remove the paste polish pigment ( it’s solvents will dissolve them and romove a big part of it )

I hope I helped you a little bit

 

[Munky]

If I remember correctly it is mink oil based! The aqueous formula I think it is more referring to consistency/state of the product and that it doesn’t leave an oily feeling after use !

Thank you Munky , I am much better now

Thanks, Benhour. with best wishes, Munky

 

[Munky]

I have been watching one of those 'how to polish your shoes video clips, this time produced by a top-end shoe company. In it, the man doing the polishing uses a fairly large sponge to tip into a jar of Saphir cream. He uses quite a lot of the cream and then polishes off within a minute or so. He suggests that leaving them any longer is not necessary and - for him - not reasonable in a factory setting. Despite the shoes having a lot of cream on them, he brushes quickly and gets a really good shine. For more of a shine, he rubs the surface with a soft cloth.

I have seen other clips, from other companies, where the person doing the polishing seems to use a lot of product. Having always worked on being parsimonious with polish and working to the mantra of 'simplicity is genius', I wondered why the polish was used so generously. They are, of course, working on new shoes but does anyone have any thoughts on why so much product is used? Sincerely yours, Munky

 

[benhour]

I have been watching one of those 'how to polish your shoes video clips, this time produced by a top-end shoe company. In it, the man doing the polishing uses a fairly large sponge to tip into a jar of Saphir cream. He uses quite a lot of the cream and then polishes off within a minute or so. He suggests that leaving them any longer is not necessary and - for him - not reasonable in a factory setting. Despite the shoes having a lot of cream on them, he brushes quickly and gets a really good shine. For more of a shine, he rubs the surface with a soft cloth.

I have seen other clips, from other companies, where the person doing the polishing seems to use a lot of product. Having always worked on being parsimonious with polish and working to the mantra of 'simplicity is genius', I wondered why the polish was used so generously. They are, of course, working on new shoes but does anyone have any thoughts on why so much product is used? Sincerely yours, Munky

Simply by using so much polish in every application you are going to run very fast out of product so then you ll have to go and buy more polish ! Adding to the previous statement by using so much polish you are going to cake your shoes in it with mathematical precision(dust trapped in polish build ups etc)! What comes next ? You guessed it correctly-polish/dirt cleaning or stripping solutions (more money for the companies)!

Ps. Most of the times they don’t have the scientific knowledge to back up what they are doing !By the way it’s completely different thing a shoe to look great than to be in great shape !

 

[Luigi_M]

@benhour ... it's not by chance that Greece is the motherland of Cynic philosophy!
Yet you are right, but luckily there are wise men like you to unveil the deceptions of the money greedy factories.
With every good wish! Luigi

 

[thatshoeotaku]

I did this to some Church’s oxfords a few years back and tried a similar approach to you. I think renomat was the biggest mistake as it needs to be used with extreme care.

I ended up taking them to a decent local cobbler who said that i’d removed the finish. He managed to get them looking good within minutes using a machine polish.

I think with hindsight just a few light coats of wax polish would have done the job rather than using too many products in quick succession. Even renovateur can remove finish if used too enthusiastically.

Well even fresh polish can remove finish if used enthusiastically and with the right technique.
Knowing how to apply the products makes a big difference as demonstrated by your cobbler.

But yes I agree, light coats of wax polish/cream goes a long way.

 

[thatshoeotaku]

I have been watching one of those 'how to polish your shoes video clips, this time produced by a top-end shoe company. In it, the man doing the polishing uses a fairly large sponge to tip into a jar of Saphir cream. He uses quite a lot of the cream and then polishes off within a minute or so. He suggests that leaving them any longer is not necessary and - for him - not reasonable in a factory setting. Despite the shoes having a lot of cream on them, he brushes quickly and gets a really good shine. For more of a shine, he rubs the surface with a soft cloth.

I have seen other clips, from other companies, where the person doing the polishing seems to use a lot of product. Having always worked on being parsimonious with polish and working to the mantra of 'simplicity is genius', I wondered why the polish was used so generously. They are, of course, working on new shoes but does anyone have any thoughts on why so much product is used? Sincerely yours, Munky

He's probably saturating the leather with wax from the cream.

This helps to "waterproof" the leather, especially if leather does not have a top coat (e.g. aniline casein finish for you nerds out there).
You could probably try on a pair of your shoes, saturate with a good cream polish and then put a few drops of water on them. The water should bead up instead of absorbing immediately into your shoes.

It's impossible to apply too much cream polish with a sponge and brushing just removes the excess so the shoes end up with a thin even layer of wax and a nice finish.

Shame the excess cream goes to waste but i guess cream is cheaper than labour in a factory

 

[Munky]

Simply by using so much polish in every application you are going to run very fast out of product so then you ll have to go and buy more polish ! Adding to the previous statement by using so much polish you are going to cake your shoes in it with mathematical precision(dust trapped in polish build ups etc)! What comes next ? You guessed it correctly-polish/dirt cleaning or stripping solutions (more money for the companies)!

Ps. Most of the times they don’t have the scientific knowledge to back up what they are doing !By the way it’s completely different thing a shoe to look great than to be in great shape !

Yes, he certainly looks as though he will be through a jar of polish in no time. The thing I find odd is this. His planned audience for the clip would, presumably, be people wondering about how to care for their shoes. So, by default, he seems to be recommending masses of cream. On the other hand, I guess, the clip is also an advert for his shoes. These sorts of vids are full of close shots of very good looking shoes! I wonder what he does with his own shoes. With all good wishes, Munky.

 

[Luigi_M]

I wonder what he does with his own shoes.

I might guess that he uses polish very sparingly on his own beloved shoes.
A special case of "preach bad but act well" ...

 

[Munky]

I might guess that he uses polish very sparingly on his own beloved shoes.
A special case of "preach bad but act well" ...

Perhaps instead of applying so much polish, he should observe the shoe polishing version of the Golden Rule. "Treat other people's shoes as you would your own." Yours, Munky.

 

[Chowkin]

Yes, he certainly looks as though he will be through a jar of polish in no time. The thing I find odd is this. His planned audience for the clip would, presumably, be people wondering about how to care for their shoes. So, by default, he seems to be recommending masses of cream. On the other hand, I guess, the clip is also an advert for his shoes. These sorts of vids are full of close shots of very good looking shoes! I wonder what he does with his own shoes. With all good wishes, Munky.

It’s also an advert for their shoe creams