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

[stephenaf2003]

^^^^
that was going to be my question as well, looks like the majority of the damage, at least what you’re showing, has been done by the back part of the shoe trees.

 

[ernestgraingergrace]

You do push them in while pulling them up and then out... right? And do the reverse when putting the trees back in? From these pictures it looks like you just pull the back of the tree straight up.

i do use the trees properly, so it is not due to me simply pulling the trees out, if that was the case then you'd see vertical scuff marks. these instead are horizontal abrasions which correspond to the contact points between the leather and the trees when they are stored.

it's not very clear on the first image, but because it was stored with the narrowest shoe tree, the damage is only to the back of the heel and not the sides, versus the fifth and seventh images.

 

[ernestgraingergrace]

^^^^
that was going to be my question as well, looks like the majority of the damage, at least what you’re showing, has been done by the back part of the shoe trees.

it's difficult to take a photo of the toe box, but they have the same abrasions on the contact points between wood and leather.

 

[stephenaf2003]

it's difficult to take a photo of the toe box, but they have the same abrasions on the contact points between wood and leather.

That is some serious damage on a couple of those. It’s really odd that this occurred from properly placed, properly fitting trees. That sucks man.

 

[Betelgeuse]

Damn, that looks bad. I have some shoes with shoe trees that haven't been used in a while but none has those marks. My oldest pair of shoes (7 years old) are mostly used for parties and then I store them with their shoe trees and they don't have those marks.

 

[ShoeWho]

Guys, thank you so much for advice. I will go for the flush metal toe tap on my dress shoes. Just want to get some more idea, I have one loafer that has relatively thin leather sole, in this case, is it okay to apply metal toe tap or should I apply half rubber sole? (I assume that it won't be matter though)

James, this blog post by a shoe maker may interest you https://www.theshoesnobblog.com/2017/02/the-importance-of-toe-taps.html

 

[David Copeland]

Got the cleaning and polishing down, just need to work on the teeth.

David
(It's been several years, eh?)

 

[benhour]

Hello Gents hope you are all doing great,

Back to Greece so plenty of time to start writing again!

Now lets get to the point,
ernestgraingergrace( you are killing me to remember that hahah ,joking of course) the damage you are showing 99% its not from the shoetrees (except you are using 2 size bigger ones)!! if you look closer you are going to see that the leather around the marks is a little (more some times) darker than the rest , this means that these areas are the contact/friction points of your feet while you are walking!! if the shoetrees are finished properly then they have to leave no trace while you are using them !(to be 100% sure check for rough point and if there is use a fine sand paper to buff them off)

To prevent this from happening again never wear shoes barefoot and sparingly apply a tiny amount of conditioner! Generally any cobbler can easily fix this (i do it myself but you have to have some experience first)
I hope i helped you a little bit

 

[EnglishShoes]

To the Dude with the worn out linings. I'm pretty sure you have a mild case of Haglund's deformity. This is a small lump towards the back/outer part of the heel where the tendon attaches to the heel bone.

Do me a favour - take your shes and socks off and lift your foot so your toes are pointing up. Feel the back if your heel with your hand. Is it quite symetrical, or is there a pronounced lump near the rear/outside part of the heel?

I suspect that pressure point is rubbing through your leather linings.

 

[ballmouse]

The leather on one of my shoes seems to be cracking. Now I've admittedly been neglecting proper maintenance on it. Was wondering if this sort of thing could be prevented by regularly polishing my shoes? Or is it a completely separate issue?

 

[Reiver]

The leather on one of my shoes seems to be cracking. Now I've admittedly been neglecting proper maintenance on it. Was wondering if this sort of thing could be prevented by regularly polishing my shoes? Or is it a completely separate issue?

View attachment 1201906

Even just regular brushing with a horsehair brush would definitely help.

An occasional polish or condition also helps.

Were these worn in rotation with other shoes? Wearing the same pair every single day can cause premature failure too.

 

[ShoeWho]

That's a pretty bad crack. The usual cause is not drying the shoes with trees in them after you've worn them. But in this case that doesn't really make sense...if it was just a 'not using trees' scenario I think you'd have some other cracks along the other creases. Do the shoes have a lot of history? Any soakings in puddles? Are they really old? Have they ever got really, really dry, to the point of being hard? When old, dry leather loses its suppleness, it can split.

Polish alone can't prevent cracks. Polish actually dries the leather out a little. So you have to use shoe cream and/or leather conditioner to put some moisture back into the leather.

 

[ballmouse]

They are about 6 years old. I would wear them twice a week for maybe half the year. They almost always had the shoe trees in the shoe when not worn.

I did wear them on occasion when it rained or snowed.

No, I don't recall them every being dry. It never entered my head until I saw the cracking.

 

[ShoeWho]

If the leather gets soaked in rain/snow it goes really soft and is extra-vulnerable - you can cut it very easily on a stone or a doorstep or something. And people tend to hurry in rain and snow...trips and missteps happen, just when the shoes are at their weakest.

Edit: to disguise the crack/cut you could use Saphir Creme Renovatrice as filler. It's flexible. You might need to add a series of thin layers rather than one big glob. You can then polish (gently) over the top of the filler to give it a nice finish.

 

[aj2603]

if you were using shoe trees and conditioning them. then the only reason could be inferior leather to begin with. what company shoes are these ?