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

[vim147]

Can these shoes be fixed ? Scuffs and black marks. Thinking of buying them on eBay.

This are a pair of Made in England Herring Knightsbridge.

 

[ixk]

Scuffs can be fixed by coats of wax. Black marks may be fixed with acetone. Can't be sure without trying though.

 

[DWFII]

Even money says that large dark spot on the left shoe will never come off, nor ever be covered, short of a complete professional refinishing.

The original finish on the shoe is essentially a very thin 'paint.' The dark spot on the left shoe is where the finish has be broken, abraded, and lost. The 'stain' is either dirt or shoe polish that has darkened the underlying fibers--the corium. More shoe polish or shoe cream, regardless of colour, will only make it worse.

Any attempt to remove the stain with acetone will only remove even more of the finish.

Think about it--why would someone sell them in that condition, it if any of it could be cleaned?

 

[ixk]

Even money says that large dark spot on the left shoe will never come off, nor ever be covered, short of a complete professional refinishing.

The original finish on the shoe is essentially a very thin 'paint.' The dark spot on the left shoe is where the finish has be broken, abraded, and lost. The 'stain' is either dirt or shoe polish that has darkened the underlying fibers--the corium. More shoe polish or shoe cream, regardless of colour, will only make it worse.

Any attempt to remove the stain with acetone will only remove even more of the finish.

Think about it--why would someone sell them in that condition, it if any of it could be cleaned?

Do you happen to know what causes the horizontal creasing from the vamp to the welt on the second picture? I've seen it on plenty of new shoes. Was the leather stretched too much during the lasting process? A bit off-topic, but it has intrigued me for a while.

 

[DWFII]

Well, they're not bespoke, so it could be dern near anything. My guess, given where they are creasing across the foot (more or less properly) is that the last is too full in the waist for the foot.

 

[Mustard Tiger]

Hi all I'd only worn these new shoes a couple of times when I got caught in a downpour, once dried they showed some rather horrible water stains that I've been unable to remove with water/vinegar or with Cadillac brand conditioner, used liberally - I'd made no improvement whatsoever, are they done for?

 

[unprocessed]

Need help with my TLBs. Mirror shining them and there are two spots in just one of the shoes that are not taking any Saphir pate de lux and mirror gloss. Tried to strip the area with neutral cream and start over but there seems to be a dead patch.

 

[DapperAndy]

I'd say that first, it's not a very good quality of leather in that counter. Just the way the leather has lacerated and 'peeled' a bit suggests it was cut from the margins of the hide.

Second, the leather itself was not 'dyed' in the sense that a liquid, penetrating dye is used before the topcoat is applied. In this case the leather appears to have just been given a 'paint job' and called good.

The upshot of all this is that whatever you do care is needed. If you sand the leather in an attempt to make it smooth, chances are good that it will only get deeper and rougher. And any kind of solvent based dye (the kind that should have been used at the tannery) has the possibility of lifting / affecting the paint around the scuff.

Best option is to find a reputable shoe repair and either purchase a can of spray 'dye' (paint) that matched the rest of the shoe or, perhaps, better, have the repairman refinish that area for you.

A small interjection of reality: Chances approach certainty that no matter what you do, it will never come all that close to looking like it did originally

Even money says that large dark spot on the left shoe will never come off, nor ever be covered, short of a complete professional refinishing.

The original finish on the shoe is essentially a very thin 'paint.' The dark spot on the left shoe is where the finish has be broken, abraded, and lost. The 'stain' is either dirt or shoe polish that has darkened the underlying fibers--the corium. More shoe polish or shoe cream, regardless of colour, will only make it worse.

Any attempt to remove the stain with acetone will only remove even more of the finish.

Think about it--why would someone sell them in that condition, it if any of it could be cleaned?

Thanks DW for jumping back in and giving some good (and thorough) feedback to the newer members of the thread.

I appreciate seeing your responses, as they provide reasons more than just techniques. I still refer to all the archives here, specifically due to your (and a few others') thoroughness. Anyway, thanks.

 

[willyto]

Need help with my TLBs. Mirror shining them and there are two spots in just one of the shoes that are not taking any Saphir pate de lux and mirror gloss. Tried to strip the area with neutral cream and start over but there seems to be a dead patch.

That to me looks like you've rubbed way too hard and pulled off the leather finish... I might be wrong though.

There's a lot of wax built up in the broguing.

What kind of neutral cream did you use?

 

[unprocessed]

That to me looks like you've rubbed way too hard and pulled off the leather finish... I might be wrong though.

There's a lot of wax built up in the broguing.

What kind of neutral cream did you use?

Saphir

 

[DWFII]

Thanks DW for jumping back in and giving some good (and thorough) feedback to the newer members of the thread.

I appreciate seeing your responses, as they provide reasons more than just techniques. I still refer to all the archives here, specifically due to your (and a few others') thoroughness. Anyway, thanks.

Yr. Hmb. Svt.

?

 

[unprocessed]

Need help with my TLBs. Mirror shining them and there are two spots in just one of the shoes that are not taking any Saphir pate de lux and mirror gloss. Tried to strip the area with neutral cream and start over but there seems to be a dead patch.

I managed to remove the dull area after leaving Saphir cream on for a few hours, brushing off and then trying the mirror shine again. Unfortunately, the shoe that I originally messed up now has a noticeably darker cap toe than the other shoe, and wasn’t able to match them even after using black cream on the other shoe a few times.

Any genera tips on how to mirror shine a medallion cap toe? This was my first time trying and it seems a lot harder than a normal cap toe.

 

[aj2603]

So i recently bought these shoes form Joe Works. I was wondering which colour shoe cream should i use?

Should i go for Saphir's Pommadier 05 Dark Brown or should i go for 34 Havana Brown ?

Some shots of the shoe by mr.renworks on Instagram. My pair have not shipped yet

 

[Betelgeuse]

So i recently bought these shoes form Joe Works. I was wondering which colour shoe cream should i use?

Should i go for Saphir's Pommadier 05 Dark Brown or should i go for 34 Havana Brown ?

View attachment 1288296

Some shots of the shoe by mr.renworks on Instagram. My pair have not shipped yet

View attachment 1288298 View attachment 1288299 View attachment 1288300

Beautiful shoes man, hope you share a lot of pics of those adelaides, they are gorgeous. I will go with the dark brown. I use, for example, the dark brown on these:

 

[aj2603]

Beautiful shoes man, hope you share a lot of pics of those adelaides, they are gorgeous. I will go with the dark brown. I use, for example, the dark brown on these:

will definitely share pics ... I was also leaning towards dark brown .. thanks