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

[The Apostle]

There are Florsheim CG from the late-90s to early-00s that are complete and utter disasters, not worthy of the effort. The CG starts to looks like lizard scales, and the underlying leather is garbage. Older shoes from quality manufacturers seem to fare better.

I suppose it's good that these aren't Florsheims from the late 90's or early 00's. ??‍♂️

 

[The Apostle]

I’ll respectfully disagree with @Munky here.

Yes, you can do it. Whether or not you should depends on several factors.

Several members of the Vintage Shoe Appreciation thread have successfully stripped the plastic overcoat from their CG shoes. Of late, I would posit that the chemical of choice is paint stripper. If you can find a couple of the example posts, they often name their brand of choice.

Results vary considerably, and to some degree it depends on what you plan to do with the shoe afterwards. AE from the 1980s have pretty high quality leather under the correction layer. Apparently, the CG was mostly for convenience of care, not to cover inferior leather. They can be dyed and polished pretty easily.

Most of those who have done it are trying to remove old cracked CG coating to resurrect what is a structurally sound shoe. They usually find an adequate leather underneath to color and polish. I think most do it for the sake of doing it, to better understand the process.

It is not easy. It is a lot of work. But folks seem to find it rewarding in a perverse sort of way. Kind of like accomplishing the impossible.

YMMV

This is exactly what I wanted to hear. It's really just a project and learning experience. If they get destroyed I don't care.

I reached out to Mr.Renworks on Instagram and he suggested I might try floor stripper. For now, my next step will be Professional strength Goo gone. Guess we'll see how this turns out. ?

 

[BXpress]

Is this cracking across the vamp from dryness, and just needs a good condition, or is it from caked on polish/wax and needs to be stripped a bit?

View attachment 1313102 View attachment 1313103 View attachment 1313104

I would say unless you see actual wax flaking off, it is dryness. I had a similar thing happen to me with my new C&J Skye. Before the first wear i applied only a light coat of shoe cream as i always do, and i was shocked how badly they creased on the vamp. Not nearly as severe as yours (my foot is quite excellent in that regard) but surprisingly bad for new shoes and especially for what you would expect of C&J leather. They must have been sitting in the shop for ages before i bought them. What made me notice it, is how pale the leather around the creases got. So i used some conditioner on them and they now look 50% better.

I was never a fan of using conditioner on brand new shoes, but now i'm thinking it's better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Reiver]

I would say unless you see actual wax flaking off, it is dryness. I had a similar thing happen to me with my new C&J Skye. Before the first wear i applied only a light coat of shoe cream as i always do, and i was shocked how badly they creased on the vamp. Not nearly as severe as yours (my foot is quite excellent in that regard) but surprisingly bad for new shoes and especially for what you would expect of C&J leather. They must have been sitting in the shop for ages before i bought them. What made me notice it, is how pale the leather around the creases got. So i used some conditioner on them and they now look 50% better.

I was never a fan of using conditioner on brand new shoes, but now i'm thinking it's better to be safe than sorry.

Most photos of the Skye I have seen have had very minimal creasing on the vamp so you might be right that they were dry.

 

[eTrojan]

This is exactly what I wanted to hear. It's really just a project and learning experience. If they get destroyed I don't care.

I reached out to Mr.Renworks on Instagram and he suggested I might try floor stripper. For now, my next step will be Professional strength Goo gone. Guess we'll see how this turns out. ?

One of the more creative shoe transformers swears by Jasco Varnish & Stain Remover:

Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

I believe we have a had a minor breakthrough in the shoe lab. I have been experimenting with some more things to remove the poly acrylic nasty plastic whatever it is made of CG coating. Tried a new varnish remover on the Florsheim Saddles that I picked up. It is thick, almost like naval...

www.styleforum.net

 

[ixk]

Hi guys. Managed to get some Edward Green oxfords for a bargain. However, the outsole is peeling off at the edges. Should I try to glue it back, get a topy to mask it? Not sure what kind of glue ought to be used here.

 

[BXpress]

Most photos of the Skye I have seen have had very minimal creasing on the vamp so you might be right that they were dry.

Yes they were in dire need of conditioning and fortunately the creasing didn't get any worse since then. It is still on the minimal side. Good lesson here for expensive shoes. Gotta be extra observant at the first wear.

 

[florent]

Hi guys. Managed to get some Edward Green oxfords for a bargain. However, the outsole is peeling off at the edges. Should I try to glue it back, get a topy to mask it? Not sure what kind of glue ought to be used here.

You mean the leather over the channeled stitching? I wouldn't worry about that, it's just normal wear (but you can still put a topy on it if you wish)

 

[ixk]

You mean the leather over the channeled stitching? I wouldn't worry about that, it's just normal wear (but you can still put a topy on it if you wish)

Yeah, I'm not too worried about the structural integrity of the shoe. Was just trying to hide it somehow, so it looks better. Hopefully my cobbler manages to make it 'pretty'.

 

[bantone]

First time I shined these Sid Mashburn / Alfred Sargents

 

[tcbinnc]

Whoops, post deleted, wrong thread.

 

[Fraussie]

Been trying to get a mirror shine on my captoes. Used Saphir mirror gloss. For some reason I can get a good mirror on the round part of the toe box but closer to the seam I get this crackly wax. Does anyone know how I can fix that?

 

[BoydsShoes]

I need some advice here. I have put these pretty awesome Dinckelackers on my list for next year:
View attachment 1306057

Now, let's say i use black shoe cream on them, how on earth do you not smear the beautiful contrast stitching when you want to apply your shoe cream on every spot? Should i use neutral except when i want to re-color scuffs and scratches (which will mostly occur on the toes anyway)?

I have shoes with contrast storm welt and it's no problem to work my way around it, but contrasty stitching all over the upper seems quite tricky. Any experience?

I looked this up on their website. I assume this is the oiled nubuck. If so, no need for polish at all. If you want to do anything with them, probably you would use Bick 4 conditioner to spruce up the leather a little. This is clear lotion, and won't darken leather. If you want to get a little more aggressive, use Venetian Shoe cream, which will give a beautiful satin sheen. The only polish you might use would be some light brown polish on the edges of the soles, followed by clear edge dressing, to maintain that rustic look. Again, if you want to be more aggressive with the edges, use Allen Edmonds Chili Edge dressing, which seems to be a little more transparent than other edge dressings.

This looks like a real low maintenance shoe, just wear and enjoy. If they get dirty, a little bit of a wet rag should be able to clean them off.

 

[Reiver]

Tried a bit of Saphir Cordovan cream to remove some rain spotting from my Grafton’s. Seems to have mostly removed them and I’d imagine they’ll gradually fade as well.

Before:

After:

This was the neutral as I want the natural patina to develop as much as possible. The coloured cream might have covered the spots more effectively though.

They are barely noticeable now though and the camera definitely makes them more obvious. Would recommend Saphir cordovan cream, it brings a really nice glow to the cordovan.

 

[Munky]

A short review of some shoes made of Kudu

A few months ago I bought two pairs of two-tone, Kudu leather shoes, by Doctor Marten's, from their Made in England range. Doc Marten's carry a lot of British cultural baggage and most of their shoes are pretty radical. Most, too, are made in South East Asia but the company still makes a small range at their Wolverhampton factory. The pairs I bought were £179 a pair. Both pairs are tan/caramel but in different formats. They won't be to everyone's taste.

Tricker's and Carlos Santos also make - more expensive - Kudu shoes and boots. I am sure that other companies do as well.

Kudu leather comes from the South African animal of that name. The Kudu grazes against sharp bushes which means that the leather from them is seriously scratched. This gives the shoes a particularly different look when compared with calf. The leather for the DM shoes is supplied by CF Stead, who run a world renowned tannery in the UK.

Kudu is a soft leather and is allegedly very strong. The shoes are comfortable from the first wearing. Any creasing across the vamp disappears after shoe trees have been in overnight. They appear to revert to a default setting. Although the surfaces of the shoes are very scratched - for the above reason - the leather does not seem to get very much more scratched as you wear them. I guess that time will tell on this one and I would welcome further scratching. In the rain, the tan leather parts of the shoes show black patches. These disappear completely once the shoes are dry. The surface of the leather is not corrected but bears a faint resemblance to pebble grain.

The leather looks and feels very different to other sorts of leather. I cannot imagine it being used to make formal shoes of any sort. Again, you will either like the difference or you won't. I love it. Another thing that marks Kudu shoes out from others is in their care. After some obsessive searching of the net, I have found that the general consensus is that they do not need any. A wipe with a damp cloth is sufficient. Using this non-routine, I am already seeing a deep burnished look developing - for the moment just around the edges of the toes. I am looking forward to seeing this burnishing deepen and broaden across the shoes.

My one, very slight, concern is whether or not Kudu leather stretches. DM's, while Goodyear welted, also have a very thick, gristle sole. I am a little worried in case the facings of the shoes stretch and lacing them brings those facings closer together. The shape of my feet means that the facings of my shoes are often quite close. Once they touch, of course, it is impossible to tighten the laces any further. Otherwise...if you like the look of Kudu shoes, I would certainly recommend them for comfort, wearability and for being different! They are ideal, knockabout shoes that go well with jeans and casual outfits. And cleaning and care are cut to zero.

Before I bought the shoes, I checked, fairly thoroughly on the net, about the ethics of wearing Kudu leather. I am satisfied that the Kudu is not an endangered species and that is is farmed for its meat and for other products. I think I am right in saying that Alden Kudu shoes and boots are not made from Kudu leather but from calf.

Your international shoe correspondent, Munky.