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

[JFWR]

HI All!

New here and believe I am at a point where I actually enjoy taking care of my shoes. I find it soothing ... Recently have gone into Vintage, mostly American shoes.
I started on YouTube to learn how. I , now, can get my shoes to look pretty decent. I also am able to get a decent higher shine on my cap toes but not the mirror shine, I see on the videos in spite of hours of trial ... Any decent video to how to achieve such mirror shine will be welcome.
My comment:

Any search on YouTube brings me Kirby Allison and Saphir I don't mind ( I owned a few Saphir product) but...
Is Saphir the only game in town? Any other less pricey or even better and inexpensive brands and/or products.

Shoes are :
Allen Edmonds (10 pairs, 2 Shell Cordovan models)
Alden (2 Pairs)
Magnani (1 Pair)
Carmina (1 Pair)
Meermin (Shell Cordovan)

My next shoe purchases will likely be Vintage American Shell Cordovan. I love the feel of Shell Cordovan.
Waiting for your answers.

I'm afraid there's no less expensive alternative to Saphir when it comes to polish.

There's a reason why it's used by everyone who really cares about shoes: it works and it is amazing.

There are products for conditioning, for dying, for all sorts of things from other companies that work just as well, but Saphir's polishes are the best in the world at their price. The only competitor is Boot Black and Boot Black is even more expensive, and frankly, I don't think you'll get any better from them over Saphir.

However, that being said, Lincoln stain wax is okay.

The Saphir BDC line is suitable to all fine leathers and is not as expensive as their MDO line, so if you want to start with the BDC line, then you can't go wrong.

 

[vim147]

Does anyone use Saphir Beaute du Cuir over Saphir Medaille d'or on certain shoes they own, i.e BDC polish on their cheaper shoes. Or do you always just use MDO ?

MDO and BDC waxes seem to be around the same price but their polish are twice the price.

 

[florent]

I use mostly the BDC line, except for a couple colors that I only have in MDO, whatever the shoes. I find it more pleasant to use (...and to buy!)

 

[troika]

First time in a really long time that I'm doing a high shine. It's really easy for black shoes to look flat and boring. I find that it's particularly difficult to have really good contrast that's interesting, much easier on shades of brown.

 

[JFWR]

Does anyone use Saphir Beaute du Cuir over Saphir Medaille d'or on certain shoes they own, i.e BDC polish on their cheaper shoes. Or do you always just use MDO ?

MDO and BDC waxes seem to be around the same price but their polish are twice the price.

BDC is suitable for any level of shoes. It's about 80% as good as the MDO. In fact, I think the creams are less hard to manage than the pommadier because they are less greasy and easier to brush off, whereas I personally prefer the MDO waxes.

If you want to just use saphir BDC on anything you own, I doubt you could go wrong.

Some people say BDC creams don't penetrate as much, but I haven't really seen the proof of that.

 

[Poshak Man]

I'm afraid there's no less expensive alternative to Saphir when it comes to polish.

There's a reason why it's used by everyone who really cares about shoes: it works and it is amazing.

There are products for conditioning, for dying, for all sorts of things from other companies that work just as well, but Saphir's polishes are the best in the world at their price. The only competitor is Boot Black and Boot Black is even more expensive, and frankly, I don't think you'll get any better from them over Saphir.

However, that being said, Lincoln stain wax is okay.

The Saphir BDC line is suitable to all fine leathers and is not as expensive as their MDO line, so if you want to start with the BDC line, then you can't go wrong.

I like Saphir MDO and use them most of the time. Also have Boot Black, Lincoln and Burgol.
Lincoln has to be the best value.

 

[JFWR]

I like Saphir MDO and use them most of the time. Also have Boot Black, Lincoln and Burgol.
Lincoln has to be the best value.

Lincoln is a pretty solid choice.

I mean, if you really want just a quick shine, you could probably get away just fine with kiwi, but you get what you pay for.

 

[CWV]

Does Lincoln contains peteolium or silicone?

 

[ZePrez]

Hi

I appreciate the replies. I am very new here and a bit about my background may help about my positions and further replies. I am an Engineer and am New to the quality shoes scene, I appreciate good leather and craftsmanship. Have a soft spot for great value. We are living in a time where good marketing trumps good quality. It seems that Saphir is indeed good but and that is the big "but", are there other products of distinction that are neglected?
I recently bough the Saphir "Amiral Gloss" to get the "mirror gloss" I see on YouTube... My results were no different nor easier than what I get on a black shoe from Lincoln, perhaps my techniques are not "au point".

I don't buy the "you get what you paid for" aphorism. Too often do we buy things that are not worth the money spent on them. The Internet has seen the rise of "influencers" paradoxically it has become more difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. I do think Saphir has great products and find the BDC line reasonably priced when compared to other "good quality products but . I tend to believe that it is not all Saphir , it can be a combo. And I wouldn't mind that those who have found the bargain products to share these with us ...
I haven't read the entire thread, perhaps the alternatives have been discussed ...

 

[CWV]

You could check Cobblet’s choice

 

[nevaeh]

Hi

I appreciate the replies. I am very new here and a bit about my background may help about my positions and further replies. I am an Engineer and am New to the quality shoes scene, I appreciate good leather and craftsmanship. Have a soft spot for great value. We are living in a time where good marketing trumps good quality. It seems that Saphir is indeed good but and that is the big "but", are there other products of distinction that are neglected?
I recently bough the Saphir "Amiral Gloss" to get the "mirror gloss" I see on YouTube... My results were no different nor easier than what I get on a black shoe from Lincoln, perhaps my techniques are not "au point".

I don't buy the "you get what you paid for" aphorism. Too often do we buy things that are not worth the money spent on them. The Internet has seen the rise of "influencers" paradoxically it has become more difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. I do think Saphir has great products and find the BDC line reasonably priced when compared to other "good quality products but . I tend to believe that it is not all Saphir , it can be a combo. And I wouldn't mind that those who have found the bargain products to share these with us ...
I haven't read the entire thread, perhaps the alternatives have been discussed ...

Nice meeting you virtually and welcome to SF. There are two aspects to this: immediate and long-term. On the immediate side, my objectives are external: what makes the shoes look good. Long-term is what keeps the leather healthiest, so that it lasts me the longest. While the two are related and have an interplay, they are mutually exclusive.

At the outset, my comments are more anecdotal—but I’d love for someone with access to a lab to conduct accelerated experiments (I am envisioning an environmental chamber, a tensile tester, and a microscope ... figure you’ll know these as you’re an engineer ?).

But, for long-term care, I only use Saphir MDO or Boot Black creams with an occasional use of Bickmore in between. Here, I am less willing to compromise, for any long-term degradation of the material will be tough, if not impossible, to reverse. Using that routine, my shoes have, at least visually, remained healthy—no cracking or other deterioration of the upper. As to why Saphir and Boot Black, I have to admit that this may be due to the influencers on the Internet!

For the immediate, I am a bit more adventurous and, quite frankly, willing to experiment with cheaper options. I have a collection of Saphir MDO and BDC waxes, but occasionally I also use Angelus waxes. Through the use of Angelus, I get a good shine and I have not noticed any long-term deterioration (yet).

 

[JFWR]

Does Lincoln contains peteolium or silicone?

They say no. I don't think the solvent is natural turpentine, but it doesn't appear to be a silicone or cheap solvent.

I don't know, though.

 

[Luigi_M]

I don't buy the "you get what you paid for" aphorism. Too often do we buy things that are not worth the money spent on them.

I cannot say you are wrong.
My grandma used to say "he who spends a lot isn't sure to spend well, but he who spends too little is almost sure to waste his money". There is some truth in these words ...

 

[JFWR]

Hi

I appreciate the replies. I am very new here and a bit about my background may help about my positions and further replies. I am an Engineer and am New to the quality shoes scene, I appreciate good leather and craftsmanship. Have a soft spot for great value. We are living in a time where good marketing trumps good quality. It seems that Saphir is indeed good but and that is the big "but", are there other products of distinction that are neglected?
I recently bough the Saphir "Amiral Gloss" to get the "mirror gloss" I see on YouTube... My results were no different nor easier than what I get on a black shoe from Lincoln, perhaps my techniques are not "au point".

I don't buy the "you get what you paid for" aphorism. Too often do we buy things that are not worth the money spent on them. The Internet has seen the rise of "influencers" paradoxically it has become more difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. I do think Saphir has great products and find the BDC line reasonably priced when compared to other "good quality products but . I tend to believe that it is not all Saphir , it can be a combo. And I wouldn't mind that those who have found the bargain products to share these with us ...
I haven't read the entire thread, perhaps the alternatives have been discussed ...

I agree that sometimes hype trumps truth; however, I also think that Saphir's reputation for quality and results is shown by the recognition it has received. I, for one, know that I get superb results from using Saphir, and when you compare it to lower level stuff, the difference is really night and day. Lincoln, though, is not that low level at all.

What we should start doing is test things out.

That's easier said then done. Blinding ourselves to bias is going to be hard. Plus, we'd need a good amount of test cases to see.

I'm not an engineer, but a philosopher, but I gotta say I wanna get testin'.

...God damnit, I'm gonna be buying some Lincoln soon now.

 

[burgerkong]

My shoe shine entry didn't win, but I'm guessing y'all will appreciate it more anyways. Probably because I didn't have Saphir cans in the photo rolleyes, poor brand representation given that the prize pack was from Saphir. Alas.