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

[Munky]

From yourself?

No, not me. This was from the first verse of a poem by Philip Larkin, a British poet. I have edited it a bit...

 

[Luigi_M]

@Luigi A test! Who wrote this poem? Prize: a luxury plastic shoe horn.

What are shoes for?
Shoes are where we live.
They come, they wake us
Time and time over.
They are to be happy in:
Where can we live but shoes?

Yours with affection, Munky.

Munky ... you won again: I had to google a line to find that the poem is by P. Larkin.
Truth be told, my exposure to modern British poetry is not so deep.
I manage a little better English classics, which I love to plunder, as when my brother was kidding me because I was shining my shoes, and I answered him "Come not between the dragon and his shoes"

Shoes apart, from the few I know, my favourite modern poem in "Kinsey Keene", by E.L. Masters.

Yours truly, Luigi

 

[Munky]

Munky ... you won again: I had to google a line to find that the poem is by P. Larkin.
Truth be told, my exposure to modern British poetry is not so deep.
I manage a little better English classics, which I love to plunder, as when my brother was kidding me because I was shining my shoes, and I answered him "Come not between the dragon and his shoes"

Shoes apart, from the few I know, my favourite modern poem in "Kinsey Keene", by E.L. Masters.

Yours truly, Luigi

I have found the Masters' poem and look forward to reading it. My favourite poem of all time has the unlikely title: That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire and of the comfort of the Resurrection, by Gerard Manley Hopkins. I have to admit, though, that it is a while since I read any poetry.

Keep polishing! Oh, and don't put too much stuff on those shoes, Luigi! [I'not sure if I have ever written that before. ] Best wishes, Munky.

 

[Munky]

Sorry to have gone off-topic, there guys! Now, back to shoes! With kind regards, Munky

 

[JFWR]

Sorry to have gone off-topic, there guys! Now, back to shoes! With kind regards, Munky

I thought it was an amusing diversion!

 

[nbernie]

I was using a deer bone (one of my first times doing so) and seem to have marked the leather. Have I done something irreparable, or does anyone have ideas on how to get this out? Also, tips to not do this again? I assume I pushed down too hard?Thanks!

 

[Salanizi]

Soles on Blundstones disintegrated. From reading online it looks like it's due to polyurethane aging from hydrolosis. Guessing there's no way to prevent this? I thought of putting auto detailing plastic protectant on my other pair's soles but I don't think it's the root of the problem. Not sure a replacement midsole would work either if the entire sole is poly. Slather Shoe Goo on everything?

I know Blundstones aren't high quality or GYW but I've been using them as winter beater boots.
View attachment 1423255

At this stage theres nothing you can do. Shoo goo will do no good as the material itself is disintegrating - its not a case where the sole is separating from the upper.

I would send them to a cobbler for a resole with a Vibram rubber sole. You will lose comfort ever so slightly, but the rubber sole will never disintegrate like this. You can ask the cobbler to add a midsole and blake stitch that, then stick the vibram rubber sole on top of that. That way, you can resole the thing as long as the uppers last.

 

[Munky]

Does anyone have direct experience of the different qualities of Horween Chromexcel and Cavalier leathers? I know, roughly, how they are defined on paper but i wonder if the feel of each is significantly different. I have scoured the internet on this topic but would welcome anyone's personal experience. With thanks and best wishes, Munky.

 

[JFWR]

I was using a deer bone (one of my first times doing so) and seem to have marked the leather. Have I done something irreparable, or does anyone have ideas on how to get this out? Also, tips to not do this again? I assume I pushed down too hard?Thanks! View attachment 1429765

Provided that this is cordovan (which it seems to be) I don't think you have permanently marred the surface. Cordovan is so rugged that it is very, very, very difficult to harm permanently - it's insanely rugged. Mind you, it's of course possible to harm it - by like carving it up with a knife or something - but chances are the smooth side of a deer bone isn't going to hurt it.

It seems to me that you should rub in some coloured cordovan cream into the area and then vigorously brush. See if that doesn't make it all right.

 

[JFWR]

Does anyone have direct experience of the different qualities of Horween Chromexcel and Cavalier leathers? I know, roughly, how they are defined on paper but i wonder if the feel of each is significantly different. I have scoured the internet on this topic but would welcome anyone's personal experience. With thanks and best wishes, Munky.

You might want to ask in the boot thread as those leathers tend to be on boots rather than shoes, and so some of the gentlemen over there may have better insight.

As much as I'd like to help, I don't know anything about those leathers.

 

[Mannion]

Do boots need a specific boot tree, or is a shoe tree enough? Also a shoe tree I have has slightly stretched the heel of a pair of shoes, they are both the same size so should I get a shoe tree half a size smaller than my foot? The spring is compressed halfway when it is in the shoe.

 

[Mercurio]

Do boots need a specific boot tree, or is a shoe tree enough? Also a shoe tree I have has slightly stretched the heel of a pair of shoes, they are both the same size so should I get a shoe tree half a size smaller than my foot? The spring is compressed halfway when it is in the shoe.

You can use the same shoe trees with your boots, no need for a specific one.

All my shoe trees are the same size as my shoes, nevertheless I check for the heel width as some are wider than others, which can stretch the shoes or boots heel.

 

[Munky]

A bad moment today. I walked into a shop and went to use their hand sanitiser. Instead of going on my hand, it went straight on to my natural, Horween, veg tanned shoes. I have been carefully controlling the patina on these shoes (!). After this encounter, I finished up with three large dark circles, left behind by the hand stuff. I believe it is made mostly of alcohol.

Coming home grumpily, I thought through what I would do. I had already mopped the shoe with a piece of kitchen roll, in the shop. At home, I dabbed both shoes with a damp, microfibre cloth. This, as expected, left the leather dark. I let them dry out and the pale colour returned, complete with the splodges of hand wash. Then I used a thin coat of Renovateur on both shoes, left it to dry and brushed with a horsehair brush. My wife tries to convince me that there is some considerable improvement. I remain unconvinced. Tonight, I have applied another thin coat of R and will give them a brush in the morning.

The rational side of me says that the shoes will darken, anyway and that the discolouration will become part of the patina. Natural veg tanned leather darkens fairly quickly. The emotional side has me curled up in a corner, weeping uncontrollably. Veg tanned leather ain't the easiest. Let this be a lesson to anyone who leaves the house in veg tanned shoes. Somberly yours, Munky.

 

[JFWR]

A bad moment today. I walked into a shop and went to use their hand sanitiser. Instead of going on my hand, it went straight on to my natural, Horween, veg tanned shoes. I have been carefully controlling the patina on these shoes (!). After this encounter, I finished up with three large dark circles, left behind by the hand stuff. I believe it is made mostly of alcohol.

Coming home grumpily, I thought through what I would do. I had already mopped the shoe with a piece of kitchen roll, in the shop. At home, I dabbed both shoes with a damp, microfibre cloth. This, as expected, left the leather dark. I let them dry out and the pale colour returned, complete with the splodges of hand wash. Then I used a thin coat of Renovateur on both shoes, left it to dry and brushed with a horsehair brush. My wife tries to convince me that there is some considerable improvement. I remain unconvinced. Tonight, I have applied another thin coat of R and will give them a brush in the morning.

The rational side of me says that the shoes will darken, anyway and that the discolouration will become part of the patina. Natural veg tanned leather darkens fairly quickly. The emotional side has me curled up in a corner, weeping uncontrollably. Veg tanned leather ain't the easiest. Let this be a lesson to anyone who leaves the house in veg tanned shoes. Somberly yours, Munky.

This is a tragedy worthy of Shakespeare. A good man's shoes come to an undeserved end.

If you want to avoid the discoloration in the short term, you could always use some cream polish in the colour to blend it together. But you've been cultivating the patina carefully, so perhaps that is out of the question.

 

[ducatiti]

I messed up a new pair of EG's with Saphir Reno. There were some dark polish in between the grain out of the box, and I rubbed a bit too hard with Saphir as it got worse. I was able to clean the other areas but left this ugly spot. Is there a way to fix this at home? Not sure what caused this, and the dark area is the bare leather before the dye on top?