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

[Luigi_M]

@JFWR ... The Northampton Factory Ballad.
Your pun is so fine that I forgive you for having altered one of my favourite poems in English!

 

[Luigi_M]

(sorry, double post)

 

[Munky]

Just an observation. Nick Horween recommends the use of Renovateur on Chromecexel. I used it on my #8 boots. I was surprised by how much colour came off on the cloth I used. It did give the boots a wonderful, deep, shine, though and this was what I was after.

 

[JFWR]

Just an observation. Nick Horween recommends the use of Renovateur on Chromecexel. I used it on my #8 boots. I was surprised by how much colour came off on the cloth I used. It did give the boots a wonderful, deep, shine, though and this was what I was after.

Really? Hm.

You know, it's strange Munky, I never have this problem of colour coming off when I use renovateur on calfskin or cordovan. The only colour I've ever taken off has been the removal of polish.

I wonder what I am doing different from you to cause this difference? Might it be something between the leather we purchase? I don't have any CXL leather, but, even when we have the same type of leather, it seems we get different results from the same product.

It does make for a real friggin' nice shine, though, I agree.

Take this for instance:

I had my Park Avenues refurbrished by Allen Edmonds earlier this year (I purchased a pair that was beat up and got it fixed to like-new condition). As part of the refurbishment, they polished the shoes. They did an okay job, but I didn't think it was great, so I put renovateur on it first. Colour came off - moderately - but it was all polish. The finish never saw any colour rubbed from it at all.

Likewise, when I put some renovateur on my shoes that had gotten badly wet (I let them dry for about 5 days) by running through the grass at 4 am on a foggy night drunkenly playing frisbee, it took off some of the polish, but didn't hurt the finish. In fact, it didn't even strip all the polish off, as I still had a low-level mirror shine left over.

 

[JFWR]

@JFWR ... The Northampton Factory Ballad.
Your pun is so fine that I forgive you for having altered one of my favourite poems in English!

It is a tremendously beautiful poem. Oscar Wilde was a literary genius.

 

[JFWR]

Oh, @Munky, did you know that neutral polish can be used, by itself, to strip previous polish? You can't rub the finish off with neutral polish, but you can remove old polish through that. Do you think perhaps the polishing element of renovateur is thus taking away some polish, rather than the dye of the leather itself?

 

[Munky]

I don't know what the answer is. This was the first time I had put anything on the CXL; they were factory fresh. As I indicated, I am not concerned about it and I got the shine that I was looking for. I really like CXL and Cavalier leathers. Cavalier slight more, I think.

 

[JFWR]

I don't know what the answer is. This was the first time I had put anything on the CXL; they were factory fresh. As I indicated, I am not concerned about it and I got the shine that I was looking for. I really like CXL and Cavalier leathers. Cavalier slight more, I think.

I think I'll invest in a pair soon.

 

[WSB17]

Just an observation. Nick Horween recommends the use of Renovateur on Chromecexel. I used it on my #8 boots. I was surprised by how much colour came off on the cloth I used. It did give the boots a wonderful, deep, shine, though and this was what I was after.

He also recommends Venetian Shoe Cream (VSC):

Chromexcel® — Horween Leather Co.

Chromexcel. One of my favorites, and probably my single favorite if I had to choose one. The picture above gives some idea of how long the formula has been around (and this journal is full of different trials and doesn't even contain the original, standardized recipe).

www.horween.com

I'm a big fan of Chromexcel, so I experimented with a number of shoe creams.
In my case, VSC seems to give the best results with a nice shine.
Saphir's Greasy leather cream is also widely recommended.

 

[Munky]

Yes, I know he also recommends those two. I decided to use his other recommended product, Renovateur, because I wanted more of a shine. It did it's job.

 

[takashi78]

Just an observation. Nick Horween recommends the use of Renovateur on Chromecexel. I used it on my #8 boots. I was surprised by how much colour came off on the cloth I used. It did give the boots a wonderful, deep, shine, though and this was what I was after.

Just yesterday i used Alden boot cream on my natural cxl PTB.
It went on dull and matte, after letting it sit for about 15mins i brushed and it came back "conditioned".
It did darken the natural cxl shade though.
No polish.

Just brush, boot cream, and brush thats it.

 

[JFWR]

Any recommendations for a nice edge dressing for brown sole edges? The Fieblings roll on in brown that also works on rubber looks like baby diarrhea.

 

[Munky]

Any recommendations for a nice edge dressing for brown sole edges? The Fieblings roll on in brown that also works on rubber looks like baby diarrhea.

Saphir make a Renovating cream - Edge dressing. Be careful though, it's permanent. One spot on the body of your shoes and it won't come off. Best wishes, Munky.

 

[Luigi_M]

Any recommendations for a nice edge dressing for brown sole edges? The Fieblings roll on in brown that also works on rubber looks like baby diarrhea.

I did it the hard way. In a nutshell:
- sand off all the factory finish from sole edge and heel;
- stain them with alcohol based tint;
- wet the leather and let it dry until moist;
- burnish hard with the appropriate shoemaker's tools until dry and nice and smooth;
- liberally apply wax of the same colour;
- burnish again with said tools, heated to almost 100 C°, to melt and push wax into the leather;
- buff with a woollen rag until shiny.
Quite a job, but rewarding as now my sole edges and heels are permanently stained in depth. If a little scuff occurs I just apply some more wax and burnish.

I am in debt with @DWFII as I used as a guide a shoemaking manual, wich he took the chore to scan and publish on "The Honorable Cordwainer Company" website some years ago.

 

[JFWR]

Saphir make a Renovating cream - Edge dressing. Be careful though, it's permanent. One spot on the body of your shoes and it won't come off. Best wishes, Munky.

Thank you very much. I'll invest eventually.

Oh wait, is this the same renovating cream as the one used to fill scratches? Because if so, I have that already in brown.