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

[Reiver]

A helpfull addition to my shoecare kit, "Premiun Goat Hair Polishing Brush" from A Fine Pair of Shoes.

Great for the last "hand" for your shoes. I used it in my Church's Grafton in cordovan without any moisturer or cream and had a nice surprise.

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Good to know, I'll add that to the wish list. Always good to see some cordovan Grafton's, don't get to wear mine very often unfortunately but it is always special when I do.

Yours look lighter in colour than mine.

 

[GasparddeColigny]

This is my 4th video, this time I'm restoring a pair of Spanish made Pedro Del Hierro monk straps. I think they turned out well.
Besides full blown restorations, I also have shorter 'Quick Fix' videos lined up. These will show all kinds of nice and interesting shoes getting treatment, amongst other suede shoes, vintage women's shoes, classis button boots etc.

For this pair I used, in order of appearence:
Cleaning & prep
- stiff shoe brush - water and alcohol mix, 1-1 ratio - wooden shoe tree - luke warm water & mild detergent - tootbrush, hairs trimmed short - stiff bristle brush - patience - sandpaper 200 & 600 grit - cotton cloth - Acetone
Conditioning and recolouring
- Bickmore Bick 4 conditioner - Saphir Teinture Francaise, colours 08, 06 & 01, alcohol to thin - Dauber & fine brushes - Saphir cream, colours black and bordeaux - Saphir polish, colours black, bordaux and burgundy - Microfiber cloth & water - Saphir conditioner - very soft brush

 

[Munky]

Sorry, I double posted a message about my wholecuts, by mistake.

 

[JFWR]

Begging your indulgence, can I ask a question completely off message? I have a pair of Carlos Santos black wholecuts, which are fairly narrow in the toe and only worn a couple of times. I only wear casual clothes now. Has anyone had experience of wearing these sorts of shoes with black or grey jeans or chinos or similar items? If not, does anyone want a nice pair of CS black wholecuts?

What size?

I mean, I feel chinos would work with a sports coat. I wouldn't do wholecuts with jeans in black, though. Even jeans and a sports coat.

 

[Munky]

What size?

I mean, I feel chinos would work with a sports coat. I wouldn't do wholecuts with jeans in black, though. Even jeans and a sports coat.

Sorry, I had already asked these questions in a posting, above.

 

[H. E. Pennypacker]

If you want conditioning with shine, go with saphir cream polish. Conditioners by themselves don't have the waxes that make for a shine.

I find the pommadier a bit too thick, but it's ideal to condition and polish; if you'd rather go lighter, use the Bdc line from saphir.

Seems like it would be best to have 2 separate products. What's a wax/cream you'd recommend?

Any thoughts on vsc?

 

[JFWR]

Seems like it would be best to have 2 separate products. What's a wax/cream you'd recommend?

Any thoughts on vsc?

I have heard nothing but good things about VSC, specifically for shell cordovan; however, I have never personally used it, but I am considering buying it.

Generally, conditioners don't polish as well as polishes. Renovateur by saphir, as you note, can be a bit harsh on antiqued colour, but it also provides small levels of shine, and that is about the only conditioner I can say that provides for a soft shine.

For cream: I personally prefer the Beaut de Cuir (blue cap) line from Saphir. I personally find the pommadier too thick/dry (excluding their cordovan line) which can make buffing difficult, especially with the cognac. Black is okay, but I've had difficulties where I get splotches that are difficult to buff off with the pommadier, and once or twice I put wax over it and had to start again, as I had ugly little spots of the oils left over. Nothing major, nor shoe ruining, mind you - everything in Saphir is good for your shoes - but I personally prefer BDC saphir for cream polish.

As for wax: I recommend the Saphir pate de luxe medalle d'or line. The BDC pate de luxe is also good, but the shine is not quite as good. I think there's at least a 25% difference between the BDC and MDO lines, and given you can get the 100 ml tins at a good price (especially at @pediwear), I'd go with the MDO wax.

MDO wax by itself is sufficient for mirror shining, but the MDO mirror gloss makes that process even easier. I'd recommend neutral, as it works great on the sole edge of leather soles, too, and it works on every colour. You don't really need pigment for top coats that have already been treated with a coloured wax and cream.

Unequivocally, saphir is the best polish I've ever used. Lincoln is also a good value, but I'd rank it third behind BDC pate de luxe.

So my suggestions would be:

1. MDO pate de luxe.
2. BDC pate de luxe.
3. Lincoln stain wax polish.

Don't bother with Angelus or Kiwi. Kiwi is good for beater shoes only.

 

[Munky]

@DWFII What types of products do you recommend for use on natural veg-tanned leather? Should they be oil based or wax based? Is a beeswax balm appropriate? Any thoughts you have would be greatly appreciated. Best wishes, Munky.

 

[Rimaarts]

hey guys! hope it's the correct thread! any advice on what I'm doing wrong with mirror shine? whatever I do I have not been able to shine my toecaps better than this... too much pressure? not enough pressure? and please... before you say just keep on going, one day I had nothing to do so I literally went trough quarter tub of polish and result got to this level quickly and didn't get any better...

 

[JFWR]

hey guys! hope it's the correct thread! any advice on what I'm doing wrong with mirror shine? whatever I do I have not been able to shine my toecaps better than this... too much pressure? not enough pressure? and please... before you say just keep on going, one day I had nothing to do so I literally went trough quarter tub of polish and result got to this level quickly and didn't get any better...

What polish do you use?

Have you tried melting the polish with a hair dryer to get the wax to melt into the pores?

Try buffing with a lady's nylon stocking.

Are you're using a bit of water?

 

[Rimaarts]

What polish do you use?

Have you tried melting the polish with a hair dryer to get the wax to melt into the pores?

Try buffing with a lady's nylon stocking.

Are you're using a bit of water?

saphir, for this pair mixed coats of mirror gloss and normal..

yes I know of melting, but that's cheating.. I'm trying to learn without cheating...

I use old cotton t-shirt... need to steal a stocking from my girlfriend! is the results really that much better?

bit of water, yes...

 

[JFWR]

saphir, for this pair mixed coats of mirror gloss and normal..

yes I know of melting, but that's cheating.. I'm trying to learn without cheating...

I use old cotton t-shirt... need to steal a stocking from my girlfriend! is the results really that much better?

bit of water, yes...

It isn't cheating if your shoes aren't taking the polish. For some reason, it seems like you have a fairly stubborn leather. If you went through half a tin, you certainly should have a mirror gloss by now, especially with saphir.

I think the results are excellent with nylon. It really brings the shine out at the end. You can do it after each l ayer, too. I'd buff it so there isn't excess polish first, though. So think of it as buff first with the shirt, then buff with the stockings.

Make sure your shirt is soft, too. Soft works better than rough.

 

[Chowkin]

Try cotton balls:

 

[Munky]

If anyone has shoes or boots made of Horween Essex, Natural, veg tanned leather, what products do you use on them?

 

[marlinspike]

hey guys! hope it's the correct thread! any advice on what I'm doing wrong with mirror shine? whatever I do I have not been able to shine my toecaps better than this... too much pressure? not enough pressure? and please... before you say just keep on going, one day I had nothing to do so I literally went trough quarter tub of polish and result got to this level quickly and didn't get any better...

If you went through half a tin, I'm guessing you didn't let the polish dry long enough before buffing, so it just kind of got pushed around/removed each time. Let it dry long enough that it feels hard the touch before buffing with the slighlty damp cloth and see if that helps.