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

[cbfn]



 

[chogall]



I have a few questions for those of you that achieve a mirror shine on a regular basis (and I know that there are quite a few here):

• How many layers would you expect to put on bench grade leather starting from scratch before you get a true mirror?
• Do you consistently get a mirror shine in the same amount of time when starting from scratch?
• Time-wise, when you take that little dot of polish and start swirling it around on the leather with the water droplets, how long do you do this before you breath on the leather and continue?
• How much pressure do you use - the weight of your hand or lighter/heavier?

Sorry for all the questions - I find that I'm not getting consistent results and want to drill down on where my technique is going off. I don't do this on all my shoes but I'd like to be able to get a consistent result when I do.

Many thanks in advance.

1. One layer of polish for a very high shine. Two for mirror. Three for mirror with some depth.
2. Yes. From scratch. Including full tenon at stripping, acetone stripping, bleach, and even hogh grit dremel sanding.
3. Really depends on the room temperature. Usually I take a shitload of polish and either polish the toe cap all at once or at most three sections to evenly shine. Only adding water/spit when polish gets sticky. Only using breath fogging when the polish cloth is moist.
4. Light on areas with little wax or area with shaky wax base. Heavy everywhere else. On areas with too much wax, very heavy.

It really depends on the leather and weather. And the process is more feel/touch than method.

 

[Crat]



I have a few questions for those of you that achieve a mirror shine on a regular basis (and I know that there are quite a few here):

• How many layers would you expect to put on bench grade leather starting from scratch before you get a true mirror?
• Do you consistently get a mirror shine in the same amount of time when starting from scratch?
• Time-wise, when you take that little dot of polish and start swirling it around on the leather with the water droplets, how long do you do this before you breath on the leather and continue?
• How much pressure do you use - the weight of your hand or lighter/heavier?

Sorry for all the questions - I find that I'm not getting consistent results and want to drill down on where my technique is going off. I don't do this on all my shoes but I'd like to be able to get a consistent result when I do.

Many thanks in advance.

- Countless layers. In my experience a mirror built up with more layers using little polish > less layers using more polish

- No, I find that some shoes take a mirror shine more easily than others.

- 20-30 sec timewise I guess. I don't time it though but do it intuitively.

- Weigh of hand. Lighter towards end. My guess is that the highest shines are obtained with the least preassure.

It really depends on the leather and weather. And the process is more touch/feel than method

Very true.

Spoiler: Shine pics

 

[OzzyJones]

- Countless layers. In my experience a mirror built up with more layers using little polish > less layers using more polish

- No, I find that some shoes take a mirror shine more easily than others.

- 20-30 sec timewise I guess. I don't time it though but do it intuitively.

- Weigh of hand. Lighter towards end. My guess is that the highest shines are obtained with the least preassure.
Very true.

Awesome shine, even more awesome Whisky!!

 

[ddgdl]

Did you by chance buy these on eBay? I ask because I had a similar problem a few years back with shoes that were listed as brand new. It turned out that the seller was buying seconds with (in my case) inconsistent coloring, and covering up the inconsistencies with a ton of polish.

If there's excess polish on the leather, Renovateur will remove it. I've never seen Renovateur do that to a shoe's normal finish.

These were seconds directly from AE, so perhaps that was it.

 

[MoneyWellSpent]

- Countless layers. In my experience a mirror built up with more layers using little polish > less layers using more polish

- No, I find that some shoes take a mirror shine more easily than others.

- 20-30 sec timewise I guess. I don't time it though but do it intuitively.

- Weigh of hand. Lighter towards end. My guess is that the highest shines are obtained with the least preassure.
Very true.

+1 on the impressive shine!

 

[MoneyWellSpent]

So I just received a pair of AE's bourbon strands, and decided to apply some Reno...only to remove a large chunk of the bourbon coloring. oops. I didn't think Reno would do that, but apparently I was mistaken. Now my left is somewhere between walnut and bourbon- I'm attempting to fix it by using dark brown AE polish. Any other suggestions?

Right when I got mine, I applied lotion, and there was definitely a bit of grey residue that came up. If that's what you're talking about, I don't think you need to worry. I just let that happen because it was a very light amount of residue, and I treated them normally. As you saw, they turned out just fine. Maybe you should post a picture.

This was more than a little bit of grey residue- this was brown/black on the cloth. I'll take some photos. And to clarify- I meant Renovateur, not Renomat.

I really like the color of AE's new Bourbon shoes, but is it me or are these cases starting to sound too common? I wish they would have created a new color calfskin for these shoes rather than just taking their original Walnut calf and simply applying some burnishing. I'm hesitant to consider a pair because there doesn't seem to be any guarantee that they will be remotely near the same color after a few months of wear and care.

 

[ddgdl]

I really like the color of AE's new Bourbon shoes, but is it me or are these cases starting to sound too common? I wish they would have created a new color calfskin for these shoes rather than just taking their original Walnut calf and simply applying some burnishing. I'm hesitant to consider a pair because there doesn't seem to be any guarantee that they will be remotely near the same color after a few months of wear and care.

As an update- I performed the same routine on the other shoe, with the same results. Both shoes are now substantially lighter than the color they arrived in, though at least they match now.

 

[MoneyWellSpent]

As an update- I performed the same routine on the other shoe, with the same results. Both shoes are now substantially lighter than the color they arrived in, though at least they match now.

Well at least they match! Hopefully the color is still to your liking.

 

[ddgdl]

Well at least they match! Hopefully the color is still to your liking.

As someone else said, the color will change with time anyways, so I'm not getting too upset about it. But the color is definitely...unique

 

[JL3212]

I've noticed recently on a pair of my shoes that they start to get a buildup of mold on the soles after they get wet. If I get caught in the rain with leather soled shoes, I usually set them on their side on the floor and point a small fan at the soles to aid in the drying process. I leave them like this overnight, then put them back into my shoe rack the next day. But sometimes, a few days later, I'll notice mold on the sole. It brushes off easily and is a non issue once I start walking, but it is quite annoying. Anyway I can stop this from happening?

Some of the shoe experts on here can probably speak to the shoe itself, but it may not have anything to do with the shoe other than you are bringing something damp into an area that has mold spores. It could be the case that your fan may be dirty and have mold spores on it and then once you blow it on a damp surface (your soles) the actual mold starts to grow.

I guess I would at least try putting them in a dry, lighted area without using a fan and see what happens. I would also double check wherever you store your shoes to make sure there isn't mold growing anywhere.

 

[goodlensboy]



->

->

pfeeuw

Cool

 

[Crat]

Also, I'm experimenting with crease removal through steam. Anyone done this yet?
I read about it somewhere and though I havent tested it extensively yet the results so far look promising.
You should have seen my housemates' faces though when two of them walked in to find me vigorously rubbing a shoe with a spoon under the full blast of my espresso machine's steam wand.

Will get back to you on this soon.

 

[dddrees]

->



pfeeuw

Nice recovery.

These are the Edward Green Galways, Correct?


Crat, so what color or colors of polish do you plan on using on these if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Crat]

Thanks dddrees

Yes they are Galways and I intend to use dark brown polish. In my experience wax(?, the stuff you usually find in the tins) doens't add too much colour too quickly. I often use a polish in a slightly darker shade than the shoe.