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

[blue collar]



Hey all; a care question that is both embarrassing and maddening.

This weekend, I returned home from a wedding reception late. Upon removing my new saddle colored shell Carmina monks, I discovered a dried strawberry stuck to the leather - not the sole, but up on the side of the shoe. I quickly removed the berry remnants with a bit of water, but a very dark stain remained as pictured here.

Is there any way possible to get this stain out? A few users stated they may require complete refinishing, which is disheartening given the wedding festivities were their maiden voyage post-break in.

Anyone have any advice or any products you recommend to brush this out? I have Saphir Reno available, and that's traditionally all I've used beyond brushing.

I'm really in a quandary here, and more frustrated with myself than anything. And I didn't even eat strawberries, so somebody else has driven me to e-raging.

Thank you in advance for any help that can be provided.

This BREAKS MY HEART! I'm sorry to see that Argentino. The best carmina hands down.

I wish I had something to contribute, I but I don't even know where to start.

 

[Duxnuts]

Looking for some waterproofing for soft leather brown loafers. Can't polish them so something I can spray on without changing the matte finish of the shoe is what I'm after. And I would like to purchase online. Cheers!

 

[Beach Bum]

Don't wear your nicest shoes to wedding receptions, is the lesson learned and one I already preach.

 

[cbfn]

 

[clee1982]

"Nice" shoes (ie quality) last longer than disposable shoes that aren't intended to be resoled or made with quality materials or construction. Also, natural materials like leather are much more sustainable and greener to process and manufacture than synthetic polymers and adhesives that leave behind nasty byproducts. We used to make products that last a lifetime. Now we make things to last until the next product cycle. This is much worse for the environment as you're compounding the harm of disposal and new production. Quote:

Also are you telling me the magic bullet to saving US economy is to import back low skill factory jobs (i.e. large manual labor)? I highly doubt so, some add higher value, most don't if they were moved back to the US. No one is doubting manufacturing jobs are coming back to the US, but only to the extent you can automate it, that's at least the reality you see on the ground. We have seen return on capital much greater than return on labor for a while now, thanks (or not thanks) to advancement in technology... Machine/computers will keep taking away more repetitive jobs, both at developed and developing world, it's just quicker in developed world, and the really low skills goes oversea. Factory jobs have never been the dream jobs, only because the recent recession has American start romanticizing about it.

I didn't imply low skill factory jobs anywhere in my statement. The production will be as you say, more automated based. This is a primary driver for bringing back production domestically. There is still job creation behind this. Please let me know how bringing back any business here is detrimental to the national economy in the short-term.

Leather production has high environmental impact, let's not kid ourselves that tanning is environmental in any way. Also we want nice leather, so correct grain won't do, and from any cow won't do. The fact you resole your shoe might as well be environmental damaging, topy it or dainite sole would last you far longer than leather sole. We're appreciating the high value add in the aesthetic component, not just goodyear welt (good enough method for automation compare to hand welt when it was invented) on decent leather, otherwise all shoes should just cost 150 with thick log/dainite sole on them. Shoe/clothe making are still human capital heavy (which is what I assume we're talking about here), and mostly low skills if you want to produce in the quantities needed for everyone. The guy/gal sitting on the factory assembly line sewing the shirt buttons were not all artisans back in the 1920s, why would they suddenly be now. Bring jobs to the US (or anywhere else, it's not zero sum game) is not a bad thing, it's just the human heavy kind are never coming back (which is what this industry still tend to be). Let's not to be too nostalgic about how things were...

 

[clee1982]



 

[Munky]

Excuse my ignorance, but to what does the apostrophe refer in Reno'Mat?

 

[Numbernine]

Munky
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diacritic

 

[Munky]

Thanks, Englade; much the wiser now!

 

[Munky]

What about this. On Saturday, I bought a pair of 'summer' shoes, for very casual wear, in a Sale. They had brogue leather tops and EVO wedge soles. They were reduced to £24. I wore them for the whole of Sunday (uncharacteristically, we had sun). They were comfortable all day and my guess is that I could have worn them all week. The pair of £200 Loake's brogues that I bought 7 weeks ago are still crucifying my feet. I have e-mailed Loake's for some suggestions.

As I have suggested on here, in another post, it is likely that not that many people look at our shoes - we wear them because we like quality and the way that they look. However, we probably imagine that other people look at our shoes and admire them. If all this is the case, there is surely an argument for utility. My £24 shoes, probably hated by most people on here (just from the description and even more because of the price), are comfortable, pleasant to look at and also 'invisible' to most other people. In terms of utility, they do their job. I suggest that it is possible to live with both 'nice' shoes and with cheap ones. Perhaps we all do this, but I bet we don't!

 

[VegTan]



I'm still a bit nervous of wurger's suggestion that I bend my brogues by bringing the toe up towards the back of the shoe...does anyone else have experience of doing this?

Yes, but this break-in method is for new shoes. Please don't squash a toe box.

 

[MoneyWellSpent]

Yes, but this break-in method is for new shoes. Please don't squash a toe box.

Cool patent drawing. I've never seen that.

 

[chogall]

Which magazine did the scan come from?

 

[VegTan]



Way off topic. Now for another newbie question. I can understand that a flawless piece of leather may be difficult to come by, given the lives the animals lead. On the other hand, is it the very rarity that makes it desirable? I like the look of the marks in leather. It makes it look like the natural product it is. It seems hard to find shoes, even at my much lower price point, that preserve this look, but work boots do not appear to require making the leather look "perfect"

These C&J benchgrades, sold by A Fine Pair of Shoes a few years ago, are factory seconds. These natural marks can be concealed with pigments, and low-priced makers prefer pigmented leathers because dress shoes are required to look perfect in the market.

 

[Munky]

Thank you, VegTan, for the information about bending shoes (and for the excellent diagram).