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

[Numbernine]



Trying to get my captoes looking good, but one toe is cloudy . I think I used too much polish trying to get out a scratch in the shell.i am using Reno, can I hurt the shell by using too much Reno? Please help! Thanks

Sorry this is an old post I know but if this is still an issue for you I'm pretty sure what has happened is that you have removed the factory finish in the problem area . The shoe is far from ruined and there are a few ways to deal with this. If it has been resolved well then never mind

 

[jvc44]

I sent them to Alden to fix , that what they suggested. What else would have fixed?

 

[Numbernine]

Sending them to alden for re finishing was certainly the best option . Were that not possible the finish can be removed and with a little elbow grease rubbed and buffed back to a respectable shine

 

[jvc44]

Thank-you for your help. What would u use to bring them back ? For future experience

 

[Poshak Man]



Thank-you for your help. What would u use to bring them back ? For future experience

I'd like to know this too.

 

[jvc44]

Shell looks nice but I don't like the fact that you can't wear them in nothing but perfect weather. We don't get much of that in NE ohio

 

[kwhitelaw]

Shell looks nice but I don't like the fact that you can't wear them in nothing but perfect weather. We don't get much of that in NE ohio

plenty of people wear shell in inclement weather. you can apply aldens defender for protection also

 

[justinkapur]

So I have a pair of Carmina shell bal boots that have speed hooks. The speed hooks keep ripping the laces. I have tried multiple boot laces but cant get them to move through the eyelets because they are much heavier and bigger. So what I need is some thin boot laces. Any suggestions???

 

[Numbernine]



Thank-you for your help. What would u use to bring them back ? For future experience

I'd like to know this too.

Bonin', brushn' and buffn' . I really don't understand the idea that you have to baby shell cordovan leather. It is by far the toughest most resilient material used to make shoes . I have scrubbed the old wax from shell with a stiff bristled nylon brush under a running tap , dried it and buffed it back to a shine many times . I don't really recommend this on fairly new shoes but it definitely gives one a feel for just how tough this leather is . As to products I have used renovateur, Lexol, saphire cordo cream,neatsfoot oil, and Venetian cream to varying results none of them bad . The various coatings applied by shoe manufactures are subject to damage by some products but the shell it self as it comes from horween is a lot tougher than most realize
The reason I posted about your problem jvc44 was that the same thing happened to
me on a new pair of cigar Indy boots . The coating began to flake in the creases. In an attempt to alleviate this I applied saphir cordo cream to the area which promptly removed the finish leaving it dull . Unlike yourself rather than doing the wise thing and sending them back to Alden I removed the coating with renomat and b,b,&bd' them back to a shine . Here is a pic a couple months later they're not quite so red as they appear in the pic

 

[Numbernine]



So I have a pair of Carmina shell bal boots that have speed hooks. The speed hooks keep ripping the laces. I have tried multiple boot laces but cant get them to move through the eyelets because they are much heavier and bigger. So what I need is some thin boot laces. Any suggestions???

Alden laces are pretty thin but they do fray in speed hooks . I hear Alden will send you a pair for the asking . I wouldn't suggest you tell them they are for a pair of Carminas though

 

[RIDER]



Shell looks nice but I don't like the fact that you can't wear them in nothing but perfect weather. We don't get much of that in NE ohio

Actually, shell cordovan is generally marketed specifically for bad weather. Back when the business was more traditional than it is now, we would only bring shell shoes in to stock for Fall and Winter, and be done with them by March (Washington DC business district shop). We always sold shell tassel slip-ons as 'the winter weather version' of the year round calf version.

 

[justinkapur]



Alden laces are pretty thin but they do fray in speed hooks . I hear Alden will send you a pair for the asking . I wouldn't suggest you tell them they are for a pair of Carminas though

I was in an Alden store and they showed me what they had. They have flat laces but these boots need round laces for sure.

 

[Fang66]

Shell looks nice but I don't like the fact that you can't wear them in nothing but perfect weather. We don't get much of that in NE ohio

Actually, shell cordovan is generally marketed specifically for bad weather. Back when the business was more traditional than it is now, we would only bring shell shoes in to stock for Fall and Winter, and be done with them by March (Washington DC business district shop). We always sold shell tassel slip-ons as 'the winter weather version' of the year round calf version.

Wore my shell gunboats in the typhoon yesterday didn't even give them a wipe when I got home, today look perfect.

 

[Munky]

Hello MoneyWellSpent,
You are not completely right in your account of Dr Marten's shoes. The boots version became popular, soon after they were first made, in the 1960s, in the UK. They were the favoured boots for Skinheads at the time. They went a bit quite for a couple of decades and began to be popular, again, in the 1990s.

Also, the goodyear welted, shoes aren't limited to their most expensive items. You can pay over £300 for a pair of DM's but I have three pairs, at around £100 a pair that are all described as goodyear welted.

It is interesting that you suggest that there is little or nothing in the making of DM's hat resembles what is usually expected of goodyear welting. Aren't there patents covering this sort of thing and couldn't Dr Marten's be sued for use of a name, and/or for false advertising?

Thanks, again, for your very helpful information.

 

[venividivicibj]

Are there any places that do burnishing, or is it better to pretty much do it by hand? (Just didn't want to mess up my shoes)