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

[DWFII]



The toes on those are definitely smoothed out when stretched over the last, but I didn't see any lightening at the toes.
An embossed hatch grain on chromexcel would be very hard to keep hatch-ed (sic) I would think...

I agree but when people start offering up something that purports to be "similar" but isn't the same, you never know what you're gonna get.

I've used a number of Horween's leathers--their Beaumont, their latigo, their "waxed calf," their shell, I've seen their chromexcel...I've even tried to get a custom lining from them. I'm not sure any of them would fit the bill (maybe the latigo) and I'm not too sanguine about them tanning with willow bark and currying with birch oil. I doubt they'd go to much trouble to replicate the original...aside from the hatching, IOW.

 

[traverscao]

I agree but when people start offering up something that purports to be "similar" but isn't the same, you never know what you're gonna get.

I've used a number of Horween's leathers--their Beaumont, their latigo, their "waxed calf," their shell, I've seen their chromexcel...I've even tried to get a custom lining from them. I'm not sure any of them would fit the bill (maybe the latigo) and I'm not too sanguine about them tanning with willow bark and currying with birch oil. I doubt they'd go to much trouble to replicate the original...aside from the hatching, IOW.

It's too hard in this hemisphere of the earth to have birch trees available....

Maybe someday we'll have a crazy product called "American leather" of some sort, utilizing the resources we have here... But hey, so far, we were the first on earth to have shell cordovan made wearable! We were the first to tanned the leather into shoe leather!

 

[mimo]

@Munky, I don't know how far apart ten wears will be, but I barely polish mine that often! Like I said, if you have to strip the polish down for some reason, and/or if the shoes have got very wet, it's worth doing this afterwards. But otherwise, an annual or bi-annual service should suffice.

 

[Cedric]

Help guys,

I need help on how to clean dirty insoles of my leather shoes. I find my feet "sliding" around in the shoes while i walk.
The insoles are made of leather and cannot be taken out by the way.

Thanks ahead

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Lexol leather leather followed by lexol conditioner. Or Glenkaren cleaner/conditioner.

 

[Cedric]



Lexol leather leather followed by lexol conditioner. Or Glenkaren cleaner/conditioner.

I have Allen Edmonds' i will try it/

 

[traverscao]

I have Allen Edmonds' i will try it/

Doesn't work as good.

 

[Itchy]

Quote:

Quote:
People say the same about cars and tools. They pour any cheap oil in the reservoir and rotate their tires whenever. They throw their tools into the box ten feet away and never spray them down with rust inhibitor and use screwdrivers as chisels. Because cars are meant to be driven and tools meant to be used. But treating them properly doesn't mean driving will become boring and tools will turn to frail pasta. Can't say I wipe down my cars with a diaper and fear climbing the odometer and driving underneath rain, but I do wax them regularly and keep tabs on when they need new bushings. And though my tools ain't rusty, they'll work just fine when I put them to hard use.

 

[PCK1]

People say the same about cars and tools. They pour any cheap oil in the reservoir and rotate their tires whenever. They throw their tools into the box ten feet away and never spray them down with rust inhibitor and use screwdrivers as chisels. Because cars are meant to be driven and tools meant to be used. But treating them properly doesn't mean driving will become boring and tools will turn to frail pasta. Can't say I wipe down my cars with a diaper and fear climbing the odometer and driving underneath rain, but I do wax them regularly and keep tabs on when they need new bushings. And though my tools ain't rusty, they'll work just fine when I put them to hard use.

you are overly dramatic.

my point was sarcastic. obviously if you have nice things you should care for them.

but people in this thread take it to too far of an extreme...and there are so many posts in this thread where people have tried to care for their shoes and don't know what they are doing or are overdoing it...and in turn damage their shoes permanently.

shoe care is very simple.

1. use shoe trees.
2. brush your shoes immediately after wear.
3. on occassion, and certainly not frequently, apply a very small amount of polish, preferably wax.

they do not need any more.

all of these other products that are sold are just that...products to be sold in an industry where things havent changed for a long long time...and there is very little room for growth except for the creation of all of these new products that you supposedly need to maintain your shoes.

 

[mediahound]

how do you know this? Ron Rider imports the stuff and then won't even tell him. Hoof foot oil is essentially neatsfoot, which it allegedly doesn't contain (cordovan cream does) or maybe just not the main ingredient...

One of Saphir's advertisement I saw said they used "hoof foot oil" in their Rénovateur. The real ingredients used, God and the employees of Avel know.

"Saphir Renovateur is produced in France and is perhaps the world's best cleaner and conditioner for smooth leathers, including shoes, leather goods, leather clothing, and leather book bindings. It is a non-greasy cream based on beeswax, mink oil, hoof foot oil and lanolin that can be used either by itself or before applying polish." - A Suitable Wardrobe

from: http://www.asuitablewardrobe.net/renovateur-cleaner-and-conditioner-6556.html

He could be wrong I suppose.

 

[traverscao]

"Saphir Renovateur is produced in France and is perhaps the world's best cleaner and conditioner for smooth leathers, including shoes, leather goods, leather clothing, and leather book bindings. It is a non-greasy cream based on beeswax, mink oil, hoof foot oil and lanolin that can be used either by itself or before applying polish." - A Suitable Wardrobe

from: http://www.asuitablewardrobe.net/renovateur-cleaner-and-conditioner-6556.html

He could be wrong I suppose.

IDRK. All I know is that Avel used to list the ingredients on their site, regarding Saphir MDO and BdC Reno as having mink and hoof foot oil.

 

[mediahound]

IDRK. All I know is that Avel used to list the ingredients on their site, regarding Saphir MDO and BdC Reno as having mink and hoof foot oil.

Yeah, so it sound about right that it would contain beeswax, mink oil, hoof foot oil and lanolin.

 

[traverscao]

you are overly dramatic.

my point was sarcastic. obviously if you have nice things you should care for them.

but people in this thread take it to too far of an extreme...and there are so many posts in this thread where people have tried to care for their shoes and don't know what they are doing or are overdoing it...and in turn damage their shoes permanently.

shoe care is very simple.

1. use shoe trees.
2. brush your shoes immediately after wear.
3. on occassion, and certainly not frequently, apply a very small amount of polish, preferably wax.

they do not need any more.

all of these other products that are sold are just that...products to be sold in an industry where things havent changed for a long long time...and there is very little room for growth except for the creation of all of these new products that you supposedly need to maintain your shoes.

Well, before you know it, they used to call stuff like Reno or Lotion "shoe dressing".

Shoe care can be simple, but under different circumstances, things can be tough. We are, nowadays, creatures of creativity, therefore we come up with all kinds of solution we can think of to save things. Often times they all ended up catastrophically, how unfortunate...

I guess there is a point investing so much money into shell cordovan. They are so simple to care for, I bet that's the main emphasizing benefits you get from them. Hell, I might as well wear a mirror polished shell wholecut to a ball one day.

 

[chogall]

you are overly dramatic.

my point was sarcastic. obviously if you have nice things you should care for them.

but people in this thread take it to too far of an extreme...and there are so many posts in this thread where people have tried to care for their shoes and don't know what they are doing or are overdoing it...and in turn damage their shoes permanently.

shoe care is very simple.

1. use shoe trees.
2. brush your shoes immediately after wear.
3. on occassion, and certainly not frequently, apply a very small amount of polish, preferably wax.

they do not need any more.

all of these other products that are sold are just that...products to be sold in an industry where things havent changed for a long long time...and there is very little room for growth except for the creation of all of these new products that you supposedly need to maintain your shoes.

Not very much convincing when you go full Imelda Marcos.

 

[chogall]

Well, before you know it, they used to call stuff like Reno or Lotion "shoe dressing".

Shoe care can be simple, but under different circumstances, things can be tough. We are, nowadays, creatures of creativity, therefore we come up with all kinds of solution we can think of to save things. Often times they all ended up catastrophically, how unfortunate...

I guess there is a point investing so much money into shell cordovan. They are so simple to care for, I bet that's the main emphasizing benefits you get from them. Hell, I might as well wear a mirror polished shell wholecut to a ball one day.

You might not be the next Dave Copeland but you do have a potential to be Mafoo. Make sure you get your 15 pair rotation of shell wholecuts