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

[Stemo79]

I always use circular motions with as little pressure as possible, then rather than drop water on top I breath on the shoe forming a little condensation, that way I never overly wet it.

 

[Munky]

Travers, be a bit careful about putting your cloths in the washing machine with softener. Most softeners also have a waterproofing effect. Dry drying yourself with a towel that has be treated with water softener and then try with one without! I think you will notice the difference. If you use softener with cloths you use on your shoes, you may find that polish/wax etc. does not soak into the leather so well. I don't what effect that will have on shoes, but it's worth a thought.

 

[Munky]

A Fine Pair of Shoes sells large pieces of chamois leather - the real thing. Has anyone experience of using this on shoes and, if so, how do they use it?

 

[vmss]

Aerolo, what brand of shoes are those?

 

[traverscao]

Travers, be a bit careful about putting your cloths in the washing machine with softener. Most softeners also have a waterproofing effect. Dry drying yourself with a towel that has be treated with water softener and then try with one without! I think you will notice the difference. If you use softener with cloths you use on your shoes, you may find that polish/wax etc. does not soak into the leather so well. I don't what effect that will have on shoes, but it's worth a thought.

I use Downy's softeners in liquid, Munky. Doesn't seems to give me that ill effect. I washed the cloth in washing machine, tumble them dry (to get rid of excess lint), then soak them generously in Downy's liquid softener.

 

[garland]

I use Downy's softeners in liquid, Munky. Doesn't seems to give me that ill effect. I washed the cloth in washing machine, tumble them dry (to get rid of excess lint), then soak them generously in Downy's liquid softener.

You may not notice it as much, but Munky is right. All fabric softeners will clog the fibers and inhibit its wicking ability, especially if its something synthetic or technical. Cotton might not be affected as much though since its not a fabric that will wick moisture. FYI same thing goes for dryer sheets.

 

[traverscao]

You may not notice it as much, but Munky is right. All fabric softeners will clog the fibers and inhibit its wicking ability, especially if its something synthetic or technical. Cotton might not be affected as much though since its not a fabric that will wick moisture. FYI same thing goes for dryer sheets.

Oh well, I haven't yet to see that happening. All my shoe cloths are cotton. I don't see any good in using a synthetic fiber cloth for shoe shining.

 

[garland]

Oh well, I haven't yet to see that happening. All my shoe cloths are cotton. I don't see any good in using a synthetic fiber cloth for shoe shining.

Hahah you're probably right. I haven't reached the point of obsession where I feel the need to switch to microfiber so I guess I'm in good company still.

 

[traverscao]

Hahah you're probably right. I haven't reached the point of obsession where I feel the need to switch to microfiber so I guess I'm in good company still.

I'm fairly frustrated with Kiwi's cloth, however. They shed lint like hell. Unless they were soaked with softeners, or else they shed lint all over.

 

[garland]

I'm fairly frustrated with Kiwi's cloth, however. They shed lint like hell. Unless they were soaked with softeners, or else they shed lint all over.

Interesting. I use AE cloths or old undershirts for most of my work, and unless its something really tacky like cordovan cream I haven't really had any shedding issues. I know how frustrating that is though.

 

[garland]

Question for anyone that cares to comment:

How do you designate your brushes, and how many do you have?

I have the standard AE brushes that I use for brushing off polish that are divided up by color, but what do you do about renovateur, leather lotion, Bick 4, VSC, etc? I have a really great Saphir brush that I've been using to do my final brush with, but I'm wondering if I've cross contaminated it too much with cleaners and conditioners, etc.... Curious what ya'll have to say.

 

[EnglishShoes]



Second this, Im curious as well since while I have and use Saphir Reno I just bought lexol from a local hardware store in light of positive things here. But curious what advantage each has over the other.

I still want to know more about Bick4 or Lexol as an alternative to Renovateur for extra conditioning power.

If I was to buy one of these, which should I go for? Is one clearly better than the other for fine leather shoes? Are they both compatible with later coats of Saphir creams and polishes?

8oz Bick 4 is £8.73 + £16.64 shipping(!)

8oz Lexol leather conditioner cream is £9.94 delivered - this is the cream rather than trigger spray, right?

Is the Bick 4 much better?

 

[ragnr]

How do you designate your brushes, and how many do you have?

I have one soft brush for buffing polish and a bigger one for dust/dirt. I use the same application brushes for cream and renovateur. I had brushes divided for each colour but I stopped caring after a while, such minor things when you think about it. Just clean the brushes once in a while. Might be worth mentioning that I don't use black wax/cream and rarely dark brown.

 

[Beach Bum]



I still want to know more about Bick4 or Lexol as an alternative to Renovateur for extra conditioning power.

If I was to buy one of these, which should I go for? Is one clearly better than the other for fine leather shoes? Are they both compatible with later coats of Saphir creams and polishes?

8oz Bick 4 is £8.73 + £16.64 shipping(!)

8oz Lexol leather conditioner cream is £9.94 delivered - this is the cream rather than trigger spray, right?

Is the Bick 4 much better?

I had asked that question then last night used Lexol, cream not spray, for the first time and so now have some experience.

My take is that Lexol certainly conditions the leather much more than I'm used to with Saphir. It doesnt shine the shoes whatsoever, but it's not supposed to, it's just I've become accustomed to Saphir doing just this.

Then after cream polish then wax on toe caps I feel I had less of a shine then when I last polished the two pairs six months earlier with Saphir reno then the same polishes.

This could tell me the shoes needed a bit more time after applying lexol before polishing, since maybe leather was still in a softened state. Or maybe Saphir simply does a better job at giving a better shine finish when all else is equal.

I will say I have a pair or two of shoes that are not my higher end ones and I've used much more and so take more a beating. I've only ever conditioned these with Saphir since didn't have anything else til now. And I'm not thrilled with the leather quality now, and probably could have used more of a "conditioning" conditioner like lexol all along.

Hard to make any certain conclusions from one use of lexol. It doesn't appear to darken varying shades of browns, so was happy with this. It does condition more than I've been used to. And leaves shoes in a less shiny state than I've been used to.

I'm shining a few more pairs tomorrow night during the bball games and will probably wait longer after lexol before I start the polishing.

 

[Beach Bum]

Meant to ask at end of my long past a sec ago. But have others had similar experiences?