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

[Lumaca]

Can't quite read the writings on the tin yet, but here's what i ended up with

 

[Rugger]

Since they are new shoes, did you first condition them, then use cream polish and then wax polish?

Yes, 2 coats conditioner, 2 coats cream polish, 2 dustings of wax, moderate mirror shine on toe

 

[Kevin24]

Since most shoes benefit from 1] conditioner, 2] cream polish and 3] wax polish, begin with a conditioner. That is step one.

Saphir Universal Cream will meet most needs. The much-loved Renovateur is great if you can afford it. But watch the videos that tell you when to avoid Renovat (non-uniform color in leather, and painted-on patinas, for instance).

Before you polish with wax (Saphir’s come in metal tins), polish with cream (which comes in glass jars). Saphir’s high-end line of cream polish comes in 8-10 colors max, I believe; their Beauté du Cuir cream, the standard line, comes in many other colors. Pay attention to color.

Saphir’s pigmented wax polishes are awesome, but be careful of color. There is no navy-pigmented was, so after I polish my navy Oak Streets with navy polish, I shine them with neutral wax.

Watch as many shoe shine tutorials as you can by Kirby Allison and Trenton and Heath. Follow their instructions and they will fill in the blanks.

And read up on leather. Oil-tanned boots just need a good Dubbin for regular cleaning, conditioning and shining; there are many out there — Saphir’s are Everest (vegetable base) and HP Dubbin Graisse (salmon oil)

Study and good luck!

— TenTriply

Yeah, Saphir is the gold standard and worth investing in.

As Ten Triply said, you'll need three things. 1. Conditioner. 2. Cream. 3. Wax.

I would myself recommend the renovateur as, even if it is expensive, it is just so good. It even imparts shine by itself, but the cream universal is also fabulous, and you can't go wrong with either.

In respect to the cream, I suggest personally that you go the Beaut de Cuir route to start off with. The pommadier wax is fabulous, but much of what you need with a cream can be achieved by the Beaut de Cuir. It also will more easily and readily match your shoe colour as it has like, 40 shoe colours. It's also sometimes more than half as cheap as the Pommadier, with maybe 10% less quality.

For that matter, you can probably use the Beaut du Cuir wax as well, but I prefer the Medalle d'Or line because the wax just goes on so easy and becomes so glossy with so little work. Nevertheless, you can get an amazing gloss with just the BdC line of work, and if you add in the Amiral mirror gloss, you can get almost as good as the MDO.

Make sure you have a horse hair brush for brushing your shoes and a nice chamois (buffing rag) for applying and buffing the cream and wax (you can also use a dauber for both). A little spray bottle for water is recommended as well because you want to add water to the wax (sparingly) for the highest gloss.

Also, here's a trick: use a lady's nylon stocking for the final buff to get an extremely high gloss shine with virtually no effort.

Thank you to both of you for your extensive advice.

Would this advice also apply to a darker kudu leather shoe like the AE Patton?

Patton Cap-toe Boot with Dainite Rubber Sole | Men's Boots | Allen Edmonds

Handcrafted Since 1922. Shop the Men's Patton Cap-toe Boot with Dainite Rubber Sole by Allen Edmonds. Luxury footwear, apparel & leather goods. Free shipping on orders $100+

www.allenedmonds.com

 

[Trusar]

I use Saphir Renovateur on all of my shoes (from low end shoes to C&J) without issue. I recently bought a new pair of shoes, from a manufacturer who I will not name, and I applied Renovateur to the first shoe as I always do. To my surprise, it appears the Renovateur stripped the shoe of its color. The shoes are one week old and I've only worn them once. I have already emailed the manufacturer to ask for guidance. In the meantime, what do you think happened here? Will my local cobbler be able to fix this?

Don't apply saphir renovateur to crust leather it's too harsh. Research it on the Internet.

 

[willyto]

Don't apply saphir renovateur to crust leather it's too harsh. Research it on the Internet.

May I add that there's literally no reason to buy it having alternatives like Bick 4 or Cadillac shoe conditioner(For me they're basically the same, also the address is the same and descriptions are alike, on Bick 4 it says Manufactured FOR Bickmore)

Those won't darken leather and they don't remove the finish of leather shoes. It's a lot cheaper with more amount and you can use it liberally in many applications, it's very practical for the liner and insole too.

 

[Opethian]

Don't apply saphir renovateur to crust leather it's too harsh. Research it on the Internet.

How do you even identify Crust or aniline leather? Excuse my ignorance but I find it hard to choose between universal cream and renovateur if I can not correctly identify the type of leather at hand.

 

[Rugger]

Chromexcel.....Renovateur good enough or should I get some VSC or Bick4?

 

[TenTriply]

Can't quite read the writings on the tin yet, but here's what i ended up with

View attachment 1344399

Nice! I haven’t seen Amiral Gloss before, I’ll look it up.

Can't quite read the writings on the tin yet, but here's what i ended up with

View attachment 1344399

Amiral Gloss product info from MonsieurChaussure.com:

The neutral polish paste Amiral Gloss by Saphir produces a mirror finish on the ends.

The deluxe neutral polish paste Amiral Gloss by Saphir helps you create a mirror finish on your leather shoes. Its oily texture makes it easy to apply when you want to produce that high-gloss shine on the ends of your shoes. The polish paste Amiral Gloss by Saphir contains higher concentrations of beeswax making it a perfect choice for giving a radiant shine on any smooth leather item while creating a waterproof barrier to protect the leather against impact damage and dirt. The Saphir Amiral Gloss polish paste is an everyday favourite among Monsieur Chaussure’s shoe care experts for glossing leather shoes. The neutral colour is designed to suit any pair of smooth leather shoes, no matter the colour.

Use the Saphir Amiral Gloss polish paste only on leather that has been cleaned and treated with a shoe cream. Never apply the polish paste to unclean and untreated leather as it contains no nourishing elements and could damage the leather. With this highly recommended product, a cotton polishing cloth and a bit of water are all you need to get that mirror finish on the extremities of your shoes.

Store your Saphir Amiral Gloss polish paste in a cool, dry place and make sure to close the tin properly in order to prevent the polish from drying out.

 

[JFWR]

Can't quite read the writings on the tin yet, but here's what i ended up with

View attachment 1344399

You did a tremendously good job with the Amiral gloss.

I honestly can't see TOO much difference between a good Amiral and a good MDO mirror gloss shine. Perhaps the difference is in the number of coats, but the quality finish is about the same.

If you want to gloss it up even more, let it sit a day, put on a few more coats of mirror gloss, and give it a final buff with a lady's nylon stocking.

 

[JFWR]

Nice! I haven’t seen Amiral Gloss before, I’ll look it up.


Amiral Gloss product info from MonsieurChaussure.com:

The neutral polish paste Amiral Gloss by Saphir produces a mirror finish on the ends.

The deluxe neutral polish paste Amiral Gloss by Saphir helps you create a mirror finish on your leather shoes. Its oily texture makes it easy to apply when you want to produce that high-gloss shine on the ends of your shoes. The polish paste Amiral Gloss by Saphir contains higher concentrations of beeswax making it a perfect choice for giving a radiant shine on any smooth leather item while creating a waterproof barrier to protect the leather against impact damage and dirt. The Saphir Amiral Gloss polish paste is an everyday favourite among Monsieur Chaussure’s shoe care experts for glossing leather shoes. The neutral colour is designed to suit any pair of smooth leather shoes, no matter the colour.

Use the Saphir Amiral Gloss polish paste only on leather that has been cleaned and treated with a shoe cream. Never apply the polish paste to unclean and untreated leather as it contains no nourishing elements and could damage the leather. With this highly recommended product, a cotton polishing cloth and a bit of water are all you need to get that mirror finish on the extremities of your shoes.

Store your Saphir Amiral Gloss polish paste in a cool, dry place and make sure to close the tin properly in order to prevent the polish from drying out.

The Amiral Gloss is the BdC line of mirror gloss. It's almost as good as the MDO line, just like the BDC in general.

It works stupendously well, but like the BdC waxes in general, they're just slightly less good compared to the MDO.

 

[Lumaca]

You did a tremendously good job with the Amiral gloss.

I honestly can't see TOO much difference between a good Amiral and a good MDO mirror gloss shine. Perhaps the difference is in the number of coats, but the quality finish is about the same.

If you want to gloss it up even more, let it sit a day, put on a few more coats of mirror gloss, and give it a final buff with a lady's nylon stocking.

What my shoeshine guy told me was that Amiral is the "cheat" for mirror shine, and it DOES glide so smoothly over the leather, and the shine came much quicker than MDO.

Another example:

 

[TenTriply]

Spectacular! How well does it hold the shine — how well does it persist — and how easy is it to bring back the shine with buffing only?

What my shoeshine guy told me was that Amiral is the "cheat" for mirror shine, and it DOES glide so smoothly over the leather, and the shine came much quicker than MDO.

Another example:

View attachment 1345036

 

[JFWR]

What my shoeshine guy told me was that Amiral is the "cheat" for mirror shine, and it DOES glide so smoothly over the leather, and the shine came much quicker than MDO.

Another example:

View attachment 1345036

Hmm, would you say that? The Amiral Gloss is great, but having used both the MDO Mirror Gloss and the Amiral Gloss, I'd give the slight edge to the MDO gloss. The shine lasts longer and is more durable and slightly easier to apply.

We're talking like, 10 v. 9.5, though. THe difference is not that big, and Amiral Gloss is fantastic in general.

 

[JFWR]

Spectacular! How well does it hold the shine — how well does it persist — and how easy is it to bring back the shine with buffing only?

I found you needed to add another coat whenever my shoes got a bit dull, but you could conceivably just buff it with a buffing brush or your chamois and get a good response, but I'd say slightly less than the MDO.

Again, it's a matter of degrees.

 

[Opethian]

So I just received these shoes! From a respected brand.
Can any of you gentlemen please tell me what this is? And how to fix it? Or is it something normal and I should just let it be.