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

[nikolau]

I agree that sometimes hype trumps truth; however, I also think that Saphir's reputation for quality and results is shown by the recognition it has received. I, for one, know that I get superb results from using Saphir, and when you compare it to lower level stuff, the difference is really night and day. Lincoln, though, is not that low level at all.

If you don’t want to go through a ton of trial and error, and are happy paying a slight premium for tried and true, Saphir is great. Lincoln is- supposedly- popular in the army.

There are products that fill niches Saphir does not. A few that come to mind are: Lexol leather cleaner, Blackrock Leather n’ Rich conditioner, Bick 4 conditioner, CollonIil products, Pure Polish products, and VSC.

Insofar as I use any Saphir stuff, I use their greasy leather cream for my Allen Edmonds Oak Streets (CXL), their neatsfoot oil based shell creams, and mirror gloss. I do think Saphir make an exceptional product, but they’re far from unique in that regard IMHO.

 

[JFWR]

If you don’t want to go through a ton of trial and error, and are happy paying a slight premium for tried and true, Saphir is great. Lincoln is- supposedly- popular in the army.

There are products that fill niches Saphir does not. A few that come to mind are: Lexol leather cleaner, Blackrock Leather n’ Rich conditioner, Bick 4 conditioner, CollonIil products, Pure Polish products, and VSC.

Insofar as I use any Saphir stuff, I use their greasy leather cream for my Allen Edmonds Oak Streets (CXL), their neatsfoot oil based shell creams, and mirror gloss. I do think Saphir make an exceptional product, but they’re far from unique in that regard IMHO.

I'm always a little skeptical of army practices if only because they do some crazy stuff to get by inspection. Like, as much as fire shines seem to work, I ain't setting my friggin' shoes on fire, and I think it's probably in the long term a bad idea. What the military does show, though, is that a can of kiwi can indeed make a mirror shine - if you spend hours doing it.

As for your points re: other products, yeah. As I've said, in terms of leather dyes and conditioners, you can find as good as saphir elsewhere, if not even better. Though that being said, if you can get a good price on saphir stuff, their conditioners are great, too, it just isn't worth twice as much (which I don't pay, certainly) for their products over some of their competitors.

Pure Polish wax polish is about the same price (adjusted for quantity) that you can find for MDO if you know where to search for, and definitely the same price as BDC wax polishes.

 

[JFWR]

My shoe shine entry didn't win, but I'm guessing y'all will appreciate it more anyways. Probably because I didn't have Saphir cans in the photo rolleyes, poor brand representation given that the prize pack was from Saphir. Alas.

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Beautiful job!

Where was this contest?!

 

[Luigi_M]

@burgerkong ...
In my next life I hope to give my shoes a shine like yours!

 

[Munky]

@burgerkong ...
In my next life I hope to give my shoes a shine like yours!

In my next life I hope to find shoes that fit.

 

[Luigi_M]

In my next life I hope to find shoes that fit.

Brother!

 

[AlonsoMerino]

Yep, you can. Here is an example from this video where someone cuts chrome tanned common projects in half and then explains about the different types of leather

Yep, you can. Here is an example from this video where someone cuts chrome tanned common projects in half and then explains about the different types of leather

that's very interesting! wonder how the process actually works?

So offended by common projects charging 400 bucks for a chrome tan, but I guess that was expected

 

[troika]

that's very interesting! wonder how the process actually works?

So offended by common projects charging 400 bucks for a chrome tan, but I guess that was expected

Glad the video was informative for you, but honestly, it doesn't really matter, especially for common projects. Red wing iron rangers are chrome tanned, don't hear anyone winning about it.

 

[Patek]

Glad the video was informative for you, but honestly, it doesn't really matter, especially for common projects. Red wing iron rangers are chrome tanned, don't hear anyone winning about it.

I don't buy IR (mainly because of the penis shaped toe) but now I can pretend it is because of the chrome tanning.

 

[aj2603]

Can someone tell me what is the difference between the Saphir Nano Invulner Waterproofing Spray and the Saphir Medaille d’Or Super Invulner ?

 

[JFWR]

Can someone tell me what is the difference between the Saphir Nano Invulner Waterproofing Spray and the Saphir Medaille d’Or Super Invulner ?

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Kirby Allison did a video on it.



Nano Protector used to be a Tarrago brand, now it's Saphir it seems.

 

[aj2603]

Kirby Allison did a video on it.



Nano Protector used to be a Tarrago brand, now it's Saphir it seems.

I think they are 2 different products .. tarrago is a different brand ..

 

[JFWR]

I think they are 2 different products .. tarrago is a different brand ..

Saphir owns Tarrago.

 

[aj2603]

Saphir owns Tarrago.

i didnt know that.. thanks

 

[vim147]

I got some Saphir products and shined my shoes "properly" for the 1st time.
Not sure if I was doing it correctly. I've watched Prestons and Kirbys Youtube tutorials.
I polished a cheap pair of black casual brogues. Didn't go for a completely mirror shine. The thing that stopped me to keep on shining was that my shoulder started to hurt with all the circular rubbing motion.

I used Renomat, Renovateur, Black Pommadier, Neutral MDO wax. Maybe i had to put in extra effort as i used Renomat to strip off old wax ?

Also how do i know many layers Renovateur and Pommadier i need to apply ?