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

[Munky]

Some reading:

Looseness - www.leather-dictionary.com - The Leather Dictionary

www.leather-dictionary.com

QC or Not QC? When To Worry—Or Not—About Your Shoes’ Flaws - Stitchdown

At least for a minute, at least when they're brand new, we tend to want our shoes and boots to be perfect. The truth, though, is that quality shoemakers execute by hand many of the processes they use to build your footwear. Which means: variability is a given, and mistakes will be made. That said,

www.stitchdown.com

In-depth - Leather quality vs leather properties - Shoegazing.com

To judge leather quality is a science of its own, and many times people confuse leather quality with specific properties of various types of leather.

shoegazing.com

Thank you very much for those references, Mercurio, they are very useful and probably all shoe wearers should read them!

 

[upsett1_spaghett1]

"An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age.'

 

[JFWR]

"An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age.'



View attachment 1578116

*Mournful space trumpets rise to a stirring crescendo off in the distance.*

 

[Lobster]

Hey, I purchased pair of nice old shoes and they got some small dark spots on all over them (picture below). I was wondering can anyone identify what those spots are? I’m a bit worried could they be mold because spots are black/really dark brown and the shoes smell a bit funky.

I washed them with saddle soap and after that wiped them with white vinegar + water mixture but spots are still there. Any idea what to do with the shoes?

 

[Reiver]

Hey, I purchased pair of nice old shoes and they got some small dark spots on all over them (picture below). I was wondering can anyone identify what those spots are? I’m a bit worried could they be mold because spots are black/really dark brown and the shoes smell a bit funky.

I washed them with saddle soap and after that wiped them with white vinegar + water mixture but spots are still there. Any idea what to do with the shoes?
View attachment 1578255

I have a feeling it is mould unfortunately. Lovely shoes by the way.

Not sure what the remedy would be, I have a feeling they might need to be stripped and re dyed probably a darker shade to hide those.

I hope there’s a simpler solution.

 

[Lobster]

I have a feeling it is mould unfortunately. Lovely shoes by the way.

Not sure what the remedy would be, I have a feeling they might need to be stripped and re dyed probably a darker shade to hide those.

I hope there’s a simpler solution.

Ah that is really unfortunate. Thank you for your help! I have to figure out what to do, throwing them to trash would be really sad.

 

[florent]

I think mould too but it doesn't mean it's still "alive" and problematic by itself. I would stripe the inside and outside with bleach just to be sure, wear them as is and inspect regularly for mould growth. If you want to get rid of the spots you would need to redye in a much darker color as said by @Reiver

 

[Lobster]

I think mould too but it doesn't mean it's still "alive" and problematic by itself. I would stripe the inside and outside with bleach just to be sure, wear them as is and inspect regularly for mould growth. If you want to get rid of the spots you would need to redye in a much darker color as said by @Reiver

Thank you for the tips! Quick visit to google did not make me much wiser about using bleach on shoes. I assume I just have to wipe them with it and it doesen’t harm the shoes other way than strips the colour off?

 

[florent]

Thank you for the tips! Quick visit to google did not make me much wiser about using bleach on shoes. I assume I just have to wipe them with it and it doesen’t harm the shoes other way than strips the colour off?

Yes just a light wipe to kill potential mold remnants, then a conditioning.

 

[Lobster]

Yes just a light wipe to kill potential mold remnants, then a conditioning.

I’ll do that, thank you! Have to find leather dye next.

 

[Munky]

I’ll do that, thank you! Have to find leather dye next.

Just a thought...If you are nervous about dyeing your shoes, once you have stripped them off, you might find an experienced cobbler who would do a really professional job on them. I did that recently and had The Shoe Healer, here in the UK, change the colour of one of my pairs of Tricker's. They did an incredible job, charged £50 and I got back pretty much a new pair of shoes. I know that I could never have done what they did.

You have a really good pair of shoes there!

 

[marlinspike]

Colourlock and Leather Doctor both make products for moldy car seats. Probably works on shoes too?

 

[marlinspike]

Neutral polish can really lift off a lot of polish. I tend to suggest not using it on using cream polish as a patina for this reason.

However, if you -really- let it dry, and do not rub it in as a rubbing agent - as neutral wax is a great way of getting RID of cream polish - then it should be okay.

I think you might have let it stay too wet or rubbed it too hard.

How long did you wait?

If possible, I suggest not using neutral over patina with cream polish, as you are better off using the same colour wax on the patina.

So I tried waiting a long time, but it still takes up a lot of color. It seems to be more in the application phase than in the buffing phase that it strips off all the cream polish. Is the neutral mirror gloss just not very useful? I use an old dress shirt and light pressure. Should I just use bare fingers or something?

 

[JFWR]

So I tried waiting a long time, but it still takes up a lot of color. It seems to be more in the application phase than in the buffing phase that it strips off all the cream polish. Is the neutral mirror gloss just not very useful? I use an old dress shirt and light pressure. Should I just use bare fingers or something?

Neutral mirror gloss shouldn't take much off because it's so dry. I use neutral mirror gloss all the time on my shoes I use pate de luxe on first.

I have never had a problem with the neutral mirror gloss to that level.

Or are you talking about the regular wax polish?

 

[marlinspike]

Neutral mirror gloss shouldn't take much off because it's so dry. I use neutral mirror gloss all the time on my shoes I use pate de luxe on first.

I have never had a problem with the neutral mirror gloss to that level.

Or are you talking about the regular wax polish?

No I'm using neutral saphir mirror gloss over Medaille D'Or cream. ********** side of things, I see almost all the color of the cream come off the shoe, and on the shoe side of things its like the cream gets mixed into the mirror gloss so it won't shine properly.