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

[JFWR]

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.

That is so strange. I've never had this problem.

Like here's an example of me using cream polish to antique a pair of Allen Edmonds and then gloss them after with neutral.



My suggestion would be this:

Apply cream polish. Let it dry and then buff to a nice, soft shine. Be sure not to use too much and try to work the cream into the leather by applying moderate pressure.

Apply the same colour regular pate de luxe on the shoes for three or more layers, making sure to buff well.

Then apply the mirror gloss with just a little bit of water. Just a little.

Finish with one last layer of pate de luxe, applied thinly as you can, and buff with just a drop of water and finish with a lady's nylon stocking for extra gloss.

 

[ThriftyDandy]

I'm trying to achieve a true mirror shine but I keep running into the same streaking problem no matter the polish I use.
I've tried using several brands of wax polish and I've just upgraded to Saphir Mirror Gloss, but I keep running into the same problem when trying to achieve a mirror shine. No matter what I do I see these "micro streaks" (very fine lines in the wax in the direction that I've been polishing; back-and-forth, front-to-back, small circles, etc.)
I buy most of my shoes second hand so I typically start by giving them a once over with leather moisturizer and/or shoe cream before moving on to wax polish. I then use the popular technique of applying several layers of wax to begin with (to fill the pores of the leather) and then buffing with a cotton cloth (I've used old t-shirt, a Saphir polishing cloth, and an off-brand polishing cloth) and then very slowly building up further layers of wax, intermittently buffing with a very small amount of ice water (I've tried with and without a few drops of isopropyl alcohol in the water). This produces a decent shine that I can see a reflection in, but it only ever gets so shiny and the whole time while polishing I can see these micro streaks in the wax that I can't seem to get rid of.
Does anyone know how I can avoid this or what I might be doing wrong to cause this?

 

[Goofy]

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.

My guess is you may be applying to much mirror gloss. When it comes to achieving a mirror shine, less is more. Layering is key. Besides that, I’d rather apply mirror gloss onto polish than cream. Plus don’t forget to brush between the two applications.

 

[Goofy]

I'm trying to achieve a true mirror shine but I keep running into the same streaking problem no matter the polish I use.
I've tried using several brands of wax polish and I've just upgraded to Saphir Mirror Gloss, but I keep running into the same problem when trying to achieve a mirror shine. No matter what I do I see these "micro streaks" (very fine lines in the wax in the direction that I've been polishing; back-and-forth, front-to-back, small circles, etc.)
I buy most of my shoes second hand so I typically start by giving them a once over with leather moisturizer and/or shoe cream before moving on to wax polish. I then use the popular technique of applying several layers of wax to begin with (to fill the pores of the leather) and then buffing with a cotton cloth (I've used old t-shirt, a Saphir polishing cloth, and an off-brand polishing cloth) and then very slowly building up further layers of wax, intermittently buffing with a very small amount of ice water (I've tried with and without a few drops of isopropyl alcohol in the water). This produces a decent shine that I can see a reflection in, but it only ever gets so shiny and the whole time while polishing I can see these micro streaks in the wax that I can't seem to get rid of.
Does anyone know how I can avoid this or what I might be doing wrong to cause this?

I’d suggest more frequent use of ice water. In clarification, not more water, just more frequent application of it. Your cloth should constantly remain damp, or else it’ll become scratchy. Another pro tip. Towards the end, breath onto the shoe. The moisture in your breath is perfect to achieve a high gloss mirror shine.

Plus all that rubbing can wear down a shining cloth and make it scratchy. Move over to a pristine piece of cloth towards the end of your shining routine to avoid this.

 

[ThriftyDandy]

I’d suggest more frequent use of ice water. In clarification, not more water, just more frequent application of it. Your cloth should constantly remain damp, or else it’ll become scratchy. Another pro tip. Towards the end, breath onto the shoe. The moisture in your breath is perfect to achieve a high gloss mirror shine.

Plus all that rubbing can wear down a shining cloth and make it scratchy. Move over to a pristine piece of cloth towards the end of your shining routine to avoid this.

Thank you, I'll give that a shot!

 

[JUAN MANUEL]

I'm trying to achieve a true mirror shine but I keep running into the same streaking problem no matter the polish I use.
I've tried using several brands of wax polish and I've just upgraded to Saphir Mirror Gloss, but I keep running into the same problem when trying to achieve a mirror shine. No matter what I do I see these "micro streaks" (very fine lines in the wax in the direction that I've been polishing; back-and-forth, front-to-back, small circles, etc.)
I buy most of my shoes second hand so I typically start by giving them a once over with leather moisturizer and/or shoe cream before moving on to wax polish. I then use the popular technique of applying several layers of wax to begin with (to fill the pores of the leather) and then buffing with a cotton cloth (I've used old t-shirt, a Saphir polishing cloth, and an off-brand polishing cloth) and then very slowly building up further layers of wax, intermittently buffing with a very small amount of ice water (I've tried with and without a few drops of isopropyl alcohol in the water). This produces a decent shine that I can see a reflection in, but it only ever gets so shiny and the whole time while polishing I can see these micro streaks in the wax that I can't seem to get rid of.
Does anyone know how I can avoid this or what I might be doing wrong to cause this?

This can help (and also using less cream):

A helpfull addition to my shoecare kit, "Premiun Goat Hair Polishing Brush" from A Fine Pair of Shoes.

Great for the last "hand" for your shoes. I used it in my Church's Grafton in cordovan without any moisturer or cream and had a nice surprise.

 

[Mercurio]

X-Post from the Cheaney thread:

Last December I bought a pair of Cheaney's Jarrow Tundra Waxy Suede boots, drew with the very nice "tanned" colour as they were shown in their product photos:

The real ones that I received are very, very much lighter in colour, something that I would call a "coffee milkshake" with a lot of milk on it: I was somehow disappointed, as it proved to be harder to combine with my usual outfits.

Light changes their colour quite a lot, and I wasn't happy with the "milkshake" one...

I asked in different forums how to get a darker tone without having to dye them. As I didn't get any suitable answer, I decided to experiment with a DIY home experiment: as what I had in my mind was a darker tone of coffee, why not try with some coffee to purposely "stain" my boots?

Instead of making a dark coffee, I decided to use the grounded coffee beams without water, just rubbing them to see what would result...

It was a "kitchen work" that I repeated a few times after brushing them to remove the excess grounded coffee and, as final intent, I decided to steam them to get some humidity that would reinforce the "staining" process. As a final step, hard brushing and a vacuum cleaner...

The outcome was better than I thought: they acquired a different colour tone, without seeming dyed even though they still lighter than the Cheaney's product images, more of a light polo suede colour:

I hope you like my DIY experiment and the final result...

 

[Munky]

X-Post from the Cheaney thread:

Last December I bought a pair of Cheaney's Jarrow Tundra Waxy Suede boots, drew with the very nice "tanned" colour as they were shown in their product photos:

View attachment 1581879​

The real ones that I received are very, very much lighter in colour, something that I would call a "coffee milkshake" with a lot of milk on it: I was somehow disappointed, as it proved to be harder to combine with my usual outfits.

Light changes their colour quite a lot, and I wasn't happy with the "milkshake" one...

I asked in different forums how to get a darker tone without having to dye them. As I didn't get any suitable answer, I decided to experiment with a DIY home experiment: as what I had in my mind was a darker tone of coffee, why not try with some coffee to purposely "stain" my boots?

Instead of making a dark coffee, I decided to use the grounded coffee beams without water, just rubbing them to see what would result...

It was a "kitchen work" that I repeated a few times after brushing them to remove the excess grounded coffee and, as final intent, I decided to steam them to get some humidity that would reinforce the "staining" process. As a final step, hard brushing and a vacuum cleaner...

The outcome was better than I thought: they acquired a different colour tone, without seeming dyed even though they still lighter than the Cheaney's product images, more of a light polo suede colour:

I hope you like my DIY experiment and the final result...

A brave and successful move! Congratulations on the outcome.

 

[florent]

X-Post from the Cheaney thread:

I hope you like my DIY experiment and the final result...

Well done! The final color is much better in my opinion.
Would be curious to know how they evolve with time if you care to share

 

[Mercurio]

Well done! The final color is much better in my opinion.
Would be curious to know how they evolve with time if you care to share

I certainly will, the worst thing that could happen if they lose their new colour, is that I have to do it again.

 

[JFWR]

I certainly will, the worst thing that could happen if they lose their new colour, is that I have to do it again.

It seems like the suede won't be able to be undyed so easily.

 

[willyto]

The only thing that would worry me is that it could stain your trousers maybe.

 

[Jazzthief]

Does anyone know where as a European I could purchase Brift-H shoe care products? I am just trying out different products to try to land on the ones I like the most and Brift-H is one of these products that I have seen a lot of praise for. However, I have not come across any stockists that sell their products outside of Japan. The Armoury once stocked their products, but not anymore.

 

[FulhamShoeshine]

A couple of shines I have worked on over the past few days.

 

[CWV]

my shines

Do you use silicone and or petroleum based components?