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

[Mercurio]

Hello gentleman,

I will appreciate your help, yesterday I found a greasy french fry sitting on the vamp of my Cobbler Union beloved Utah Calf chukkas. I notice it 5 minutes after the fry's landing.

I have poured cornstrach for two nights buy the stain remains there. Any recomendation? Should I use a soft solvent like water and alcohol o water and white vinegar? Saddle soap?

Your comments will be highly appreciated.

View attachment 1645775 View attachment 1645776

Ouch!
Sorry about that.

Some tips that can help you to remove that greasy stain:

How to remove oil stains from leather shoes [ Detailed Answer ]

Clean, quality shoes make a statement and speak volumes about you. They leave an impression others will remember about you, so you should always ensure that your shoes are clean

how2removestains.com

 

[JUAN MANUEL]

Ouch!
Sorry about that.

Some tips that can help you to remove that greasy stain:

How to remove oil stains from leather shoes [ Detailed Answer ]

Clean, quality shoes make a statement and speak volumes about you. They leave an impression others will remember about you, so you should always ensure that your shoes are clean

how2removestains.com

Gracias Mercurio.

I will try white vinegar + water (50/50) and work it gently with q-tips. I will revert with news.

Best regards

 

[CWV]

Hello gentleman,

I will appreciate your help, yesterday I found a greasy french fry sitting on the vamp of my Cobbler Union beloved Utah Calf chukkas. I notice it 5 minutes after the fry's landing.

I have poured cornstrach for two nights buy the stain remains there. Any recomendation? Should I use a soft solvent like water and alcohol o water and white vinegar? Saddle soap?

Your comments will be highly appreciated.

View attachment 1645775 View attachment 1645776

Hola! This should help.

https://www.skolyx.se/en/leather-care/810-saphir-avel-hussard-stain-remover-liquid.html

Suerte, con esto y Castillo.

 

[JUAN MANUEL]

The flying french fry that landed on my chukkas saga arrived to a happy ending.

I spent a night thinking that Cobbler Union Chukkas worn 4 times where lost since cornstarch didn't work for 2 days. But the I decided to develop a plan.

1.- Cornstarch for 2 more days, but the stain did not disappear completely.
2.- With q-tips I made 2 little stains of fat in parts of the shoe that are hidden (the tongue) so I could try options and choose.
3.- I tried to clean one stain with vinegar / water and the other one with alcohol / water (in both cases 50/50) to see what happends.

The where no results so I tried a 3rd way, liquid soap mix with water and voila! It worked.

There is stil an stain but is almost invisible, tomorrow I will aplly some colored cream to even the small blem. I think that 4 days of cornstarch where the clue eventhough the first two days where frustrating.

Here some pics:

 

[Shawnc]

That is an incredible story of perseverance and in the end, it was worth it. They look great. I Ely done. Congrats!

 

[JFWR]

The flying french fry that landed on my chukkas saga arrived to a happy ending.

I spent a night thinking that Cobbler Union Chukkas worn 4 times where lost since cornstarch didn't work for 2 days. But the I decided to develop a plan.

1.- Cornstarch for 2 more days, but the stain did not disappear completely.
2.- With q-tips I made 2 little stains of fat in parts of the shoe that are hidden (the tongue) so I could try options and choose.
3.- I tried to clean one stain with vinegar / water and the other one with alcohol / water (in both cases 50/50) to see what happends.

The where no results so I tried a 3rd way, liquid soap mix with water and voila! It worked.

There is stil an stain but is almost invisible, tomorrow I will aplly some colored cream to even the small blem. I think that 4 days of cornstarch where the clue eventhough the first two days where frustrating.

Here some pics:

View attachment 1647830 View attachment 1647831 View attachment 1647832 View attachment 1647833 View attachment 1647834 View attachment 1647835 View attachment 1647836

Great job. I'm surprised oil can stain leather that much.

 

[JUAN MANUEL]

Great job. I'm surprised oil can stain leather that much.

My guess is that Utah Calf is specially sensible, maybe that's why is so soft. I should have applied some Creme Universelle o Venetian Balm or similar to built a layer to protect the leather before using them.

Or maybe I should stop eating as a troglodyte and avoid flying french fries.

 

[Mercurio]

The flying french fry that landed on my chukkas saga arrived to a happy ending.

I spent a night thinking that Cobbler Union Chukkas worn 4 times where lost since cornstarch didn't work for 2 days. But the I decided to develop a plan.

1.- Cornstarch for 2 more days, but the stain did not disappear completely.
2.- With q-tips I made 2 little stains of fat in parts of the shoe that are hidden (the tongue) so I could try options and choose.
3.- I tried to clean one stain with vinegar / water and the other one with alcohol / water (in both cases 50/50) to see what happends.

The where no results so I tried a 3rd way, liquid soap mix with water and voila! It worked.

There is stil an stain but is almost invisible, tomorrow I will aplly some colored cream to even the small blem. I think that 4 days of cornstarch where the clue eventhough the first two days where frustrating.

Here some pics:

View attachment 1647830 View attachment 1647831 View attachment 1647832 View attachment 1647833 View attachment 1647834 View attachment 1647835 View attachment 1647836

Well done, congratulations!
Those chukka boots deserved the effort.

Saludos y de nuevo, ¡felicitaciones!

 

[Duke Santos]

When caring for waxed/roughout suede, the consensus seems to be to apply a bit of dubbin grease if the leather starts to get too dry. Any thoughts on whether Barbour thorn proofing wax would do the trick or should I stick with the Saphir product?

 

[JFWR]

My guess is that Utah Calf is specially sensible, maybe that's why is so soft. I should have applied some Creme Universelle o Venetian Balm or similar to built a layer to protect the leather before using them.

Or maybe I should stop eating as a troglodyte and avoid flying french fries.

I'd imagine you'd need a wax layer to protect it more than just some moisturizer.

 

[JUAN MANUEL]

I'd imagine you'd need a wax layer to protect it more than just some moisturizer.

Agree, that is my standard procedure for new shoes but forgot.

 

[NotJeffBagwell]

For a new pair of shoes and for a recently purchased NOS pair of vintage shoes -

If I'm going to store them in a more or less climate controlled location for, say, six months, would you recommend putting shoe trees in them or leaving them without?

 

[Mercurio]

For a new pair of shoes and for a recently purchased NOS pair of vintage shoes -

If I'm going to store them in a more or less climate controlled location for, say, six months, would you recommend putting shoe trees in them or leaving them without?

I would go always with shoe trees, they “belong” to each pair and should accompany them all time except when in your feet for controlled moisture and shape.

 

[JohnMRobie]

For a new pair of shoes and for a recently purchased NOS pair of vintage shoes -

If I'm going to store them in a more or less climate controlled location for, say, six months, would you recommend putting shoe trees in them or leaving them without?

Unless they’re lasted trees I see no reason to add them if they’re NOS and you haven’t worn them and they are just going into storage assuming they’re sitting flat. If I recall I think @dieworkwear has posted about some damage to some of his pairs from using non-lasted trees in shoes in long term storage that hadn’t been worn as well.

It’s not like the leather is going to collapse or deform under the pressure of air and gravity or something while they sit in a closet.

 

[NotJeffBagwell]

Thanks for your responses, styleforum friends.

@Jmr928: It was actually the post from dieworkwear that you referenced is what gave me pause and prompted me to ask this question.

I think I'll go without the shoe trees until I start wearing them.