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

[JFWR]

Quick question: picked up some Barker Albert for work, they have the ‘high shine’ corrected grain finish. The finish doesn’t seem particularly absorbent at all, so wondering will a cream polish or Renovateur have any effect? Or should I not waste my time and stick to wax polish?

Polished cobbler/book binder/corrected grain sometimes can take polish, sometimes not, depending on exactly what's up. I'd probably just stick with some wax, and even then, good luck.

 

[Azhar]

I am late and new to the shoe care process but at least I started. So I have bought Saphir Renovateur + Saphir Pommadier in Havana brown. To get me started I will also buy black saphir Pommadier and later on will add a light brown or cognac...but which wax (Pate de lux) to buy? Neutral or coloured (color coordinated with the Saphir Pommadier?)

Also, should I also buy a tin of Saphir Mirror Gloss or is it overkill? If it's a must, and beacuse I only want to buy one tin (the most expensive tin out of all type of products) for all shoes, should I buy the netural mirror gloss?

 

[Goofy]

I am late and new to the shoe care process but at least I started. So I have bought Saphir Renovateur + Saphir Pommadier in Havana brown. To get me started I will also buy black saphir Pommadier and later on will add a light brown or cognac...but which wax (Pate de lux) to buy? Neutral or coloured (color coordinated with the Saphir Pommadier?)

Also, should I also buy a tin of Saphir Mirror Gloss or is it overkill? If it's a must, and beacuse I only want to buy one tin (the most expensive tin out of all type of products) for all shoes, should I buy the netural mirror gloss?

I suggest you get the blue pate de lux for extra depth when polishing black leather. Cognac is a nice shade. Get the neutral mirror gloss given it can be used to achieve a mirror shine on all shoes.

 

[JFWR]

I am late and new to the shoe care process but at least I started. So I have bought Saphir Renovateur + Saphir Pommadier in Havana brown. To get me started I will also buy black saphir Pommadier and later on will add a light brown or cognac...but which wax (Pate de lux) to buy? Neutral or coloured (color coordinated with the Saphir Pommadier?)

Also, should I also buy a tin of Saphir Mirror Gloss or is it overkill? If it's a must, and beacuse I only want to buy one tin (the most expensive tin out of all type of products) for all shoes, should I buy the netural mirror gloss?

I personally recommend against the pommadier line of saphir. I prefer the cream polish from their BDC line, which is less greasy and less prone to spottiness.

I agree with Goofy that navy is the best colour to use on black because you get a beautiful shine from it with deep, deep depth of colour.

For brown, cognac works for light and dark. Incidentally, if you want to darken up your brown shoes, you'll want black! LOL. I use black more often on brown shoes than I do black polish on black shoes, as I use blue for black!

Neutral mirror gloss is the way to go, but you can achieve a mirror shine just with the pate de luxe.

 

[Azhar]

I suggest you get the blue pate de lux for extra depth when polishing black leather. Cognac is a nice shade. Get the neutral mirror gloss given it can be used to achieve a mirror shine on all shoes.

Noted about the blue pate de lux for black shoes, but how about the pommadier? For black should I buy black pommadier or blue as well?

Also, between Light brown, medium brown and cognac which is the most versatile shade of pommadier to go with the tobacco I already bought?

 

[Azhar]

I personally recommend against the pommadier line of saphir. I prefer the cream polish from their BDC line, which is less greasy and less prone to spottiness.

I agree with Goofy that navy is the best colour to use on black because you get a beautiful shine from it with deep, deep depth of colour.

For brown, cognac works for light and dark. Incidentally, if you want to darken up your brown shoes, you'll want black! LOL. I use black more often on brown shoes than I do black polish on black shoes, as I use blue for black!

Neutral mirror gloss is the way to go, but you can achieve a mirror shine just with the pate de luxe.

Thanks, I will still try the pommadier see how it goes.
Are you refering to pommadier (cream) or pate (wax) when you talk about the colours? Still confused a bit so on black shoes should I apply blue pommadier and blue pate de lux? or Black pommadier and blue pate de lux?

 

[JFWR]

Thanks, I will still try the pommadier see how it goes.
Are you refering to pommadier (cream) or pate (wax) when you talk about the colours? Still confused a bit so on black shoes should I apply blue pommadier and blue pate de lux? or Black pommadier and blue pate de lux?

Blue cream and blue wax.

 

[Azhar]

Me again folks, getting ready for a Sunday of shoe shine and need further advice

I have: Pommadier: Saphir Navy and Saphir Havana (Tobacco)
Pate de lux: Navy
Conditioner: Renovateur
Finishing: Saphir Mirror Gloss Neutral
So with the black shoes being a job done in terms of shopping... Thinking about brown...

These are some of my brown shoes in the photo below , the last two on the right side can be done with Havana cream (but not sure about the wax)
-The first pair from left is lighter than all (it's a Charles Thyrwitt - probably made by Barker) which can show red undertones in the dark or appear as tan in bright light. The second one is Loake Dark Brown Grain but is slightly lighter than the other 2 dark browns and it's not that uniform, having a very slight redish tinge not a lot.

What I want to buy: Maximum 1 other Saphir Cream and maximum 2 Saphir pate de lux (wax) to cover all the Brown shoes I have.

I was thinking of 1 Cognac cream or 1 Mahogany Cream or 1 Medium / Light? Brown Cream - Which one would best match that one single pair on the left?

For wax I am considering: 1x Cognac and 1 x Light brown (Not sure If I should buy the Havana wax to go along the Havana cream as a lighter wax is more versatile).

Also... in addition to all this should I buy edge dressing from Fieblings' or should I just use the cream / wax instead?

Thanks in advance guys, almost there

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Does anybody have experience with Saphir Nappa Leather balm? I'm curious how it behaves differently from like a lexol or bick 4.

 

[JFWR]

Me again folks, getting ready for a Sunday of shoe shine and need further advice

I have: Pommadier: Saphir Navy and Saphir Havana (Tobacco)
Pate de lux: Navy
Conditioner: Renovateur
Finishing: Saphir Mirror Gloss Neutral
So with the black shoes being a job done in terms of shopping... Thinking about brown...

These are some of my brown shoes in the photo below , the last two on the right side can be done with Havana cream (but not sure about the wax)
-The first pair from left is lighter than all (it's a Charles Thyrwitt - probably made by Barker) which can show red undertones in the dark or appear as tan in bright light. The second one is Loake Dark Brown Grain but is slightly lighter than the other 2 dark browns and it's not that uniform, having a very slight redish tinge not a lot.

What I want to buy: Maximum 1 other Saphir Cream and maximum 2 Saphir pate de lux (wax) to cover all the Brown shoes I have.

I was thinking of 1 Cognac cream or 1 Mahogany Cream or 1 Medium / Light? Brown Cream - Which one would best match that one single pair on the left?

For wax I am considering: 1x Cognac and 1 x Light brown (Not sure If I should buy the Havana wax to go along the Havana cream as a lighter wax is more versatile).

Also... in addition to all this should I buy edge dressing from Fieblings' or should I just use the cream / wax instead?

Thanks in advance guys, almost there

Cognac. Buy cognac cream and pate de luxe.

Here's the rule of thumb:

If the cream/wax is lighter than the shoe, you can use it on the shoe, and it won't change a good amount of the colour at all.

If darker, you can also use it, but it will change the colour.

 

[ajay199127]

Gents, I need your kind advice on my assumption.

Burgundy for GG Margaux
Red or Hermes Red for AM Melograno
Medium or Havana for Oct10 pair.

I am so surprised with how strong the renovator and pure polish conditioner works in stripping the color

 

[JFWR]

View attachment 1760588 View attachment 1760589 View attachment 1760590

Gents, I need your kind advice on my assumption.

Burgundy for GG Margaux
Red or Hermes Red for AM Melograno
Medium or Havana for Oct10 pair.

I am so surprised with how strong the renovator and pure polish conditioner works in stripping the color

Top and bottom both look like burgundy to me, but the top pair has a patina that you might want to preserve with neutral polish.

Looks like cognac would be the best fit for the 2nd one.

 

[Goofy]

Me again folks, getting ready for a Sunday of shoe shine and need further advice

I have: Pommadier: Saphir Navy and Saphir Havana (Tobacco)
Pate de lux: Navy
Conditioner: Renovateur
Finishing: Saphir Mirror Gloss Neutral
So with the black shoes being a job done in terms of shopping... Thinking about brown...

These are some of my brown shoes in the photo below , the last two on the right side can be done with Havana cream (but not sure about the wax)
-The first pair from left is lighter than all (it's a Charles Thyrwitt - probably made by Barker) which can show red undertones in the dark or appear as tan in bright light. The second one is Loake Dark Brown Grain but is slightly lighter than the other 2 dark browns and it's not that uniform, having a very slight redish tinge not a lot.

What I want to buy: Maximum 1 other Saphir Cream and maximum 2 Saphir pate de lux (wax) to cover all the Brown shoes I have.

I was thinking of 1 Cognac cream or 1 Mahogany Cream or 1 Medium / Light? Brown Cream - Which one would best match that one single pair on the left?

For wax I am considering: 1x Cognac and 1 x Light brown (Not sure If I should buy the Havana wax to go along the Havana cream as a lighter wax is more versatile).

Also... in addition to all this should I buy edge dressing from Fieblings' or should I just use the cream / wax instead?

Thanks in advance guys, almost there

I agree with JFWR. However I’d consider also purchasing medium brown wax for the tan colored shoe.

 

[Ma Lau]

Still cannot ubderstand why people so tout Saphir Renovateur............
Having used it on two pairs of shoes and a pair of boots, following instructions, a few years ago.............then polished them with House Brand wax, it looked really beautiful.
..................but unfortunately, one day it started to drizzle and the shoes were left with the most horrid water marks, tested out on the other pair and boots too, same result.
Came to the conclusion, the cost of Saphir products also included costs for hyping.

I would reccommend totally avoiding using Saphir Renovateur but don't take my words for it, try it for yourself and you'll see why I'm bashing Saphir products.

 

[basu13]

Still cannot ubderstand why people so tout Saphir Renovateur............
Having used it on two pairs of shoes and a pair of boots, following instructions, a few years ago.............then polished them with House Brand wax, it looked really beautiful.
..................but unfortunately, one day it started to drizzle and the shoes were left with the most horrid water marks, tested out on the other pair and boots too, same result.
Came to the conclusion, the cost of Saphir products also included costs for hyping.

I would reccommend totally avoiding using Saphir Renovateur but don't take my words for it, try it for yourself and you'll see why I'm bashing Saphir products.

Stories such as these seem to abound across various fora. Now I'm really apprehensive about using Renovateur on anything but plain calf leather, and even that seems to have mixed experiences. Feel somewhat let down for buying into the hype and getting a bottle lol. Not sure why lot of popular channels recommended it, if indeed it has such negative effects.

Saphir Nappa leather balm seems to have a much less strong effect, have used it on my Trickers burnished calf boots without any untoward results/ effects.