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

[avivby]

1. I've got these tan loafers and want to get a good polish cream for them. What is the right product and color? I've got a Saphir cognac cream somewhere, but not sure if that's their most appropriate color. Link to Carmina

2. I see lots of contradicting advice about suede loafers. To keep it simple, what should I do other than brush them after use? Any protection spray that's actually good?

Thanks!

 

[JFWR]

1. I've got these tan loafers and want to get a good polish cream for them. What is the right product and color? I've got a Saphir cognac cream somewhere, but not sure if that's their most appropriate color.

2. I see lots of contradicting advice about suede loafers. To keep it simple, what should I do other than brush them after use? Any protection spray that's actually good?

Thanks!

I use Tarrago spray, which is Saphir's other brand. It keeps my pair of suede effectively immune to water. Besides that, I just brush and if I get any gunk on it, use a suede eraser which can be had for like, two bucks.

Could you post a pic of the tan shoes?

 

[JFWR]

Speaking of saphir, does anyone have a place they go to buy Saphir products on the cheap? Now that Pediwear is closing, I don't know where to get Saphir products without paying out the wazoo. It was literally cheaper for me to buy from England and ship to the US than to buy American. Any stores over seas that have good deals that would make the shipping cost a non-issue?

 

[avivby]

Could you post a pic of the tan shoes?

Thanks! I forgot to paste the photo, updated in the original post.

And I didn’t know about Tarrago.

 

[JFWR]

Thanks! I forgot to paste the photo, updated in the original post.

And I didn’t know about Tarrago.

Fawn cream would probably be your best bet for those shoes. For wax, I'd probably go for cognac, though that's going to be a bit redder than what you have, and slightly darker. If you're fearful, try neutral.

Guide - Saphir Medaille d'Or colours

Guide - Colours Saphir Medaille d'Or, the complete guide to all Saphir's colours of shoe cream and wax polish.

www.skolyx.se

This suggests light brown.

Maybe fawn for the cream, light brown for the wax?

 

[florent]

Speaking of saphir, does anyone have a place they go to buy Saphir products on the cheap? Now that Pediwear is closing, I don't know where to get Saphir products without paying out the wazoo. It was literally cheaper for me to buy from England and ship to the US than to buy American. Any stores over seas that have good deals that would make the shipping cost a non-issue?

You can try Valmour, they seem to ship to the US

 

[JFWR]

You can try Valmour, they seem to ship to the US

Decent price, but literally 37 Euro shipping to the US on one tin of Pate de Luxe. Y i k e s.

I might need to just become a seller of Saphir as a side hustle to buy it wholesale. :/

 

[avivby]

This suggests light brown.

Maybe fawn for the cream, light brown for the wax?

Thanks again. I'll check both light brown and fawn cream and see which is closest. For now, I'll probably stick with neutral wax.

 

[emptym]

Guys, I think I am done with shell cordovan. I have a bunch of pairs of shell (primarily from Alden and C&J). They leave a white streak in the creased spots, C&J seems to do it more than the Alden shoes. I tried just about everything to clean it up (strip off all the polish & wax with Saphir reno mat, deer bone, 50/50 water and vinegar) and nothing works. The moment I start wearing the shoes, the white streaks come back and it looks like the spots are dried out leather. I've used Saphir renovateur which gives it a good shine but won't fix the issue. Read this article and hoped that it would help but no luck so far (https://putthison.com/how-to-raise-a-shine-on-shell-cordovan-want-to/) So far, I've tried everything short of stripping the leather down with naptha fluid

I think I know what you mean. It isn't bloom, which can occur anywhere on the shoe. It's a dryness in the creased spots.

I have quite a few pairs of shell shoes from different makers, and it only occurs on one pair from Alden (for BB). You can see it in this pic, on the right:

Both shoes have been polished, brushed, and worn one day (and not treed. I suck.) The one on the left is normal. The one on the right has that dryness at the creases.

The only thing that has helped is Huberd Shoe Grease. And, even that's not perfect, as you can see. But it's way better for this than Saphir's shell cream, Venetian, Pure Polish cream, etc. It turns the white into more of a milk chocolate, which blends in better. Huberd's is more oily/greasy than other creams, so I wouldn't use it on anything else, except maybe an oily leather. But for this, it helps.

 

[forex]

I am wearing the shell pennies (C&J) today and here is what I meant.

 

[Mercurio]

I am wearing the shell pennies (C&J) today and here is what I meant.

I don't know much about cordovan leather, but I would think that they are saturated with all kinds of products, according to what you have said. Maybe intense brushing without any more creams or oils would help.

 

[Shawnc]

I am wearing the shell pennies (C&J) today and here is what I meant.

Not sure of the cause or cure as I have this on a couple of my shells. Only those that I have brought used. Hope you figure it out as those are a beautiful pair.

 

[JFWR]

I am wearing the shell pennies (C&J) today and here is what I meant.

Neetsfoot oil.

My suggestion is neetsfoot oil.

I once had some dry spots on the shell rolls and using neetsfoot oil got rid of them for the most part.

Get some neets foot oil, oil up a rag, and put on a medium coat of neetsfoot oil on the whole shoe. Let dry over night, then wipe off any excess.

However, as you have used so many products on the shoes right now, be mindful that you might just be adding more gunk on the shoes. I'd consider the advice to try brushing as much as possible to get the shoes clean, but chances are with things like having used lighter fluid on the shell, you've probably dried up the shell to a certain extent anyway and it could use the moisturizing.

Be mindful that you could darken the shell some with neetsfoot oil.

 

[forex]

Thanks, I may give it a try. I want to repeat it again, this condition was there before my attempts to fix it. I don’t think that applying different products made it better or worse. Also, this only happens when the shoe creases, so unless I brush the shoes after each step, brushing doesn’t help. And these shoes are at least 10 years old!

 

[JFWR]

Thanks, I may give it a try. I want to repeat it again, this condition was there before my attempts to fix it. I don’t think that applying different products made it better or worse. Also, this only happens when the shoe creases, so unless I brush the shoes after each step, brushing doesn’t help. And these shoes are at least 10 years old!

Neetsfoot oil.

I can't guarantee, but I can tell you it will work.

Be sure not to get some crap that has anything else in it. Just neetsfoot oil.