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

[Betelgeuse]

I recently used saphir renomat on a pair of shoes and stripped the dye by accident on the toe area. I've since been able to restore most of the colour using a saphir shoe cream but when I come round to using a water polishing technique, this seems to strip off all the shoe cream and go back to the colour when renomat stripped it prior.

any suggestions to fix this?

Probably the finish in the toe was made by creams. I have used Renomat in my shoes and never had issues with it.

 

[FatTuesday]

Possibly not shoe "care", but I've been experimenting with a pair of burgundy shell penny loafers. I stripped the finish starting with warm soap and water and finally with Renomat and Lexol. I sanded and changed the edge color from black to transparent light brown. For the past few weeks, I've exposed them to direct, hot, southern sunlight. They are lightening very nicely. Here's a photo from today...

I do nourish them weekly with Bick 4. They are approaching a very interesting color. Looking forward to putting them back into my casual rotation.

 

[Churchill W]

I bought a pair of used AE MacNeil burgundy cordovans.

Do you guys recommend AE's own cordovan cream? Or Saphir's? Also, worth investing in the deer bone?

I prefer Saphir's cordovan cream. It feels thicker to me than VCS or renovateur. Have never tried the AE one.

 

[jc848]

Probably the finish in the toe was made by creams. I have used Renomat in my shoes and never had issues with it.

I used renomat on the shoe before with no problem just seems it has rubbed some of the dye off.. but the issue is that my wax seems to rub the colour off on my shoe cream - I'm using saphir for both.

 

[right_hook]

I recently used saphir renomat on a pair of shoes and stripped the dye by accident on the toe area. I've since been able to restore most of the colour using a saphir shoe cream but when I come round to using a water polishing technique, this seems to strip off all the shoe cream and go back to the colour when renomat stripped it prior.

any suggestions to fix this?

If you stripped them heavily and shoe cream isnt enough then possibly you need to use some leather dye to renovate the colour. Then leather conditioner > shoe cream to rejuvenate the colour even more > and finally wax for mirror shine.
You can find more info on how to dye your shoes in this thread.
Another thing that comes to my mind - shoe cream doesnt penetrate the leather for some reason and just sitting on the surface.

 

[Fredsuitup]

Hey guys!

I went to a party with my Loake Aldwych yesterday, and unfortunaly, it started raining at night. Combined with gravel roads = very dirty shoes. Best way to clean them?

 

[M635Guy]

Hey guys!

I went to a party with my Loake Aldwych yesterday, and unfortunaly, it started raining at night. Combined with gravel roads = very dirty shoes. Best way to clean them?

I'd say wipe them very gently with a slightly damp cloth to remove dirt/etc. Let them dry a bit before brushing with a horsehair brush. If the shoes got really wet, stuff them with newspaper overnight (or two if they got really wet, changing the news paper after the first night). After everything is nice and dry, brush them thoroughly (2-3 min each) and see what things look like. If you think the shoes need it, give them a light conditioning and let them rest another day.

My $0.02.

 

[Fredsuitup]

Thank you for reply!

You would not recommend taking the toe under the sink to get rid of dirt, instead of slightly damp cloth?

 

[mreams99]

Thank you for reply!

You would not recommend taking the toe under the sink to get rid of dirt, instead of slightly damp cloth?

I would not recommend using the sink. Just use a cloth.

 

[suitforcourt]

Thank you for reply!

You would not recommend taking the toe under the sink to get rid of dirt, instead of slightly damp cloth?

My method is to use a damp cloth, with warm/hot water and use that to wipe dirt/stains. I then leave them to dry for a few days. After drying, I apply a layer of renovateur to moisteurize the leather.

As a general rule, especially living in Canada, I only wear my waterproof dress shoes during rainy days, or use my rubber overshoes for winter and snow. Leather soled shoes (even the so called "storm welts") are not especially built for the elements.

 

[FatTuesday]

I'm experimenting with sun-lightening shell cordovan. Below is a pair of AE burgundy that have been in the sun for a few weeks. I just rec'd the darker pair from Ebay. They're old (70's or 80's) Alden for BB. I stripped then conditioned them. They're in the sun now. You can see how much the AE pair has lightened already...

What I've learned is dark cordovan colors many times are conceling imperfections and dark areas in the hide. Stripping sometimes uncovers this. The AE pair has an uncharacteristically beautiful hide. I already can see dark spots on the Alden.

 

[Churchill W]

I'm experimenting with sun-lightening shell cordovan. Below is a pair of AE burgundy that have been in the sun for a few weeks. I just rec'd the darker pair from Ebay. They're old (70's or 80's) Alden for BB. I stripped then conditioned them. They're in the sun now. You can see how much the AE pair has lightened already... View attachment 784654
What I've learned is dark cordovan colors many times are conceling imperfections and dark areas in the hide. Stripping sometimes uncovers this. The AE pair has an uncharacteristically beautiful hide. I already can see dark spots on the Alden.

That's why they are chosen for the darker shades and why the lighter shades are rare.

 

[Fredsuitup]

Alright, ive gently wiped of the dirt and let the shoe dry for a couple of days.
The damage on the left shoe is pretty bad. How can I make it better? Only dark brown shoe cream?

 

[1up]

When applying pommadier and shoe shine to my shoes, do I do it on the edges of the soles too? like the heel?

And should I always remove laces? The pommadier has touch and darkened the laces on a bit on a shoe that I didn't remove them on.

 

[Churchill W]

When applying pommadier and shoe shine to my shoes, do I do it on the edges of the soles too? like the heel?

And should I always remove laces? The pommadier has touch and darkened the laces on a bit on a shoe that I didn't remove them on.

Some people do use shoe cream on their edges, but there is edge dressing for that too. It also depends on how close your edges are compared to your uppers, e.g., you wouldn't use your burgundy cream on your natural edges.