Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[wasmisterfu]

I have a pair of vintage Tecnic Veldtschoen boots which probably aren’t eligible for this thread as it’s vintage dress shoes. However I enjoy reading this thread from time to time and seeing all the great vintage shoes.

I thought this would be a good place to ask advice on odour neutralisation. The boots are unworn but were stored on a farm for years and have picked up an oily workshop type smell which I’d like to minimise if possible.

Does anyone have any good tips?

I have already been recommended cat litter inside tights stuffed into the boots which I think might work but sounds potentially messy.

Thanks

Can you describe the smell in a bit more detail? Your potential approach partially depends on the type of odor, and I’m not familiar with the one you describe.

 

[stook1]

The pair of 93605s I bought from @stook1 arrived earlier today. These are much nicer than the pair of 97626s I bought previously (right hand pair) -- which are too small for me anyway, so I'll be selling them off shortly.

View attachment 1164842

The 93605s have had very little polish applied to them over their life, and the raw uncolored orange fringes are still visible. Overall the leather seems to be in good shape, but I applied a coat of Bick 4 for good measure. After brushing and buffing, this is how they are looking.

View attachment 1164843

I'll let them rest a bit, then hit them with another coat of Bick 4 and see how the leather feels. Definitely going slower this time, since I don't want to turn them into a sticky mess. After that I'll try them on to see how they fit, but going by my other Florsheims and lining them up against the 97626s, I'm pretty confident that these will fit much better.

Fantastic! These look even better than I anticipated after the attention that we discussed yesterday. Well done. Enjoy and wear in good health!

 

[suitforcourt]

I have a pair of vintage Tecnic Veldtschoen boots which probably aren’t eligible for this thread as it’s vintage dress shoes. However I enjoy reading this thread from time to time and seeing all the great vintage shoes.

I thought this would be a good place to ask advice on odour neutralisation. The boots are unworn but were stored on a farm for years and have picked up an oily workshop type smell which I’d like to minimise if possible.

Does anyone have any good tips?

I have already been recommended cat litter inside tights stuffed into the boots which I think might work but sounds potentially messy.

Thanks

I have tried the following, and it seemed to remove MOST (not all) of the cigarette smoke smell from a pair of vintage shoes:

1. Alcoholic wet wipes on interior and exterior of shoes. Multiple rounds if necessary;
2. Let the shoes dry thoroughly;
3. A few rounds of conditioning;
4. Take a few pairs of old socks and stuff them with tea leaves. Stuff these into shoes. Tea leaves seem to do a good job pulling out smells;
5. Put the shoes out on a few windy days.

The above process removed most of the smell. If others have a better/different process, I would love to learn something new.

 

[suitforcourt]

Maiden voyage of my recrafted mystery shell Florsheim PTBs. Brian Gavigan from Sole Man (Buffalo NY) did an amazing job bringing these back to life.

https://www.styleforum.net/threads/buffalo-cobbler-brian-gavigan-sole-man.642804/#post-9724093

The shoes feel like a completely new pair. The crespino sole protectors and heels provide great traction. I think this pair will get called a lot.

 

[FibroblastsMakeLeather]

Maiden voyage of my recrafted mystery shell Florsheim PTBs. Brian Gavigan from Sole Man (Buffalo NY) did an amazing job bringing these back to life.

https://www.styleforum.net/threads/buffalo-cobbler-brian-gavigan-sole-man.642804/#post-9724093

The shoes feel like a completely new pair. The crespino sole protectors and heels provide great traction. I think this pair will get called a lot.

View attachment 1164897

View attachment 1164898

View attachment 1164901

Hi Suit,
Shoes look great and the repair process looked like a great experience. It looks like you've extended the life of the shoes by many years!

 

[wasmisterfu]

Maiden voyage of my recrafted mystery shell Florsheim PTBs. Brian Gavigan from Sole Man (Buffalo NY) did an amazing job bringing these back to life.

https://www.styleforum.net/threads/buffalo-cobbler-brian-gavigan-sole-man.642804/#post-9724093

The shoes feel like a completely new pair. The crespino sole protectors and heels provide great traction. I think this pair will get called a lot.

View attachment 1164897

View attachment 1164898

View attachment 1164901

They look like a new pair! Very nice indeed.

 

[smfdoc]

BTW, some new old stock Allen Edmonds Belmont shark shoes in 12D on Ebay, for those who are interested in brown shark. Not my listing. Link.

 

[Reiver]

Can you describe the smell in a bit more detail? Your potential approach partially depends on the type of odor, and I’m not familiar with the one you describe.

Difficult to explain, just an oily, fume type smell. Like an old fashioned workshop.

One of my relations was an old farmer and they smell very like his workshop where he kept tools, oil, creosote etc etc did.

These boots having belonged to a farmer have likely been stored in a similar environment.

Its not the worst smell in the world to be honest and nowhere near as bad as smelly feet etc but I'd like to tone it down a bit.

 

[Reiver]

I have tried the following, and it seemed to remove MOST (not all) of the cigarette smoke smell from a pair of vintage shoes:

1. Alcoholic wet wipes on interior and exterior of shoes. Multiple rounds if necessary;
2. Let the shoes dry thoroughly;
3. A few rounds of conditioning;
4. Take a few pairs of old socks and stuff them with tea leaves. Stuff these into shoes. Tea leaves seem to do a good job pulling out smells;
5. Put the shoes out on a few windy days.

The above process removed most of the smell. If others have a better/different process, I would love to learn something new.

Thanks, will give those a try.

I also heard that newspaper can absorb some odour.

Bicarbonate of soda is often suggested but I 'd imagine its hard to get all of it out of the boots after treatment.

 

[suitforcourt]

Thanks, will give those a try.

I also heard that newspaper can absorb some odour.

Bicarbonate of soda is often suggested but I 'd imagine its hard to get all of it out of the boots after treatment.

The tea leaves thing is an old trick my mom always used. Hope it works out!

 

[instigateur]

BTW, some new old stock Allen Edmonds Belmont shark shoes in 12D on Ebay, for those who are interested in brown shark. Not my listing. Link.

Very nice. I have my black shark Wingtips. Someone else needs to buy these.

 

[Paul902]

4. Take a few pairs of old socks and stuff them with tea leaves. Stuff these into shoes. Tea leaves seem to do a good job pulling out smells;

Describe tea leaves, please. This is interesting. Do you mean, for example, dry Red Rose in tea bags, or actual full tea leaves one gets with 'better' loose leaf tea. Does it matter if the tea leaves have been steeped already?

Those new kicks looking really sharp!

Difficult to explain, just an oily, fume type smell. Like an old fashioned workshop.

One of my relations was an old farmer and they smell very like his workshop where he kept tools, oil, creosote etc etc did.

These boots having belonged to a farmer have likely been stored in a similar environment.

Its not the worst smell in the world to be honest and nowhere near as bad as smelly feet etc but I'd like to tone it down a bit.

I like the description of this smell! Add some smoky, heavily peated single malt whisky and you'll be all set!

Good luck toning down the smell.

 

[suitforcourt]

Very nice. I have my black shark Wingtips. Someone else needs to buy these.

The problem with this world, and in particular this thread, is the thinking "Someone else will do it."

Don't let the "someone else needs to buy these" mentality destroy you.

Buy them. You're duty bound.

 

[suitforcourt]

Describe tea leaves, please. This is interesting. Do you mean, for example, dry Red Rose in tea bags, or actual full tea leaves one gets with 'better' loose leaf tea. Does it matter if the tea leaves have been steeped already?

Those new kicks looking really sharp!



I like the description of this smell! Add some smoky, heavily peated single malt whisky and you'll be all set!

Good luck toning down the smell.

Loose leaf tea leaves. If you want specifics, my parents preferred bo-lei tea (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pu'er_tea) which is a dark black tea. Goes great with dim sum. When I'm in Ottawa, we'll go thrifting and then have some dim sum. We can discuss the finer points of tea and vintage Canadian shoes.

 

[suitforcourt]

Describe tea leaves, please. This is interesting. Do you mean, for example, dry Red Rose in tea bags, or actual full tea leaves one gets with 'better' loose leaf tea. Does it matter if the tea leaves have been steeped already?

Those new kicks looking really sharp!



I like the description of this smell! Add some smoky, heavily peated single malt whisky and you'll be all set!

Good luck toning down the smell.

The new kicks feel really good on my feet. I have an office day, but I use a standing desk. I feel like the king stomping around in these things.