Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[sam67]

current shot of Dwight Eisenhower’s shoes from Gettysburg. I can’t make out the brand. Hanover PA is not too far away....

 

[eTrojan]

Back on campus today. Opted for the 1960’s era AE MacNeil. These have the AE “v-cleat” — which is actually a round peg.

 

[vestbash]

Back on campus today. Opted for the 1960’s era AE MacNeil. These have the AE “v-cleat” — which is actually a round peg.

View attachment 1649253
View attachment 1649254

they called this an "owl's eye slug" in their catalogues.

 

[friendlygoz]

93605s for a concert tonight.

 

[CWOyaji]

Is there a best way to remove the water stain from the right shoe here? These are AE Park Aves in walnut.

And yes, they're thrifted from a couple of days ago. The Patagonia jacket, too. I put the black wingtips back on the shelf. It occurs to me that wearing the C&J captoes I found the day before may have brought me luck.

 

[friendlygoz]

T(GH)IF.

 

[friendlygoz]

Is there a best way to remove the water stain from the right shoe here? These are AE Park Aves in walnut.
View attachment 1649559
And yes, they're thrifted from a couple of days ago. The Patagonia jacket, too. I put the black wingtips back on the shelf. It occurs to me that wearing the C&J captoes I found the day before may have brought me luck.
View attachment 1649563

My guess is that you could try cleaning them a saddle soap and rehydrating them. If that doesn’t work, I would soak them. There’s a way to just soak the uppers without doing anything to the soles. as a last resort, you can strip and we dye them.

 

[right_hook]

Is there a best way to remove the water stain from the right shoe here? These are AE Park Aves in walnut.
View attachment 1649559
And yes, they're thrifted from a couple of days ago. The Patagonia jacket, too. I put the black wingtips back on the shelf. It occurs to me that wearing the C&J captoes I found the day before may have brought me luck.
View attachment 1649563

Put trees in the shoes.
Get some soft sponge and use it to soak upper with water. Just deep it in water and rub the shoes thoroughly till they evenly soaked.
Then hit them with some leather cleaner/soap. We can see that they beg for good cleaning.
Then let them dry. You'll definitely see the improvement in terms of leather look and shape because of water treatment and cleaning.
Then you usual routine of conditioning and polishing.

 

[CWOyaji]

Thanks guys. These have new soles, heels and taps front and back and are basically flawless except for these stains. A great blank canvas. The before pic:

 

[Jiqea]

I picked up these S.E Dacks "Professional" golf shoes today (1952-1958); size 7.5D. I will have them resoled with period correct nailed heels and then sell them for far less than what I have into them. But they are such a fine looking and rare shoe, I could not let them languish. Look at the detail on the cleats! Original Dacks shoe trees too. The S.E. Dacks line was Dack's highest quality shoe in the 50's.

 

[right_hook]

Thanks guys. These have new soles, heels and taps front and back and are basically flawless except for these stains. A great blank canvas. The before pic:
View attachment 1649654

Show us the results then. I'm sure you'll be fine considering your knowledge, experience and vast variety of shoe care products. They should look like new in the end.
P.S. some shoes have different finishes. In some cases it would help to "open" the leather to even colour and clean properly. You can use acetone or moderately stiff brush with soap.

 

[Quantum17]

Inspired by @eTrojan MacNeil, I tried to mimic greatness yesterday.

 

[ZePrez]

Hi

I have come to be proficient or at least competent in cleaning uppers. I still struggle with the the soles, in general the bottom of the shoe namely the outsole, welts and heels...
I purchased the Fiebing's Leather Sole & Heel Edge Dressing, both black and brown and ... didn't like these. They transform the sole in a plasticky thing... disconnected from the shoe. I am trying regular shoe paste but not satisfied just yet; perhaps I need to be patient or/and need... knowledge? know-how?
I would like the collective to share their protocols, tricks and tweaks for soles, welt etc. Looking at the better looking jobs here and it is clear that sole and welt make the difference.

Peace

 

[CWOyaji]

I don't worry about soles too much, but have put shoes with chewing gum on the soles in the freezer to make it easier to chip it off. For welts with contrast stitching I use Clorox 2 (non-chlorine bleach) applied by Q Tips and then scrub gently with a soft toothbrush and flowing water to brighten them up.

 

[Oshare]

Hi

I have come to be proficient or at least competent in cleaning uppers. I still struggle with the the soles, in general the bottom of the shoe namely the outsole, welts and heels...
I purchased the Fiebing's Leather Sole & Heel Edge Dressing, both black and brown and ... didn't like these. They transform the sole in a plasticky thing... disconnected from the shoe. I am trying regular shoe paste but not satisfied just yet; perhaps I need to be patient or/and need... knowledge? know-how?
I would like the collective to share their protocols, tricks and tweaks for soles, welt etc. Looking at the better looking jobs here and it is clear that sole and welt make the difference.

Peace

These days I usually just put Bick 4 on almost everything. If the soles are leather, they get Bick 4 too.

For welts, unless I'm doing the full saddle soap, water and electric toothbrush -- I will just have some Bick 4 on a small round polish applicator brush like one of these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Y75W5LC And scrub the welts and stitching a bit.

On the sole edges, if they need a bit of color touch up I use pen-style edge dressing pens that make it really easy and neat. The ones I have are by Saphir, but it seems like other companies make these too. Much easier than bottles and brushes.