Leather Conditioner Bad For Burnished Calf Shoes?

The Allen Edmond site has specific shoe care instructions for burnished calf. For burnished calf, it skips the step about using leather conditioner. Since leather conditioner is generally thought to help the shoes last longer, would it be a mistake to occassionally use leather conditioner for burnished calf? Could this ruin the shoes?

Below I've quoted from AE page....:

CALFSKIN, GALA SILK CALF, ANTIBES CALF & GRAIN LEATHERS
Use Allen-Edmonds conditioner/cleaner to remove surface residue and to keep leather soft and pliable. To achieve a fine luster, wipe shoes with a damp cloth and allow them to dry at room temperature. Then, apply a coat of Allen-Edmonds shoe cream or polish with a cotton flannel polishing cloth or horsehair dauber and allow to air dry. Remove excess polish by brushing with a horsehair brush and buff to a desired shine.

BURNISHED CALFSKIN
To remove the slight haze you may notice with a new pair of burnished calfskin shoes, wipe them with a soft cloth or brush with a horsehair brush. Clean regularly with a damp cloth and allow them to air dry. Then, using a soft cloth, apply a medium coat of Allen-Edmonds premium shoe polish in a suitable color and allow to air dry. Brush with a horsehair brush to remove excess polish and buff using a soft cotton flannel cloth.

Ruin is a strong word, but now that you mention it, I once had a pair of burnished AEs that may have reacted badly to conditioning.

Oh heaven's. I can't tell the difference between my shoes. What is the difference gents?

Originally Posted by jimmyoneill

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Oh heaven's. I can't tell the difference between my shoes. What is the difference gents?

Don't worry about it.

I was under the impression that the AE premium polish was more or less dye + conditioner. Maybe they are not emphasizing conditioner because the burnished leather will not need it the way some of those other leathers do.

You should write to AE, ask their advice, and then post it here. They will get back to you with a good answer to this question.

i would just pay someone, someone good, someone i have experience with/someone i trust, to clean them for me as opposed to me doing it myself.

i manage an apartment building part time, and the previous owners tried doing everything themselves to save money. now the place is falling apart cause they were bad at it. sometimes it's worth the money to hire labor.

Originally Posted by dbtbandit67

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i would just pay someone, someone good, someone i have experience with/someone i trust, to clean them for me as opposed to me doing it myself. sometimes it's worth the money to hire labor.
i've paid people to polish shoes for me, my shoes look better after I do them myself, and I'm no expert at this stuff. the old-time quality shoe shine seems to be a dying art.

There are a few places in the city that do a better job than I ever have.

I wonder if the artificial finish isn't impenetrable to the conditioner. If so, props to AE for not trying to milk money out of the consumer by recommending conditioner anyway.

Originally Posted by DocHolliday

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I wonder if the artificial finish isn't impenetrable to the conditioner. If so, props to AE for not trying to milk money out of the consumer by recommending conditioner anyway.

i think only corrected grain leather is impenetrable like that. I'm kicking myself for all the time and effort I wasted "polishing" my prada shoes. I wish someone would have told me its like plastic that wipes clean, it would have saved me alot of time.

Originally Posted by Dewey

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I was under the impression that the AE premium polish was more or less dye + conditioner. Maybe they are not emphasizing conditioner because the burnished leather will not need it the way some of those other leathers do.

You should write to AE, ask their advice, and then post it here. They will get back to you with a good answer to this question.

Good advice ... I contacted AE and will let you know...

Originally Posted by FidelCashflow

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i think only corrected grain leather is impenetrable like that. I'm kicking myself for all the time and effort I wasted "polishing" my prada shoes. I wish someone would have told me its like plastic that wipes clean, it would have saved me alot of time.

Isn't burnished calf corrected grain? Or does AE use the term to mean something else?

Originally Posted by DocHolliday

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Isn't burnished calf corrected grain? Or does AE use the term to mean something else?

I don't think it's corrected grain like AE's cobbler, or whatever they call it, but it is a burnished finish--the leather is buffed at high speed to create a certain finish on the leather. And it may be that after being burnished in this way, it is fairly impenetrable to conditioner. That is, I suspect, the implication of the care advice quoted above.

"Polished Cobbler" is the AE corrected grain, burnished calf from AE is their hand stained (antiqued-ish) full grain leather.

Originally Posted by greekgeek

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"Polished Cobbler" is the AE corrected grain, burnished calf from AE is their hand stained (antiqued-ish) full grain leather.

Is it really supposed to be antiqued? My recollection of my Kingsleys was that they were very "aniline-ish" in color, much more so than my brown Harrisons and Eversnow PAs, which have developed a really nice patina that the Kingsleys never did. But it could be that I misremember those as "burnished."