Crockett & Jones Handgrade Dry Leather - Faulty or Not? Help!

Originally Posted by countbaron

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, yeah do that and I am sure they will send you a new pair, and a refund to boot

Ps- If it hapens i am travelling to northampton with my Wigmores next week

Shipping won't be free. Any experiences of the C&J customer service to share?

Did anyone here return their C&J?

Are you kidding?

People in SF never return anything from SF-approved brands. Just today there was a thread about some guy that got some 'handmade' GGs full of blemishes and the consensus was

1) There is nothing there that won’t disappear in 3 wears or one polish
2) No one can see it anyway
3) It is handmade, which means you pay extra for crappier quality control- so that is just the way it should be

Most people here would receive an EG with the wrong colour and would think it was all for the best

The Man: Might be too much polish. You think they are ruined? What would your advice be at this point? Bought them at pediwear, great shop. countbaron: You are forgetting about the very rude frenchman who went to London and returned loads of stuff from eBay, manouche! http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=97810

I would look up saddle soap on this forum and investigate what many experienced members, including cordwainers, say about it before you use it on a pair of shoes.

Perhaps this is an appropriate time to post this article on shoe care from the blog what makes a man

Originally Posted by Melvin Udall

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I know others on this forum have had problems with dry leather on the CJ handgrades. I bought a pair of Cliffords two months ago and wear them about once a week. I polish them with Saphir Medaille D'Or cream and wax.

The shoes look fine when newly polished but have always been very dry. After a short walk
they look lighter and dry. Since the cream makes the shoes darker the problem is getting worse.
I am currently awaiting C&J's advice on this. My C&J HG Audleys do not have the same problems.

What would your advice be on this?
Polished:

After a short walk:

My advice would be never touch the shoes with saddle soap. (Ignore anyone who tells you to use it.) I cannot figure out why you are overly obessessed with this.

Originally Posted by The Man

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And btw, do you believe everything you read on the net? 99% of it is misinformation written by some noob who knows nothing.
QFI. The Man bringz the lulz.

Originally Posted by The Man

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I've been using it on some shoes depending on the circumstances since before you were born kid. And personally I don't give a damn what some dweeb or internert shoe "expert" has to say.
Putting some more gunk on top of dried polish is crazy and just adds to the problem. The shoes have to have all of that crap washed off. Old polish will wash off.

I have some old horsehair shoe brushes I've had for years and I just washed them in dishwasher detergent and they dried and look like new again. The polish washes off and you can do this with shoes too but with the saddle soap so the water will not harm them.

And btw, do you believe everything you read on the net? 99% of it is misinformation written by some noob who knows nothing.

OK, crusty olde tymer, I could not care less about with what you happen to clean your shoes. However, I do take into consideration advice that there are disparate views of and believe it's important to bring that to the attention to someone seeking advice - you might know it by some other name, but us kids these days call it an "informed decision".

I think you might be in a little feisty mood, but you need to realize your failure of respecting the resource of knowledge this forum, which you respected enough to join, provides and my calling attention to this availability of information.

Originally Posted by The Man

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A consensus of a 1000 noobs and idiots means nothing. And no kid, my advice trumps anything they think they know. Most of these boys didn't even know there were real shoes around as kids and teenagers outside of the plimsoles they wore their entire lives.
tisk, tisk, no reason to be angry. no one cares who you are or what you may or may not know. play nice old man

Originally Posted by ruben

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I have a tough time believing all those creases and cracks are just polish build-up, those shoes look really dry.

Rubbish.

Originally Posted by The Man

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I've been using it on some shoes depending on the circumstances since before you were born kid. And personally I don't give a damn what some dweeb or internert shoe "expert" has to say.
Putting some more gunk on top of dried polish is crazy and just adds to the problem. The shoes have to have all of that crap washed off. Old polish will wash off.

I have some old horsehair shoe brushes I've had for years and I just washed them in dishwasher detergent and they dried and look like new again. The polish washes off and you can do this with shoes too but with the saddle soap so the water will not harm them.

And btw, do you believe everything you read on the net? 99% of it is misinformation written by some noob who knows nothing.

+1 C&J are tough shoes.

Originally Posted by Burton

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My advice would be never touch the shoes with saddle soap. (Ignore anyone who tells you to used it.) I cannot figure out why you are overly obessessed with this.

Originally Posted by HORNS

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I would look up saddle soap on this forum and investigate what many experienced members, including cordwainers, say about it before you use it on a pair of shoes.
My local cobbler didn't want to sell saddlesoap, he recommended shoe shampoo.

Originally Posted by The Man

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btw, I didn't say they had wax caked on them but was just giving advice if that was the problem. There's nothing wrong or dry looking about the shoes. You're probably just too fussy. Taking an enlarged pic like that will make anything look worse than it is and make a normal shoe look weird.
The Man: So, you would just leave the shoes alone?

So, maybe something milder. What does the forum think?
Just keep using the shoes and polish less?
How about soft cleaning with colonil shoe shampoo?
Does Renovateur, which others recommended, help removing wax? Or does it just add to the problem?

Had the same problem with my handgrades. I tried everything (polishing a lot, to polishing once a month, renovateur, tried wax, cream, with color, incolore etc.). Nothing helped.
After a polish they look splendid, within 5 mins of walking the leather was all cracked. I ended up selling the shoes on eBay as I truly hated the look of the leather. I never had a problem with my benchgrades though. I probably won't buy handgrades anymore.

Originally Posted by meister

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Rubbish.




So you think he'd just be able to wipe away all those creases, and micro fractures with a cloth and some elbow grease?

Why don't you try it then?


I bought a pair of seconds a few months ago, they arrived only tried on (they might have been a return or a sample pair) the leather was not dry, and I didn't condition or polish it, but it showed very similar creases and little mirco cracks throughout.

I didn't really care because 1) they were very cheap and b) they were a pair of boots I'd bought for rain and mud.

The problem is not limited to Handgrades, I have a similar problem with my only pair of C&J calfskins; although I think it does help mine are a dark brown shade.

Over-polishing makes it worse - I tried it. I have dyed the shoes once, but the leather still seems 'dry' and something I have just learnt to live it (especially at 67% off)

Well, I'd say this problem isn't limited to C&J - I've had the same on a pair of Grenson Masterpieces, and I remember this thread from a while ago.