Condition and Polish New Shoes?

[William Kazak]

I have heard it said on uTube that it can be advisable to condition the leather of brand new shoes. Then, to polish them. The reason is, no one knows for sure how long those shoes sat in the warehouse, shoe box or on the store shelf. Seems like reasonable enough advice. Does anyone here condition and polish brand new shoes? Opinions welcome.

 

[Duke Santos]

I have heard it said on uTube that it can be advisable to condition the leather of brand new shoes. Then, to polish them. The reason is, no one knows for sure how long those shoes sat in the warehouse, shoe box or on the store shelf. Seems like reasonable enough advice. Does anyone here condition and polish brand new shoes? Opinions welcome.

I always to. Aside from getting the shine to where I want it, that coat of wax is necessary to help prevent or limit scuffs.

 

[JFWR]

I have heard it said on uTube that it can be advisable to condition the leather of brand new shoes. Then, to polish them. The reason is, no one knows for sure how long those shoes sat in the warehouse, shoe box or on the store shelf. Seems like reasonable enough advice. Does anyone here condition and polish brand new shoes? Opinions welcome.

Conditioning is probably not needed, though I think that it would suffice to condition a shoe with shoe cream rather than conditioner on its first wear. That being said, conditioning it is unlikely to cause harm if it is a mild conditioner, like say, a Saphir Creme Universelle or Bick4 or something.

As for polish: absolutely. The reason you polish is to protect the shoe from scratches, from water, etc. The entire shoe should receive 1-2 coats of wax polish, with more as desired on the toes/heels for higher shine.

It's infinitely better to scratch the wax and have to redo your polish than scratch the leather and have an ugly mark on your shoe forever.

 

[William Kazak]

 

[William Kazak]

These arrived today. Black Cherry by Florsheim. eBay brand new. I used to wear this from Florsheim many years ago. The inner elastic keeps it from falling off.

 

[William Kazak]

 

[William Kazak]

Always use shoe trees. I had these trees for many years.

 

[prof.contingency]

All shoes will have a factory finish -- but what that is depends on the factory. But new leathers by virtue of being new will usually have enough of the waxes and oils to keep it supple -- and loss of pigmentation would not be an issue.

If the shoes have been sitting in the stokcroom for long, then it may be worth replenishing the oils and waxes with a cream. Otherwise, its probably not necessary.

However, factory finishes will seldom have shoeshine. So if you wanted a mirror shine on the toe or heel, then that will likely have to be done by wearer

 

[William Kazak]

"The Shoe Snob" just put out a video on why you should not condition brand new shoes. He is to be found on uTube.