**The Official Shoe Care Thread: Tutorials, Photos, etc.**

[Betelgeuse]

A cautionary tale and a proposal for a more specific way of using of shoe trees...

I have always loved leather shoes, from when I was a small child and my pairs would only cost 50-100USD, to now when my pairs go higher than 1000USD. When I started buying these expensive shoes, I read about shoe trees and made sure to get wooden ones for each pair of shoes I had.

The trees sure kept the shape of my shoes, six years later and the creasing on the outer leather is minimal, certainly better looking than my last pair of Clark's Bostonians. But the insides of these shoes tell a very different story, almost 50% of my pairs have holes or scratches on the lining at the contact points of the wood and the leather. I first noticed lining damage on a pair of JM Westons, I thought this was because the lining was supple (too supple, maybe) and it couldn't take the roughing up of regular wear.

I have been out of the office for almost a year now and my shoes have been stored in their trees all this time, when I did a check this week, almost half of them had holes. The wooden trees probably made the lining too dry and the act of taking out the trees to try on the shoes further scratched and damaged the lining. I took a look at my cheap pair that had no shoe trees and they were fine.

I am very sad about this, now I am thinking that shoes shouldn't be stored for an extended amount of time with shoe trees inside them. Is it better to remove the shoe trees after one day of drying and afterward simply using the crumpled tissue/paper that came with the shoe box?

I also thought cheaper cedar (relatively) shoe trees from Woodlore were to blame. But lasted shoe trees from the shoe manufacturers themselves also damaged some of my pairs. Is it possible that plastic shoe trees may turn out to be better because it doesn't absorb any/excess moisture from the leather and simply maintains the shape of the shoe while it air dries?

In the future, I don't think I will buy anymore shoe trees, it will save me money and I can simply rotate the ones I have now and use them on freshly used shoes and then remove them a day (or even less time) later. It might be a better idea to only have one pair of trees because most men only wear one pair of shoes a day.

This is why I condition the leather lining of my dress shoes once a year with a thin coat of Bick4, applied directly with the fingertips. Your story makes sense.

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and two lasted shoe trees from the manufacturers, but still with scratches

Was there a conclusion on this? I started to pay attention and some boots, in which I can push the back part of the shoe tree forward so I have to “slide” it downwards are starting to show some dryness in the lining but not at the center but at the sides. I have applied Bick 4 to them hoping they get some conditioning. Will try to get some shoe trees that are easier to put in.

 

[audog]

WOW.. I must say.. these shoes are the prime example of HOT Garbage.....

This list can easily be renamed the worst shoes money can buy....

The list is BS, and not even in proper English. What a waste of web space. Oh, wait the web is infinite, so who cares..... I did notice one of the shoes was synthetic leather, is that plastic????

 

[audog]

I have some quirks with my feet that mean a good fit is not easy to find, especially an issue with my big toes. I have taken the plunge and bought one of the shoe stretching machines from china in an attempt to tweak a few pairs I have. The machine seems pretty sturdy and I am having a first go now with a pair of C&J Pembrokes that have always been a little tight on the toes and the length of the left shoe is about 0.25 sizes too short. I’m hopeful of the width change but am sceptical that the length will change at all. I don’t now if anyone else has this machine or experiences with it? Would be really interested to hear or have any comments.
I will update on the progress (or not ) with the Pembrokes.

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That is one serious shoe stretcher.

 

[Webbo]

I have some quirks with my feet that mean a good fit is not easy to find, especially an issue with my big toes. I have taken the plunge and bought one of the shoe stretching machines from china in an attempt to tweak a few pairs I have. The machine seems pretty sturdy and I am having a first go now with a pair of C&J Pembrokes that have always been a little tight on the toes and the length of the left shoe is about 0.25 sizes too short. I’m hopeful of the width change but am sceptical that the length will change at all. I don’t now if anyone else has this machine or experiences with it? Would be really interested to hear or have any comments.
I will update on the progress (or not ) with the Pembrokes.

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I took Nick's advice and went nice and easy. Limited success with the Pembrokes as part of the stretching is needed near the toe stiffener. I have them in the G width and this is not on the 325 last but the 317 which while wider at the ball has perversely less room at the toes, they are now wearable but not ideal. I had more success with a new pair of Alden cordovan LHS which needed a little extra width, over a period of 4 days (softly softly) I have managed this perfectly. So in summary a good piece of kit and for me at around US $120 a worthwhile purchase.

 

[Mannion]

Hi, what should I be looking at to find a good cobbler and what equipment should I have in my shoe care kit? My old cobbler is too far away and my shoe care kit was lost in a house move. Also I keep my shoes in their boxes, should I put a cloth in to stop them scratching each other?

 

[Ziqianzhu]

New to shoe care, I have few questions to start

1. Trying to get some Saphir products and found this website, anyone has experience with it? Https://saphirmedailledor1925.com

2. For the attached dark brown shoes. What would be the effect if I chose the other color of Saphir cream rather than dark brown? Let’s say black.


many thanks,

 

[OrlandoMo]

Hi guys,

Here’s a pic of my italian suede driving shoes. What should I use to clean them?

Thanks

 

[Betelgeuse]

Hi guys,

Here’s a pic of my italian suede driving shoes. What should I use to clean them?

Thanks View attachment 1246475

Use a suede brush, I like for suede the ones that are all from boar bristles. The ones that have boar and brass bristles, I feel that they are quite rough for suede, those work better for nubuck. If they have some spots, try the Gommadin from Saphir and then brush. And finally, Saphir suede Renovateur.

 

[OrlandoMo]

Use a suede brush, I like for suede the ones that are all from boar bristles. The ones that have boar and brass bristles, I feel that they are quite rough for suede, those work better for nubuck. If they have some spots, try the Gommadin from Saphir and then brush. And finally, Saphir suede Renovateur.

Looks like Saphir is the brand to go for

 

[Rnt]

Hi everyone. Recently bought a second hand pair of dress shows from Enzo Bonafe. The pair is great but the previous owner put wayy too much shoe cream on. I used saphir renomat to take it of but it just keeps coming off. Every time i use a new piece of cloth, put renomat on and rub, the cloth is dirty after 10 second and i feel like i could o this 100 times but i am afraid this would damage the leather. Also the shoe polish colour isn’t the best match, so that’s why i want it off. Any experience regarding how many times you can go over the residu shoe cream with renomat?

 

[Reiver]

Hi everyone. Recently bought a second hand pair of dress shows from Enzo Bonafe. The pair is great but the previous owner put wayy too much shoe cream on. I used saphir renomat to take it of but it just keeps coming off. Every time i use a new piece of cloth, put renomat on and rub, the cloth is dirty after 10 second and i feel like i could o this 100 times but i am afraid this would damage the leather. Also the shoe polish colour isn’t the best match, so that’s why i want it off. Any experience regarding how many times you can go over the residu shoe cream with renomat?

I'd be very careful you don't remove the original finish of the leather.

Is it definitely cream build up and not wax?

If it is wax then I can recommend a hair dryer to melt it then wipe with a cloth or kitchen roll.

 

[Rnt]

Yeah i read about the hair dryer method but i’m pretty sure it is cream. Thank you for the info. I was proceeding carefully and already felt like i went to a max, so now im in dubio

 

[Mannion]

How should I store my shoes when I am not wearing them? I keep them in their boxes with shoe trees in, but should I keep them in bags to stop them rubbing against each other, or will they be OK just as they are?

 

[audog]

How should I store my shoes when I am not wearing them? I keep them in their boxes with shoe trees in, but should I keep them in bags to stop them rubbing against each other, or will they be OK just as they are?

I am by no means an expert on shoe care like many others here, but all of mine are in bags, with trees.

 

[jctune]

How should I store my shoes when I am not wearing them? I keep them in their boxes with shoe trees in, but should I keep them in bags to stop them rubbing against each other, or will they be OK just as they are?

Rubbing? Rubbing requires motion - so unless you are storing them in your car, boat, or RV I wouldn't worry about rubbing.

Don't overthink storage. For shoes in a regular rotation, even a once or twice a month rotation, I just keep them treed. For shoes that are seasonal, I store them treed in bags in their boxes. Honestly I just use the bags in those cases because I have them. If I didn't have bags I wouldn't worry about them just being in boxes.