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

[fritzl]

i cannot offer a theory, just practical experience. ask yourself, why wouldn't they need care? it keeps them pliable for the comfort and resistant to the surface you walk on. why do you treat the uppers? you could get away without. would it be clever?

But you don't want the soles to get wet. When the soles get damp and pliable they can pick up stones/pebbles etc. which can really scuff/damage the soles.

exactly, that's why i treat them. picking up stones is not an issue and no it doesn't scuff and damage them.

Wouldn't conditioning the soles make them soft and pliable, instead of hard?

take it as it is - ideally - pliable is referring to the flexing while walking. the part of the sole which touches the ground is hard. think of toasted bread.

 

[patrickBOOTH]



exactly, that's why i treat them. picking up stones is not an issue and no it doesn't scuff and damage them.
take it as it is - ideally - pliable is referring to the flexing while walking. the part of the sole which touches the ground is hard. think of toasted bread.

Or brittle old people bones.

 

[Rambo]



Or brittle old people bones.

You really should drink more

 

[fritzl]



It also keeps them from literally cracking, which can happen if they are exposed routinely to water. It has happened to me. I wouldn't think you need to do it as routinely as regular care, but if you are walking in the rain after letting them dry for a day rubbing them down with Lexol sure can only help them.

rule of thumb, i do it once a month with the shoes in the current rotation and every three months on the stored ones. it works.

 

[patrickBOOTH]



You really should drink more

I don't get it.

 

[Rambo]



I don't get it.

It might lighten your otherwise sunny disposition

 

[patrickBOOTH]



It might lighten your otherwise sunny disposition

Well, now we know who has brittle old people bones.

 

[Rambo]



Well, now we know who has brittle old people bones.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

I didn't know Clint Eastwood was a hipster.

 

[bourbonbasted]



I didn't know Clint Eastwood was a hipster.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

 

[tv2177]

not sure where to ask, but do you carry shoe trees with you when you are on vacation?

 

[Gdot]

Yes. But usually only one non lasted pair. I put them in whatever shoe I am taking off for the night. After 24 hours the tree is removed and put into that day's shoe.

I usually travel with 2-4 pairs of shoes and I don't want to make room for that many trees. I stuff the shoes with socks and underwear when in the suitcase.

If you need to buff the shoes while on the road turn the shoe bag inside out and use that.

 

[patrick_b]



+1

Good shine but I don't like such a high shine all over a pair of boots/shoes.  It's just me.  Maintaining that shine will be fairly time consuming without a weekly coating habit..

That top image is a bit deceiving. There's actually a pretty clear line of demarcation between the mirror toe and rest of the upper. The image was taken in bright daylight and a bit overexposed. The raised section looks like its mirror shined but the rest of the upper looks much like the leather adjacent to the elastic gore. I try to achieve a mirror on the toe (only) of most of my dress shoes, like these AE bluchers:



It is surprising to me that my RMW's maintain that mirror toe for quite some time with just maintenance brushing after each wear. When it dulls, I thought I'd get cracking or an awful look where the boot creases. I found the opposite. It just dulls slowly to a matte finish. Maintaining the toe is considerably easier than achieving it for the first time.

 

[fritzl]



That top image is a bit deceiving.

no worries and no offense.

i like neither mirror shined toes nor totally mirror shined shoes/boots. they just don't attract me. certainly, i'm not bothered by them at all.