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

[patrickBOOTH]

Saphir cream and wax sparingly.

I buy Lexol now by the 50 gallon drum. I bathe in it every saturday night.

 

[JermynStreet]



My 8 year old shoes that got mostly Lexol treatments are still going strong. Others that in the past 2-3 years got the reno treatment that we all know and "love" are cracking.

Reno on everything but the vamp before you polish. Lexol and cream polish on the vamp.

What is the make and model of each set of shoes? What type of leather?

 

[Snaporaz]

You haven't been around long. Trust me. Mind you my cheapest pair of shoes is $450. Not exactly garbage.

Because reno gets some polish off, but not a lot. Lexol messes the finish and I am not really concerned at all with conditioning non flex points on a shoe, I want to maintain those parts shiny. They just need to be "renovated" and primed for another small layer of wax.

Thanks. I didn't mean to suggest that your shoes were garbage (or that you hadn't cared for them). I suspected quite the opposite, hence my surprise at the cracking.

 

[mediahound]



You haven't been around long. Trust me. Mind you my cheapest pair of shoes is $450. Not exactly garbage.

The fact is, most Saphir products have questionable ingredients. Questionable by people who make shoes and work with leather. What do most of these people use? Lexol, and Bickmore. There is a reason for that, many of us, myself included ignored this, and I have been reaping the consequences.

Don't let the marketing hype fool you. Plus, there are a lot more people new to the shoe care game who have very little observations at this game. I have collected many and at this point I am dropping the kool-aid because of said experience. Than again do what you want.

I also heard this before. I think Reno has more turpentine solvent than other products. I use Venetian cream, which appears to have less turpentine and more wax and get great results with it, although I use it only occasionally. I'm curious about Lexol, does it work well on shell?

 

[JermynStreet]

Hi guys,

Rainy day here in DC. Anyway, I have always had this problem with my AE fifth avenues. Whenever it rains, the left toe cap looks hazy and gnarled on the leather. This toe cap has always been a problem since I received the shoes (1st quality). Since then, they have never taken a shine on the toe cap, and always look cloudy and dried out. I don't think this is fixable, but if it is, how can I fix this? If it is not fixable, what caused this? Thanks in advance.

And just FYI: these were both in the same amount of rain. Note how much healthier looking the right hand shoe is.

 

[Gdot]



I don't apply reno to the vamp of my shoes anymore. All of my older shoes that got Lexol treatments for years are still around. After I fed my newer shoes all Saphir and reno diets they are all cracking and in bad shape. I think reno should only be used on non-flex areas has a light cleaner and polish. Essentially it is good for traveling and such. It isn't a good conditioner, I actually think it is a better solvent and probably contributed heavily to my cracked shoes. Now, I Lexol the vamp, reno everywhere else and wax polish the toe and heel. Essentially bad experiences with long term reno use has got me off the cool-aid.

Very interesting PB. I went through my first jar of Reno pretty quickly (about a year), as I basically started using it as my 'one stop' treatment. But I've not replaced that Reno as I started to worry that the continuous 'lifting off' of the existing finish could not be good for my shoes in the long run. I went back to using a product intended for conditioning only (Saphir Leather Lotion). Presuming that it has less solvent in it. And indeed it lifts off far less color/finish than Reno.

I still contend that Reno is probably a very good product - if used as intended - for occasional use to clean and renovate the finish. But I don't believe that the constant application of a product intended to strip/clean is a good thing.

Unlike you, I have no empirical evidence to support my thoughts - but given that your shoes provide some evidence I'm willing to jump on the bandwagon.

Personally I'm sure that I have any problems with the Saphir products in general - when you can might you elaborate on the 'questionable' ingredients please?

 

[Al in Philly]

when you can might you elaborate on the 'questionable' ingredients please?

I too would like to know this.

 

[Winston S.]



Question – why is it that Alden recommends only wax polish on shell cordovan, yet at the same time Allen Edmonds recommends their own cordovan shoe cream for shell?

Both source shell cordovan from the same company, Horween.

Who's right?

Another thing to consider is that, from what I have read, Alden "treats" the shell they receive more extensively than other manufacturers.

 

[patrickBOOTH]



What is the make and model of each set of shoes? What type of leather?

All calf, Corthay, G&G, C&J, Paul Smith. So a range of $450 to about $1,700 after taxes.

 

[patrickBOOTH]



when you can might you elaborate on the 'questionable' ingredients please?

Essentially turpentine and mink oil. Mink oil less so, but some believe it isn't great for leather, at least what companies call the substance they label "mink oil". Apparently nobody uses actual mink oil.

Even the consistency of reno is more like a neutral polish than it is a conditioner. It sits on top and doesn't sink in.

 

[patrickBOOTH]



Another thing to consider is that, from what I have read, Alden "treats" the shell they receive more extensively than other manufacturers.

Alden applies a dye to them that is specific to Alden. They don't really "treat" it.

 

[Jeroen Vriend]

What to do?

My shoes got wet in the rain.

When I'll try to polisch it the circle keeps coming back. What do I need to do?

I took this foto's after polishing

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Need to strip the excess wax off on the toe probably, condition and rebuild the finish.

 

[Jeroen Vriend]

Need to strip the excess wax off on the toe probably, condition and rebuild the finish.

Thanks, I'm going to try that

 

[Numbernine]



Essentially turpentine and mink oil. Mink oil less so, but some believe it isn't great for leather, at least what companies call the substance they label "mink oil". Apparently nobody uses actual mink oil.

Even the consistency of reno is more like a neutral polish than it is a conditioner. It sits on top and doesn't sink in.

you know ive heard people say that about renovateur before but when i use it on my whiskey or ravello shell it usually darkens the area temporarily. if that is not the result of the product sinking in what else could it be ?
Also as a side note anyone who is not familiar with saphir products should be aware that Renovateur and Renomat are two significantly different products but are often
interchangeably referred to as reno . This can get confusing