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

[MiguelSF]

Hi Gents,

Created a nice bull shine on my toe caps, however I've got some fine swirl marks on the finish.
What do you guys use to remove the swirl marks? Its my first attempt at mirror-shining, and I'm impressed so far, except for the swirls.

I used some of my girlfriend's panty hose to try to rub off the swirls, but no luck. Any advice please?

Miguel

 

[wurger]



Hi Gents,

Created a nice bull shine on my toe caps, however I've got some fine swirl marks on the finish.
What do you guys use to remove the swirl marks? Its my first attempt at mirror-shining, and I'm impressed so far, except for the swirls.

I used some of my girlfriend's panty hose to try to rub off the swirls, but no luck. Any advice please?

Miguel

Polish should dry and leave no marks, and you can use clothes or horsehair brush to buff out.

 

[benhour]

Hi Gents,

Created a nice bull shine on my toe caps, however I've got some fine swirl marks on the finish.
What do you guys use to remove the swirl marks? Its my first attempt at mirror-shining, and I'm impressed so far, except for the swirls.

I used some of my girlfriend's panty hose to try to rub off the swirls, but no luck. Any advice please?

Miguel

i assume you are using a cotton old t-shirt cloth to build up the mirror shine?

you have something like that i think


i tend to use 2 methods to make this disappear!

1) take a polish cloth(sunglasses or something similar in texture microfiber cloth) take a tiny amount(like 2-3 pinhead for the entire toe) of cream polish and with circular motion apply it on the entire toe!!it ll fill all these and become smooth as glass!

2) the same procedure with the same amount of renovateur this time!!dont put a lot of it cause it ll strip of the wax!

my mirror shinning method is a little different and dont need to do this but i think this ll help you achieve what you wish for!!
hope i helped!!

 

[Ducc]



Hi Gents,
Created a nice bull shine on my toe caps, however I've got some fine swirl marks on the finish.
What do you guys use to remove the swirl marks? Its my first attempt at mirror-shining, and I'm impressed so far, except for the swirls.

Using the advice in this post, I've found that breathing hot breath onto the shoe, and then very lightly swirling a soft cloth will smooth out that kind of texture. Use a very light touch, just glazing the cloth over the surface.

 

[MiguelSF]

The hot breath and polish towel (microfiber) worked a treat to remove the swirl marks. Thanks for the tip.

This was lurking somewhere on this gigantic thread, so here is another link to a video that was the most effective with my experience.



First time I've achieved a pretty good finish, and am pretty happy. Can't wait to try this on a nicer pair of shoes.
I used Kiwi parade gloss wax (with carnauba).

 

[wurger]



The hot breath and polish towel (microfiber) worked a treat to remove the swirl marks. Thanks for the tip. This was lurking somewhere on this gigantic thread, so here is another link to a video that was the most effective with my experience. First time I've achieved a pretty good finish, and am pretty happy. Can't wait to try this on a nicer pair of shoes. I used Kiwi parade gloss wax (with carnauba).

That is nice shine!

 

[MiguelSF]

Thanks mate!

I think spending more time would yield a much better result, as I only spent approx. 10 minutes on each shoe to achieve that result.

But I'm quite happy for someone who simply read this thread and had zero clue prior on how to properly take care of leather shoes.

Now to try this on some Loake 1880 Toe Caps! Currently awaiting approval from the treasurer...

 

[scatterbrain]

There was some discussion in this thread, back here, about boned calf.

I emailed BB and asked whether the shoes were boned calf or corrected grain. In the email, I asked how to care for them. I also posted the CG question on their website on July 3, here. It was showing up as an unanswered question for the last week, and now it is gone. They also never replied to my email.

I am not impressed. I just reposted the question, but it is not showing up yet.

 

[RIDER]



Hi Gents,

Created a nice bull shine on my toe caps, however I've got some fine swirl marks on the finish.
What do you guys use to remove the swirl marks? Its my first attempt at mirror-shining, and I'm impressed so far, except for the swirls.

I used some of my girlfriend's panty hose to try to rub off the swirls, but no luck. Any advice please?

Miguel

If you stop by your local clothier/tailor shop and ask for thrown away Bemberg linings, it makes an ideal finishing buffing rag. Old silk neckties as well.

 

[MiguelSF]

Cheers mate, I've a few old silk ties I can sacrifice as a final buff cloth.

Well thankfully the polish has really sunken into the pores. Checked this morning and did a quick hot breath and light polish with a microfibre cloth, ran my fingers on the toe and no excess polish came off.

Might attempt at achieving a better mirror finish later. This is so addictive...

 

[VegTan]



How can I water-resist this leather?

I recommend soft/hard wax, because Montana may make an oil stain.


[table align=left][tr][td]Saphir Renovateur (shoe cream)[/td][td]　water-soluble[/td][td]　no water resistant[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Saphir MDO Pommadier Creme 1925 (soft polish)[/td][td]　oil-soluble[/td][td]　moderate water resistant[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]shoe polish (hard polish)[/td][td]　oil-soluble[/td][td]　moderate water resistant[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Montana Pitch-Blend Leather Dressing[/td][td]　oil-soluble[/td][td]　best water resistant[/td][/tr][/table]

Last time I polished, I had difficulty getting the creme evenly distributed,

I bought a brush that I hope helps apply it better

Yes, a brush is useful for even spreading.

My fear is that the water took color out of the leather (not just off the top), and that re-application of polish will darken both the stain and the non-stain, causing everything to just get darker without removing the actual stain texture.

I suppose an oil/ink stain must be removed, but a water stain does not necessarily need to be removed.

I've seen recommendations that say to use water to essentially stain the entire shoe, to smooth out the texture, and then re-polish the whole shoe. But that seems like I could be making things worse.

Yes, that is like enlarging the boundary line up to welt with damp cloth, and needs some experience.

It's possible that water softens the layer of polish, making it easier to wipe off. But if that's true, then applying Renovateur all over the area should do the same thing, and smooth the polish out. The whole situation seems odd to me, because these cremes are basically waxes and oils; how is water having an effect at all?

I am not sure, but Renovateur may make a spot if it is used partially.

 

[benhour]

I used Kiwi parade gloss wax (with carnauba).

Quote i dont recommend using parade gloss on good shoes!! silicone will dry out leather and make it crack after some time!
Quote: sorry to say that but the picture is way off mirror shine!the surface isnt smooth as glass! this is a good spitshine(reflecting some of the surrounding well lighted area) but not mirror shine at all!
when you ll go at the mirror shine point you ll have to see the surrounding are clear as in a mirror and not blur!! you are in a good way but you ll need some more layers!!

i recommend you to learn how to mirror shine with parade gloss(cause of the silicone is mutch easyer to build a mirror shine) on some cheap shoes and then go with some better wax polish on good shoes!!

 

[Munky]

For those who might want to try the Japanese 'Boot Black' brand of wax polish, A Fine Pair of Shoes still have neutral and dark brown in stock at £2.40, reduced from £7.80. It seems to be going quickly and the Boot Black cream has run out. Also, the same shop continues to advertise the Abbyhorn bone folder at 90p.

 

[Munky]

I expect I am telling you what you already know. Bradshaw and Lloyd indicate that the Loake's 'Shoemakers', 'L1', and 'Lifestyle' collections are all made from corrected leather. Also, Loake's website, in small print and buried quite a way inside it suggest they use two types of leather: corrected and calf in making their shoes. By my reckoning, the '1880', 'Design' and 'Evolution' collections are made from calf.

 

[cbfn]

The 1880-line is the only one worth getting when buying Loake IMO.