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

[patrickBOOTH]

Well give us something useful then. It seems you dismiss a lot of "opinions" and experience, but you're not offering anything to move the discussion forward. Pretty much from what I take from you to be good for leather is essentially anything creamy. Unless you elaborate, holding your great knowledge from this thread and just quipping I am not really sure what the point of it is.

 

[Stirling]



Well give us something useful then. It seems you dismiss a lot of "opinions" and experience, but you're not offering anything to move the discussion forward. Pretty much from what I take from you to be good for leather is essentially anything creamy. Unless you elaborate, holding your great knowledge from this thread and just quipping I am not really sure what the point of it is.

Ask a specific question Patrick if you want a specific answer, otherwise I'm entitled to post generalisations and puns (as bad as they might be) as the next man.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

What in your great wisdom, knowledge and experience is the best routine for dress shoe care?

 

[halfnhalfnhalf]

 

[DWFII]



It might be flippant but it's true.

A chemist is better qualified than lay people to determine which ingredients to use in a given product, no?

There's is a big difference between theory and practical, hands-on experience and knowledge that has been earned through intimacy with the materials and techniques being used.

The Bick4 issue might just very well be a case in point...I don't know. But obviously the chemists at Bickmore have determined that silicone is a cheaper, easier to access/work with, emusifier (?) than some other, more organic, chemical. Are they wrong? I don't know. But they are ignoring the concerns, experience, accumulated wisdom, of people who daily use and work with leather to some extent. It's tunnel vision.

I don't/won't dismiss the opinions of chemists. I take everything they say seriously simply because I recognize that I don't possess that level of knowledge. They are to one degree or another experts in their fields.

But as was so evident...to me at least...many of the concerns and knowledge of the chemists who posted here were almost inaccessible. Almost...because it was so divorced from the practical use and practical experience.

In the absence of chemists who also have that practical knowledge, as pB suggests, we're left with people who aren't chemists, yet who nevertheless have practical knowledge...and the more, and more wide ranging, the better. It's a comparison of theoretical versus empirical knowledge.

Of course, at the bottom of the credibility heap is the people with opinions that are relative...and relevant...only to themselves, and/or simply ignorant (often deliberately and willfully so), as well as others who just want to be contrary.

Learning to sort all that out is not only learning about the subject at hand, it is learning to discriminate--the foundation of all style, elegance and quality.

 

[lint]

As a casual reader of this thread, and a chemist by education (just a lowly bachelors), the e-penis measuring is quite entertaining. I'll only add that the field of chemistry is incredibly broad, and expecting or asserting that one practitioner in the field would have mastered the domain of shoe care formulations, without working with that specific formulation or experimenting and making direct observations is unreasonable.

Hypothesis: I think if I mix A + B + C and apply it to a shoe, I will get X
Observation: Well, that was unexpected

 

[arglist]

Back to some refinishing work this weekend.....








Not sure what happened to the first pics, but these started out as a green color and I worked them over to mid brown with some highlights.....probably hard to see on a cell pic. Not sure why the product Juvacuir never really has been popular in our consumer selling - it's a very easy cream/dye combo that is great for doing some color variations - much easier than dye. But, anyway, the results were good on this one -

I have just placed a large order with Valmour France, among other products ordered two bottles of Juvacuir. Valmour says this product is used for refreshing the existing colour but Ron obviously used this with great success to change the colour as well.

I have a pair of Carmina oxfords in tanned grain calf that I don't wear because of their yellowish colour:



I plan on using light and mid brown Juvacuir to actually darken them slightly. I hesitate to use "teinture française" as this is really hard core stuff and I'm definitely an amateur.

Any experiences with Juvacuir? Or other thoughts?

 

[Munky]

Arglist, as I indicated, above, I have used cream polishes to darken a pair of tan shoes that were a horrible colour. I used what I had to hand and over a few days I used different levels of 'brown', finishing with Sapir's mid brown. The deepening of the colour is satisfying and the shoes seem to be retaining their new, darker colour. As always, you need to use thin layers of polish and make sure there is no streaking. Any creasing of the shoe needs to be treated carefully. I managed to get too much polish into the creases of one of the shoes and they immediately looked darker than the rest of the leather. A bit of heavy brushing has got rid of this but it is probably good to go easy over the creases.

As I understand it, from this thread, you can't do all this in reverse: you can't lighten dark shoes. Dark, that is, from the manufacturers. You can, of course, always undo the processes described above.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

You can lighten darker shoes, but it involves stripping them with bleach and redying. Kind of invasive.

 

[chewbocka]

Picked up a pair of Alden Indy in CXL and after a few days they're looking a little dry. Should I treat these at all or is this natural? If you look really close the leather seems dry but the pic may not show that.

 

[Staffer18283]

I stay in a country where its hot and humid all year round. Do I need to use a conditioner for shoe care ? There is so much confusion around which conditioner to use, I am tempted to eliminate conditioning as a "step" in shoe care. Just cream and wax.

 

[AAJJLLPP]

Picked up a pair of Alden Indy in CXL and after a few days they're looking a little dry. Should I treat these at all or is this natural? If you look really close the leather seems dry but the pic may not show that.

I dont think they look dry at all. If you have only been wearing them a few days then they will not need any conditioning. Its natural for CXL to change colour where it bends as it is a pull up leather. This gives the CXL a certain character that many people love. IMO your boots will look best if you only occasionally condition them, then the CXL leather truly gets a lot of character. Besides it has been tanned with a lot of oils so it takes a long time for it to dry out with normal use.
+

I stay in a country where its hot and humid all year round. Do I need to use a conditioner for shoe care ? There is so much confusion around which conditioner to use, I am tempted to eliminate conditioning as a "step" in shoe care. Just cream and wax.

Conditioning is the most important step for the longevity of your shoes. It is not advisable to skip it completely.

 

[chewbocka]

Ok sounds good thanks for the tips! When it does come time, what products? Been seeing a lot of Ventian shoe creme suggestions.

 

[DWFII]



Besides it has been tanned with a lot of oils so it takes a long time for it to dry out with normal use.
+
Conditioning is the most important step for the longevity of your shoes. It is not advisable to skip it completely.

Several niggling corrections...

CXL has not been tanned with oils. That's a common mistake and one I made early on in my career (although I only said it I didn't believe it). ChromeExcel is a chrome/vegetable (bark) retan that has been hot stuffed with oil. It is the hot stuffing that makes the leather oily but the oils are not part of the tanning process.

Also...conditioning is not the most important step for longevity. Cleaning is the most important step...although any time a pair of shoes is cleaned with soap and water, they ought to be conditioned. Conditioning is important but keeping your shoes clean is paramount.

 

[Odd I/O]



Also...conditioning is not the most important step for longevity. Cleaning is the most important step...although any time a pair of shoes is cleaned with soap and water, they ought to be conditioned. Conditioning is important but keeping your shoes clean is paramount.

Under what conditions would you clean your shoes with soap and water? Oil based stains like food? I usually just rub a damp cloth over mine if they ask for it. Would Tide (unscented of course) work? Front Loader or handwash?