The Ultimate "HARDCORE" Shoe Appreciation Thread (Bespoke only)

[chogall]

Did you order any pairs from Fosters?

 

[waynewei]

not yet. but I probably will get pair of penny loafer from them. still thinking though.Their fading effect of those bespoke is quite attractive. But having talked about that they said that effect cannot be reproduced manually as completely same as seen on aged bespoke samples. They do have fading service but not really looks phenomenal to me since it is just about bleaching and finishing.

 

[chogall]

You can fade leather with different corrosive solutions from oxalic acid to actual bleach. But non work better than time. I remember Lattanzi offers shoes stored/buried in glass covered well in the ground for several years for the fading effect though different than the actual sun/light bleached showroom display samples.

Might be able to recreate fading effect easier with undyed leather or leathers without top coat.

Fosters' making looks really good, especially comparing to John Blobb London.

 

[DWFII]



You can fade leather with ... oxalic acid

How do you know this?

 

[amlai]

Just got this pair in #8 shell from JP Myhre:

 

[Stefan88]

Just got this pair in #8 shell from JP Myhre:

Looks great! More pics please

 

[j ingevaldsson]

Looks great! More pics please

+1!

 

[ThinkDerm]



Just got this pair in #8 shell from JP Myhre:

 

[amlai]

I didn't take anymore pictures before giving them a wear around the house... I couldn't wait! But, here are a few more pictures for you guys anyways.

 

[Stefan88]

I didn't take anymore pictures before giving them a wear around the house... I couldn't wait! But, here are a few more pictures for you guys anyways.

Thank you. Looks very very nice.

 

[chogall]



How do you know this?

Home Depot oxalic acid crystals and Clorox. Both in high concentrations. Need hot water to dissolve crystals easily.

p.s., also used acetone (useless), Lincoln dye prep, Lincoln deglazer. Biggest lesson learned is to keep things dry and give time for chemicals to work.

 

[j ingevaldsson]

I didn't take anymore pictures before giving them a wear around the house... I couldn't wait! But, here are a few more pictures for you guys anyways.

Good stuff!

 

[DWFII]



Home Depot oxalic acid crystals and Clorox. Both in high concentrations. Need hot water to dissolve crystals easily.

p.s., also used acetone (useless), Lincoln dye prep, Lincoln deglazer. Biggest lesson learned is to keep things dry and give time for chemicals to work.

You didn't answer the question. I suspect that once again you are making statements you cannot and have not substantiated. You don't know what you're talking about, IOW.

I don't know about Clorox...but I do know about oxalic acid and acetone because I've used both products for over forty years. Oxalic acid is is a wood bleach but it does not work for leather. Oxalic will bleach out iron stains that occur on vegetable tanned leather through careless handling. (a usage that goes back centuries) And the only reason it works is because vegetable tans are almost always wood bark based.

Oxalic acid has no effect on chrome tanned leathers. It has no effect on aniline dyes. It has no effect on water based dyes. It has no effect on finished leathers. It will actually darken (stain) vegetable tanned leathers.

Dye prep will not bleach the leather, either. It's purpose is to open the pores and cut through the greases so that dyes will strike evenly. Acetone will not bleach leather. It will remove finishes and pick ups some loose aniline dyestuffs but it is not a bleach.

Below is an experiment I did:

The first photo is of a series of swatches cut from different shoe leathers. Before.

From L. to R.:
1.Spanish calf, chrome tan, aniline dyed, struck through, little or no top coat. 2. Annonay French calf, aniline dye and top coat, not struck through. 3. Glazed buffalo calf, retan, aniline dye, struck through, top coat and acrylic wax. 4. St. Crispin burnishable baby calf (A.A. Crack), calf, veg tanned dyed crust, struck through, no top coat. 5. St. Crispin burnishable baby calf, veg tanned dyed crust, struck through, no top coat. 6. Burnishable buffalo calf, veg retan, aniline dyed (?), struck through, no top coat.

Second photo, veg calf, similar to, and a reasonable facsimile of, crust. Before
L.-R.:
1, aniline dye. 2. aniline dye. 3. Eco-flo water based dye. 4 Eco-flo water based dye. 5 iron stain.

Third and fourth photos, 48 hours after applying a liberal swath of Oxalic acid:

All the veg tanned leathers darkened some under the influence of the strong acidic wash. None were bleached. None of the dyes were affected. None of the finished leathers were affected.

The iron stain was removed.

It might be noted that oxalic acid can over-acidify a leather and destroy it. I once watched a colleague paint Oxalic on a perfectly beautiful pair of buttercup ostrich boot and within 24 hours the leather had darkened to a reddish tan and was dry to the touch. Despite conditioning they cracked and were turning to dust within three months.

Finally, yes, you can scrub any leather to the point where the colour will come off. But you can do that with pure water too, if you're industrious enough. That said, this is not only destructive to the leather, it is, bottom line, not a bleach.

--

 

[j ingevaldsson]

^^^DWF: Interesting. What about pethroleum ether (I think that is the correct translation for it), which I know many people use on shoes especially to remove old cream and polish?

 

[DWFII]



^^^DWF: Interesting. What about pethroleum ether (I think that is the correct translation for it), which I know many people use on shoes especially to remove old cream and polish?

I don't know what that is...at least not by that name. Just off the top of my head, however, a product formulated to remove cream and polish isn't likely to remove, much less bleach/lighten dyes or top coat finishes.