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Shoe Shining Disorder. What Have I Done!

I meant to say, too, that I do not much like having a lot of contact with acetone. I personally have had too much contact with various solvents over the years, so I may be more at risk than othersd. Acertone will eat your liver. Avoid direct skin contact and use in a very well ventilated area. It is a nicely effective solvent though and not as bad as some.

The Saphir Sole Guard is expensive, I agree but a little does go a long way.

I know. One bottle might be a lifetime supply for me. And with what you are paying for shoes and the quality of shoes you have, the cost of a bottle of sole guard is small compared to the cost of what it is helping preserve. I already feel like I am a fanboy enabler for Saphir's pricing, though.
 
Oh, what the heck, life is too short. I am ordering a bottle of Saphir Sole Guard right now. We are all enablers, darn each and everyone of us! :)

Also, I guess I do have some residual concerns about treating good leather shoe soles with silicon.
 

johnniegold

"Got Shoes?"
Since @The Knize ordered a bottle of Sole Guard, I polished a 20+ year-old pair of J&M Aldrich II’s shoes this morning (and applied some Sole Guard) and I will wear them tomorrow to commemorate the occasion. :thumbup:

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johnniegold

"Got Shoes?"
Weather calls for rain tomorrow so it looks like Swims and Sole Guard under the protection of the Molinari Family. :lol:
 
Somehow I did not manage to order the Saphir Sole Guard until just now. I must have seen a shinny object after my earlier post!

On Amazon there was one unit left, supposedly. I put it in my cart, I thought, but when I went to pay it was not there and re-clicking on the item I got a sold out notification. Ya snooze you lose. So, I ordered from some place in Europe on eBay, and the total delivered price is better than Amazon. Delivery is going take some time, but I am not too concerned.

I will report whenever I get it and start using it!
 
I understand this disorder.....this a partial collection....

http://[URL="http://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/media/25318"] [/URL]

I used to shine my own shoes when I was younger. I have worked most of my career in Manhattan and there really is no shortage of shoe shine stands. So I've made pretty good use of them over the years. But looking at this picture there is only one thing that comes to mind:


Also, that sure looks like a bed underneath all those shoes. The shoes that tromp around all over pavement. Ever watch those guys who are walking along and then all of a sudden they make a really gross sound with their nose and throat and hack up something and then turn their head and it flies out of their mouth onto the sidewalk? Those shoes have walked on god knows what. And now they are on the ..........BED?!?!?! I've always taught my son never to touch the bottom of his shoes with his hands if he can help it and the reason I've given him is exactly this reason. He's 16 and likes to challenge me on EVERYTHING. But not this thing. I've not seen him touch the bottom of his shoes since. :hand:
 
I'm interested in the question of stripping down shoes for repolishing. I've never used anything more caustic than saddle soap and a bit of warm water. Sometimes, I'll put the shoes somewhere warm first, to soften up them a bit, but I've never used a heat gun or anything like that. When I shine my shoes, I try to apply several thin layers of polish. I guess I've always felt that routine wear and brushing them off removes most of that, and that it's never been necessary to take them down any further. If you've used something more aggressive, what has been the state of the shoe that made it necessary? How did it work out?
 

johnniegold

"Got Shoes?"
I'm interested in the question of stripping down shoes for repolishing. I've never used anything more caustic than saddle soap and a bit of warm water. Sometimes, I'll put the shoes somewhere warm first, to soften up them a bit, but I've never used a heat gun or anything like that. When I shine my shoes, I try to apply several thin layers of polish. I guess I've always felt that routine wear and brushing them off removes most of that, and that it's never been necessary to take them down any further. If you've used something more aggressive, what has been the state of the shoe that made it necessary? How did it work out?

I am interested in this as well. Kirby Allison’s 30-minute video provides an excellent example of the process.

I will give it a try at some point.
 

johnniegold

"Got Shoes?"
It was a Red Wing Iron Ranger 8111 kinda day. Cleaned, conditioned, mink oiled and finished with a coat of Leather Protector. The Boot Oil was not applied
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The same treatment was applied
to these 28+ years old Dr. Martens 939’s.
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Rudy Vey

Shaving baby skin and turkey necks
Just did three pairs of shoes. A pair of Velescas and my AE Chukkas - they got a coat of colorless/very light brown.
Then my riding boots: cleaned with saddle soap and then applied a coat of Bickmore's LP. The weather was very wet the last week or two, so these needed some attention.
 
Snow in the forecast for tomorrow, so I put the first winter coat of Sno-Seal on my old Docs. I posted the other day that I bought these twenty years ago at the huge Dr Martens store that was (is?) in Covent Garden. Total impulse buy, but they've been a good pair of boots. I haven't been wearing them all that often these days, but I brought them out and cleaned them up at the end of the summer. Put new kevlar laces on them last week--an excellent addition. There are a lot of synthetic alterntives to Sno-Seal, but I swear by it.
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Very cool The Nid Hog. Doc are just classic, and I find they perform right up to reputation. (I actually only have the made in England ones, though.)

<There are a lot of synthetic alterntives >

I just do not see putting synthetic stuff on natural leather. Good shoes are not inexpensive. Sno_seal sure gets the job done.
 
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