Polishing "Polished Leather Uppers"

[beachape]

Hello,
I've got a pair of Bostonian Akron Shoes in Burgundy. These shoes have "polished leather uppers" so I'm a bit confused how to polish them.
I admit that I am a bit new to the whole shoe polishing...and wearing dress shoes game, but I've been polishing a pair of bass shoes, and another misc pair with success recently.

With kiwi wax polish (cordovan) they look strange after brushing off the wax (you can see the tiny brush lines in the shoe), but better after buffing with a rag. However, they look best when I just wash off the polish with lexol pH.

I wanted to make these shoes a bit softer (because they are not too comfortable...especially the heel) so I tried some Meltonian cream polish in burgundy. Before I polished them I washed then with lexol pH, then used lexol conditioner and left to sit over night. Then I wiped off any conditioner and proceeded to polish with the meltonian. The meltonian didn't seem to dry like it did on my other shoes...so I waited...and waited...for about an hour. Then I tried to brush off...and it wouldn't come off. The color was also noticeably lighter than the burgundy of the shoes. Eventually I washed the whole mess off with lexol and an on-brush. They looked fine after the polish washed off.

So I guess my questions are:
1) How to polish "polish leather uppers"
2) Any other special care tips for these types of shoes?
3) Any suggestions to softening these things to make them more comfortable besides just breaking them in around the house?

Thanks!

 

[Jim]

It sounds as if the upper is not leather but some corrected leather or man made product.

 

[beachape]

The inside of the shoe says "leather upper" so i imagine it is some sort of modified leather. They don't look as "fake" as those shoes you get with rental tuxedos, but they have no noticeable grain.

 

[ducatisteve]

The Bostonians are probably corrected leather but can still take a good polish for a couple years. The Kiwi will be fine, but the big thing to remember is that you want to use a super small amount of wax and give it at least 10 minutes to dry before buffing. If you are seeing brush marks after buffing you are probably using too much polish. After brushing fairly vigerously, you'll want to go at it with a cotton cloth. Doing this part with the shoe on your feet can make it a little easier to get some speed and friction (like you see the old school shoe shiners do). The heat you'll build from using the cloth fast like this will help give the polish a little more even spread. Finally, if it's still not up to par, you can do a second polish after about an hour, and this time use a few drops of water along with the polish. This "spit shine" will give you that military mirror finish.

As far as the lotions and conditioners go, I would probably save these for higher end leathers (full grain, chromexcel, cordovan, etc). These are typically conditioned sparingly (once a year maybe?), as they can last for decades. Bostonians again are probably corrected leather, and even if they are top grain they're most likely not tanned all the way through and top layer will eventually wear or crack away in a couple years anyway. And I am definitely not bashing Bostonians. I have a couple pairs and I think they are great looking, comfortable shoes. And while they will benefit from a shine, my personal opinion is that it's not completely necessary to throw too much product into them.

 

[ezmike]

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "polished" uppers? I ask because I just purchased 2 pairs of Cole Haan shoes and both have a "patent" leather look to them.

Mike

 

[beachape]

http://www.zappos.com/bostonian-akron-burgundy-leather

I was using that because it was the description i found on zappos. I guess it doesn't look quite as shiny/plastic-like as patent leather, but it could be.

I imagine you don't polish patent leather because of the plastic coating...right?