Shoe Shining Disorder. What Have I Done!

[johnniegold]

Classic Shoes For Men | Vintage and Collectable Shoes

Vintage and collectible shoes, with over 1,000 products from renowned shoe makers such as Florsheim, Church’s, Footjoy, Peal & Co and many more. As well as unique, one of a kind custom made shoes.

classicshoesformen.com

Now that was uncalled for.

There are some amazing shoes there.

 

[johnniegold]

Today’s task:

Stripping down a pair of 15-20 year old J&M Aldrich IIs with the Saphir Renomat that I received a few days ago.

The process was a time-intensive one but I completed it while watching the Giants game.

The shoes were stripped down using the Renomat and then let dry for 15 minutes then the leather was nourished with Renovateur.

After letting the conditioner get into the leather for a few minutes, they were brushed off and then rubbed with a cotton chamois.

Afterwards, an application of Saphir neutral creme was applied and again the shoes were brushed with a horse hair brush and rubbed with a cotton chamois. I will bull the toe and heel caps on another day.

I was very pleased with the results and it made me realize that although I have taken care of my footwear, for so many years, I have neglected this all-important step of stripping off the old wax which was preventing the leather from being properly conditioned.

BEFORE:

I wore gloves and opened a window where I was working because the Renomat is pretty strong stuff.

You can see on the cloth just how much wax/polish had built up on these shoes after many years.

I gave the shoes 2 rounds of Renomat to ensure that all the old polish was stripped off. Also, the feel of the shoe changed from the hard, shell-like feel of all the layers of wax to a soft, supple feel of the leather.

Here is what they looked like stripped of all wax buildup:

Afterwards, they were polished and buffed and the results were stunning. I used a neutral creme to keep the color that was underneath all that wax. I could have used a brown polish to add some pigment but I really like the way they looked. I can always add that another time.

Once the captoe and heel caps are bulled, these shoes will be ready to go. I still need to do some edge dressing and a sole guard application.

AFTER:

Next....

 

[johnniegold]

Here are some more photos of the process.

Before:

After:

The Process:

 

[blantyre]

Amazing! I’ve seen pictures of old shell cordovan coming back to life. The transformation for calf skin is really dramatic. Well worth the work IMO.

 

[musicman1951]

Those are very impressive results. Bravo.

 

[johnniegold]

Amazing! I’ve seen pictures of old shell cordovan coming back to life. The transformation for calf skin is really dramatic. Well worth the work IMO.

Thanks.

After seeing the dramatic effect on calf skin, I’m hesitant to use it on shell Cordovan especially on cigar or a ravello cordovan shoe.

 

[malocchio]

Now that was uncalled for.

There are some amazing shoes there.

I love this site !

 

[johnniegold]

Bulling on heel and caps. A little edge dressing and they are ready to be driven out of the showroom.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

 

[The Knize]

Really nice, JohnnieG! I love Saphir, they have a different, expensive product for everything. Usually a truly excellent one.

I understand your hesitancy to do Cordovan, but I wonder how it would do!

 

[johnniegold]

Really nice, JohnnieG! I love Saphir, they have a different, expensive product for everything. Usually a truly excellent one.

I understand your hesitancy to do Cordovan, but I wonder how it would do!

No doubt that the Saphir line isn’t cheap but they do have a quality product line.

I am tempted to try the Renomat on a pair of black shell Cordovan shoes and see how they turn out.

But first... Gotta finish the remaining J&M calfskin.

 

[johnniegold]

Today, a pair of Alden LWB got some upkeep. First it received some Renovateur. Then, each vamp got about a half-hour of smoothing out some waves with a deer bone and finally an application of Saphir Cordovan creme which contains Neat’s Foot Oil to moisturize the shell cordovan leather as well as add some pigment. This creme stayed on for 45 minutes before being brushed off and wiped down with a cotton chamois. A neutral creme was applied to the edge of the outsole to moisturize it as well.

BEFORE:

(Note the water marks on the vamp).

AFTER:

After the deer bone, the water marks were no longer visible.

 

[The Knize]

Beautiful, of course. Shoes like that should last a lifetime!

 

[blantyre]

Outstanding! I guess a deer bone is on my new year resolution list! I agree that the aggressive solvent cleaner probably isn’t a good idea for shell cordovan since it might strip out the deeply infused oils that are essential. Renovateur seems to work very well.

 

[johnniegold]

Outstanding! I guess a deer bone is on my new year resolution list! I agree that the aggressive solvent cleaner probably isn’t a good idea for shell cordovan since it might strip out the deeply infused oils that are essential. Renovateur seems to work very well.

Since the shine and luster of shell Cordovan can often be achieved by just brushing and/or buffing, very often with no polish, and as the Cordovan “experts” will tell you, only use very little polish and only after about 15 wears or so.

Therefore, the need to strip the wax off, unlike calfskin, is IMO not as much a necessity since there should be very little wax buildup, if at all, after the constant brushing that shell lovers usually administer to their shoes.

Additionally, using the Saphir shell Cordovan creme gives the conditioning and adds some pigment that should give the shine you want. If you wanted a higher shine, that would require the use of very little wax.

Then again, YMMV. I really haven’t given it much thought.

 

[johnniegold]

These are a pair of 20 yr. old J&Ms, the Conley model.

I worked on these over several days. First they were stripped, then conditioned, polished, brushed, buffed and finally, bulled.

These were looking quite tired but they now appear rejuvenated.

BEFORE: (they had just been stripped of all previous wax buildup.)

AFTER:

 

[johnniegold]

This pair was from J&M’s long since discontinued Northampton line which were Made in England. These shoes were a fairly decent quality shoe.

Tonight, during MNF, these shoes were conditioned and then polished with a neutral cream and then they were brushed, buffed and bulled.

BEFORE...

AFTER...

FINISHED.

...and then there were two.

 

[johnniegold]

Another pair of Aldrich IIs. Stripped, conditioned, polished with a neutral cream, brushed and bulled.

Btw, Mrs. Gold informed me that any further use of the Saphir Renomat shall be used either outdoors or in the garage.


BEFORE:

AFTER:

 

[blantyre]

Very nice color. That makes sense - I imagine that you could get quite a solvent buzz going if you cleaned several pairs at once. It might also be flammable although I noticed that you had what looks like a lighter next to the bottle so probably OK.

 

[johnniegold]

Very nice color. That makes sense - I imagine that you could get quite a solvent buzz going if you cleaned several pairs at once. It might also be flammable although I noticed that you had what looks like a lighter next to the bottle so probably OK.

What’s that Christmas tree-looking thing on the back of the Renomat bottle?

The Zippo is for getting the wax polish started and also for burning off any loose threads on the shoes.

 

[johnniegold]

I finally got through it.

These are the last pair of my J&Ms from their discontinued Estate Collection. These have a rubber sole and they are comfortable but usually get the call during inclement weather.

Stripped, only the vamp was conditioned, a neutral polish, brushed, buffed and bulled.

Finally.